Program Adapter

The Program Adapter allows external systems to communicate with WebSphere Commerce by passing XML requests over the HTTP protocol. The Program Adapter provides external systems such as procurement systems with a common way to communicate with WebSphere Commerce through HTTP, allowing WebSphere Commerce to act as a supplier to these systems, for buyer/supplier transactions. The Program Adapter handles incoming XML requests by performing the following actions:

The supported request attributes are specified in the adapter configuration.

Each request is treated as a separate session. The credentials of the message are specified in the control area of the message. By default, the Program Adapter checks the user ID and password parameters to determine the authenticity of a request. The Program Adapter does not support legacy messages because legacy messages do not support the specification of credentials.

The lifecycle of the  Program Adapter exists throughout the WebSphere Commerce instance. It is initialized when an instance is started unless its configuration parameters are removed or the adapter is not enabled, and it resides as long as the instance runs.

For architectural information on how WebSphere Commerce handles receiving requests from devices, refer to the WebSphere Commerce Programming Guide and Tutorials.