ReStart has developed an integration architecture framework on top of the Java CAPS product in order to maximise the efficiency of implementation delivery and minimise the redevelopment of integration services.
The purpose of the ReStart Architecture is to reduce the effort involved in building and monitoring the integration space by providing an implementation that includes common services, a development framework, a test harness and a monitoring tool.
The architecture comprises:
The architecture is designed to be used as a SOA and to allow the use of a Common Message Format enabling application independence minimising the impact of changing or upgrading external systems.
The framework provides a set of generic collaborations that removes much of the common work in interface development and allows users to concentrate on specific interface processing, by allowing the dynamic selection of sub-collaborations at runtime.
Errors raised within the integration collaborations are sent to an error table within the database.
The engine is a pre-built, easily deployable integration engine that incorporates the framework. It comprises Connection and Channel modules that can be chained together for multi-stage processing.
The database is used in conjunction with the other ReStart modules for configuration and monitoring.
RestartUtils is a software library containing a rich set of common technical services that provides essential support for the integration engine and framework. The functionality includes:
The test harness allows developers to unit test interfaces in a very easily repeatable manner reporting success in a user-friendly way. Each test is configured in the database along with input and expected data, enabling success or failure of the test to be reported. The tests can be grouped into a set called by a script for the purpose of scheduled regression testing. Test data is delivered into the integration space using different technologies including: