- From: Assaf Arkin <arkin@intalio.com>
- Date: Tue, 20 May 2003 14:37:43 -0700
- To: public-ws-chor@w3.org
This is a use case I submitted before. One of the issues we had to tackle was the unfortunate but very realistic fact that not all communication is done using SOAP. Some is and will forever be done using alternative technologies like phone, fax and snailmail. The question then becomes, can you write a choreography that uses technologies like WSDL and still doesn't get confused when things happen offline. There are a lot of creative ways to extend WSDL/SOAP, perhaps by proposing bindings to VoiceML and FaxML ;-) But I think the simple answer lies in how systems are used right now to handle voice-based protocols, hardcopy documents, etc. Supply Acme Co. has an automated system for fulfilling orders. The supplier works with some customers that have an automated procurement system and both use SOAP to conduct transactions electronically. However, some customers have not automated their system. Acme Co. would like to conduct business with these customers and do so in an automated fashion. Acme Co. develops a Web-based front end system for these customers using HTTP and HTML technologies. Customers log into the system using their customer identifier and are able to place orders, track their status and print out invoices. Acme Co. also has a helpdesk which allows customers to conduct transactions offline. A customer may send an order by fax, or call to check the order status, and an Acme Co representative would use the Web-based front end system to perform an online operation on their behalf. Acme Co would like to have one definition for all transactions involving its customers regardless of technology. The business semantics are identical whether information is exchanged using SOAP, through the Web-based front-end or with the help of a representative. Acme Co realizes that reducing the number of business processes it needs to support would improve its efficiency. Acme Co choses the proxy approach. It defines a single choreography that would be used for all transactions with its customers. The choreography is expressed in the form of WSDL operations that are performed by its order fulfillment service and the customer's procurement service. Protocol bindings and service end-points are defined for those customers that use SOAP. The Web-based front end and helpdesk systems are defined as services that implement the role of a procurement system as defined by the customer process in that choreography. In this particular case it uses SOAP to communicate with fulfillment system. Although the Web-based front end is running in the same environment as the order fulfillment service, it is considered to be a customer service. When it exchanges messages it uses the security credentials given to the customer and not those of Acme Co to prevent one customer from learning about orders belonging to other customers. This distinction is important. From a technological perspective both Acme Co's and the customer's service run in the same domain of control. However, from a business perspective these are two different domains of controls, and customers are identified as different non-overlapping domains of control. Acme Co manages its policy with regards to each customer in a uniform manner regardless of which technology is used to conduct the transaction or how far SOAP messages have to travel. Once completed, Acme Co has: - A uniform representation of the choreography between its fulfillment service the the customer procurement service - A single business process to maintain - The means to support customers that do not have automated processes using the uniform model - A mechanism to support its security policies regardless of "location" of the customer service
Received on Tuesday, 20 May 2003 17:40:21 UTC