Diploma Thesis
Between October 1, 2001 and April 2, 2002, I worked on my diploma thesis. The title of the diploma thesis is:
Development and implementation of a prototype of a Microsoft BizTalk environment for EDI and EAI scenarios in comparison to Seeburger BIS
I developed prototypes with both software products, which
simulate an EDI/EAI scenario. The thesis also included a performance
analysis of both prototypes. For the analysis, I also developed a Java
application that generates test files automatically. The thesis
was written at Seeburger, Inc. in Atlanta, USA.
For more information or a digital copy of the thesis please contact me .
I have to mention since the time of writing the thesis
one major new standard evolved that is not mentioned in the thesis
- AS2. Origianlly mainly endorsed by Wal-Mart it is becoming quite
popular gaining a higher significance than for example ebXML. For more
more information please visit:
http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/ediint-charter.html
Table of Contents
|
1 |
Introduction | 5 |
| 2 | What Are EAI and EDI and Why Are They Important? | 7 |
| 2.1 | Seeburger | 9 |
| 2.2 | Microsoft | 10 |
| 2.3 | History of Electronic Data Interchange | 10 |
| 2.4 | Chapter Summary | 11 |
| 3 | Important Standards | 12 |
| 3.1 | ANSI X12 | 12 |
| 3.1.1 | Structure | 12 |
| 3.2 | UN/EDIFACT | 15 |
| 3.2.1 | Structure | 15 |
| 3.3 | XML | 16 |
| 3.3.1 | Design Techniques | 16 |
| 3.3.2 | Methods for Defining the Structure of XML Documents | 18 |
| 3.4 | XSLT and XPath | 21 |
| 3.4.1 | How the Transformation is Performed | 22 |
| 3.4.2 | XPath | 23 |
| 3.4.3 | Variables | 24 |
| 3.4.4 | XSLT Templates | 24 |
| 3.4.5 | XPath Functions and XSLT Instructions | 25 |
| 3.4.6 | Tools for Transforming XSLT | 25 |
| 3.4.7 | A practical Example of XSLT | 25 |
| 3.5 | SOAP | 27 |
| 3.5.1 | Development Tools for SOAP | 28 |
| 3.6 | ebXML | 28 |
| 3.6.1 | Trading Partner Profiles and Trading Partner Agreements | 29 |
| 3.6.2 | Registries and Repositories | 29 |
| 3.6.3 | Core Components | 30 |
| 3.6.4 | Message Structure | 30 |
| 3.7 | Chapter Summary | 31 |
| 4 | Seeburger Business Integration Suite | 32 |
| 4.1 | Workflow Engine | 33 |
| 4.2 | JAVA Frontend | 34 |
| 4.2.1 | Workflow Designer | 35 |
| 4.2.2 | System Variables | 36 |
| 4.2.3 | Key Mapping | 36 |
| 4.2.4 | Inspector | 37 |
| 4.3 | Business Integration Converter/BIC Mapping Designer | 38 |
| 4.3.1 | Example of Integrating Java Code in Seeburger BIC Mapping Designer | 40 |
| 4.4 | Chapter Summary | 42 |
| 5 | Microsoft BizTalk Server | 43 |
| 5.1 | BizTalk Framework 2.0 | 44 |
| 5.1.1 | Structure | 44 |
| 5.2 | Components of Microsoft BizTalk Server | 46 |
| 5.2.1 | BizTalk Orchestration Designer | 46 |
| 5.2.2 | BizTalk Editor | 48 |
| 5.2.3 | BizTalk Mapper | 50 |
| 5.2.4 | BizTalk Messaging Manager | 52 |
| 5.2.5 | BizTalk Server Administration | 54 |
| 5.3 | Additional Monitoring of Microsoft BizTalk Server | 56 |
| 5.3.1 | BizTalk SEED Wizard (in BizTalk 2002 only) | 56 |
| 5.3.2 | BizTalk Document Tracking | 57 |
| 5.4 | Extensions to Microsoft BizTalk Server | 57 |
| 5.5 | Chapter Summary | 58 |
| 6 | Prototype Implementation for the Seeburger BIS and Microsoft BizTalk Server | 59 |
| 6.1 | The Test Case | 59 |
| 6.2 | Objectives | 59 |
| 6.3 | Used Standards | 61 |
| 6.4 | Implementation with the Seeburger BIS | 62 |
| 6.4.1 | Workflow Designer | 63 |
| 6.4.2 | Settings in the Java Frontend | 69 |
| 6.5 | Implementation of the Microsoft BizTalk Server Prototype | 72 |
| 6.5.1 | BizTalk Editor | 73 |
| 6.5.2 | BizTalk Mapper | 73 |
| 6.5.3 | BizTalk Orchestration Designer | 74 |
| 6.5.4 | BizTalk Messaging Manager | 79 |
| 6.5.5 | FTP Functionality for the Prototype | 83 |
| 6.6 | Chapter Summary | 83 |
| 7 | Comparison of Microsoft BizTalk Server to the Seeburger BIS | 84 |
| 7.1 | Documentation | 84 |
| 7.2 | Designing Specifications | 85 |
| 7.3 | Mapping Specifications | 86 |
| 7.4 | Creation of Workflows | 87 |
| 7.5 | Extensibility | 87 |
| 7.6 | Security | 88 |
| 7.7 | Supported Communication Standards | 88 |
| 7.8 | Error Handling and Monitoring | 89 |
| 7.9 | Comparison of Performance | 90 |
| 7.9.1 | Seeburger BIS modifications | 90 |
| 7.9.2 | Microsoft BizTalk Server modifications | 91 |
| 7.9.3 | Performance Analysis | 91 |
| 7.10 | Costs | 93 |
| 7.11 | How May Seeburger Contribute to Microsoft BizTalk Server? | 94 |
| 7.12 | Chapter Summary | 94 |
| 8 | Conclusion | 95 |
| Appendix | 96 | |
| I | Abbreviations | 96 |
| II | Glossary | 98 |
| III | UML Class Diagrams | 101 |
| IV | Server Configuration | 102 |
| V | Microsoft BizTalk Server Prototype Configuration | 103 |
| VI | Additional Seeburger BIS Prototype Configuration | 106 |
| VII | Data of the Performance Examination | 107 |
| VIII | List of Figures | 108 |
| IX | List of Tables | 110 |
| X | Bibliography | 111 |