Spatial world chants the EAI mantra
Data Integration
Data Integration provides tools to obtain and commit data directly, eschewing application logic. This is realized through Database Gateways, Extraction/Transformation tools, and Reporting Generation tools. These tools are sought when fairly large data transfers are carried out.
Many tools are developed to provide enterprise database integration for Geospatial data, aiding live access to corporate data within the privileges granted to each user.
For example, using GIS technology and Water Company billing information, it is possible to simulate the discharge of materials in the septic systems in a neighborhood upstream from a wetland. The bills show how much water is used at each address. The amount of water a customer uses will roughly predict the amount of material that will be discharged into the septic systems, so that areas of heavy septic discharge can be located using a GIS.
Platform Integration
Platform Integration ties up various Legacy systems, hardware, Operating Systems and other application platforms. Object Request Brokers (ORBs), Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs), Remote Method Invocation (RMI) and Extended Java Beans (EJB) are today’s technologies in Platform Integration.
Most of today’s GIS systems have open architecture design and support the state-of-the-art-technology like CORBA, XML and EJB that makes GIS-Enterprise Integration Process neutral to heterogeneous platforms.
Characteristics of EAI Solution
The entire framework provides adequate input for building EAI solution that supports the following qualities:
- Capable of integrating applications within the enterprise as well as across the enterprise.
- Imbibe the ongoing changes in IT business infrastructure.
- Support open standards on varied topologies.
- Eliminate redundant data repositories
- Reduce overall cost of IT infrastructure
- Facilitate business process management
- Easy and speedy transaction processing
- Automation and generalization
EAI Architecture
Traditionally integration was point-to-point having direct interface between the systems to be integrated. This approach requires unusual efforts as the number of applications increase and moreover causes loss of data integrity.
A better attempt is using an Integration Bus methodology. EAI applies this ‘middleware’ architecture to improve messaging, set up a common connectivity and provide security.
There are 3 major types of Middleware
- Message-Oriented Middleware (MOM)
- Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Middleware
- Object Request Broker (ORB) Middleware
Message-Oriented Middleware (MOM)
MOM enables movement of data packaged as messages between independent applications on multiple platforms and across disparate networks with a guarantee of delivery. MOM is used in distributed networks to manage the message distribution, receipt confirmation, and error handling processes
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Middleware
RPC is synchronized with basic data-type translation and connection-oriented communication services and can also refer to products that use Interface Definition Language (IDL) to describe the argument lists for outgoing and incoming parameters. Normally DBMSs and Database Gateways incorporate RPCs into their applications.
Object Request Broker (ORB) Middleware
ORB Middleware connect at the business logic level by using defined standards and connecting objects, such as customers, accounts and transactions. This is most suitable to organizations obtaining new applications or developing applications internally.
Middleware Message Services
Most of the EAI models apply message broker that is built on Message-Oriented Middleware (MOM) to enable integration at either application level or database level, as it is very flexible, reliable and secure.
To address message tracking on a distributed network, MOM supports different message services like Store and Forward Middleware, Publish and Subscribe Middleware, Event Registry and Intelligent Routing Services.
Store and Forward services holds messages in a central queue if the recipient is Offline. An email application illustrates this method. Event Registry Services enables the establishment of an event registry and event monitoring services as in Transaction Processing Monitor(TPM) Software. Intelligent Routing Middleware Services ensure the message gets delivered to the appropriate recipients in the correct sequence. Some software that are capable of letting the end-user to create “pre-routing” do it through Intelligent Routing. Publish and Subscribe Middleware may publish event messages to the subscribed applications. For example, an inventory is moved and the inventory manager wants to locate it geographically on the map. The Inventory system and the GIS system subscribe to the event. Inventory system publishes a locate event and the GIS system receives the event message and initiate processes to fetch the spatial coordinates and locate the inventory on a graphical map. Middleware can divide, reconfigure and string up messages based on predefined rules. The reconfigured messages are sent to appropriate target systems. It utilizes rule engines, transformation engines, and intelligent routing mechanisms to transform data from application-specific to a common unit and vice-versa.
GIS Enterprise Architecture
As said above connectivity of GIS to other Enterprise applications is better achieved by an "integration-bus". In this, all systems talk to a single integration bus, which is a system (i.e., middleware) that manages the passing of messages among applications. The Integration broker performs routing and transformation for each message based on a specification.
Message-brokers mostly provide interfaces that connect applications to the common integration-bus. These interfaces are called ‘adapters’ or ‘connectors’. Adapters in addition to read/write data between applications, also provide a means to apply data transformation, security and business rules attached to the application logic. It is also possible to extend or modify the adapter if the target application is modified. Many vendors are now offering Software Development Kit (SDKs) to build custom adapters. The most popular ones are TIBCO, Vitria and MQ Series. Adapter SDKs are used to develop Custom adapters with minimum coding. These custom adapters let GIS Application to plug in to the BUS. Major GIS vendors are also equipping their software with a Development tool to link directly to Integration Bus or to synchronize with the EAI Adapters available in the market.
Industry Standards
With so many EAI providers/vendors from different organizations and different nations, there is desideratum to adhere to some common Industry standards. Standards are emerging to be the most powerful entity in Integration orbit. Right now the standards are at an infant stage. Only when we arrive at a more matured standard framework then only we can eliminate the heterogeneity in the Enterprise Application Integration.
While considering spatial integration with enterprise the following standards are normally followed:
- Open GIS Consortium
- Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS)
- Proprietary Formats (like Smallworld ds file and ESRI Shape file)