Integration Overview
The Enterprise Integration Platform (EIP) is designed to provide various integration choices (FTP, JMS, WS, EMAIL etc...) this documentation is currently focused only on the Web Services (WS) integration portion.
QSP WS vs. EIP WS
There are some similarities and differences between the Omnitracs Services Portal (QSP) WS which are worth highlighting when learning about the EIP WS capabilities:
Key Similarities:
- Authentication works the same way. It requires a Company to be licensed for Integration and a valid user/subscriber identity.
- Error/Exception reporting follows the same pattern.
- EIP Outgoing WS and the QSP Event Subscription Service (ESS) WS both provide a way to queue mobile data on behalf of customers.
- Both the EIP WS and the QSP ESS WS provide a consistent API that does not change. i.e it is designed to support all current and new application data
Key Differences:
- Subscriber vs. Request based data access: The QSP ESS is a subscriber based interface where the customer sets up a user/subscriber identity and preselects which application data (transactional elements) are available to that subscriber. Alternatively EIP Services allows the customer to decided as part of the WS request which application data (transactional elements) they are interested in at the time of the request.
Another ancillary difference is that all EIP services are designed with a consistent set of core elements that allow the customer control/overview over the data they want to work with. As an example there are concepts such as Routing which include elements as a Source and Destination. These types of concepts that are leveraged consistently across all the APIs not just the EIP Outgoing WS which is analogous to the QSP ESS WS.
Service Packing and Directionality
When discussing the various EIP Services it is important to note that these services have been segregated by either a messaging or configuration usage and also via directionality. Sending messages or configurations into the platform is referred as an INCOMING type service and receiving any messages or configurations from the platform is referred as an OUTGOING type of service.
Web Services
Incoming Message Service
The Incoming Messages Service allows customers and integrators the ability to send messages into the platform for mobile devices.
It provides a mechanism for external integration to manage the typical life-cycle of sending messages. Features include:
- Ability to add a correlation id to any send request
- Maintaining the delivery state of a sent message
- Dedicated API to keep track of undelivered messages
Outgoing Message Service
The Outgoing Messages Service allows customers and integrators the ability to read messages from mobile devices.
It provides a mechanism for external integration to manage the typical life-cycle of consuming and working with such messages. Features include:
- Queuing of Messages from all licensed applications
- Ability to filter/query through Messages
- Maintaining reading/consumption of queued message state
- Allow customer to decide if message was properly read
Incoming Configuration Service
The Incoming Configurations Service allows customers and integrators the ability to send Configurations into the platform for mobile devices.
It provides a mechanism for external integration to manage the typical life-cycle of sending configurations. Features include:
- Ability to add a correlation id to any send request
- Maintaining sending/delivery state
- Dedicated API to keep track of undelivered configurations
- Lookup current Configuration state