How the connector works

The application-specific component of the connector polls the event table event view for events. If it finds an applicable event (sometimes called a subscribed-to event), it retrieves information about the event from the Domino server and builds an application-specific business object. The connector populates the business object with data obtained with an API call to the Domino server. It then sends this business object through the connector framework to InterChange Server Express.

For incoming business objects (business objects sent to the adapter from InterChange Server Express), the connector receives a business object from InterChange Server Express, processes that business object based on its active verb, and then sends a request for operation to Lotus Domino.

The following sections explain how events that originate on the Lotus Domino server are passed to InterChange Server Express, and how requests from another application are forwarded to the Lotus Domino server.

Event processing

Events that occur on the Lotus Domino server are passed to InterChange Server Express as follows:

  1. At startup, the event listener reads the event table configuration view to obtain the name of the database and determine which events should be monitored.
  2. The event listener detects events from the database and filters them according to information in the event table configuration view. If the event is of a type listed in the event table configuration view, the information about the event is retained.
  3. The event listener stores information (key data) about the event in the event table event view.
  4. The connector (application-specific component) polls the event table event view to obtain key data about the event.
  5. The application-specific component of the connector uses the event key data to retrieve all of the relevant event-related data from the Domino server.
  6. The application-specific component of the connector creates a business object and sends it to the connector framework, which then sends it to InterChange Server Express.
  7. If there is another application requesting Lotus Domino event information from InterChange Server Express, it passes the event information to the other application. (Details of this process vary. Refer to WebSphere Business Integration Server Express Installation Guide for more information.)

Figure 1 shows how an event is processed by the Lotus Domino adapter.
Block diagram showing event processing by the Adapter for Lotus Domino as described in preceding text.

Figure 1. Event processing for Lotus Domino adapter

Request processing

For events originating from InterChange Server Express:

  1. InterChange Server Express sends a business object to the connector.
  2. The connector establishes a session with the Domino server.
  3. An action occurs on the Lotus Domino server corresponding to the request passed to it by InterChange Server Express. (For example, if the request is to update a field in a Notes document, the value is updated in the Domino database.)
  4. The adapter sends the status of the requested action (whether successful or whether a problem occurred) to InterChange Server Express, which sends it back to the requesting application.

Figure 2 shows how a request is processed by the Lotus Domino adapter. InterChange Server Express is the integration broker.


Block diagram showing request processing by the Adapter for Lotus Domino as described in preceding text.

Figure 2. Request processing for Lotus Domino adapter

Copyright IBM Corp. 2004