Adapter Requirements

Use

The adapters that you develop for SAP NetWeaver Process Integration must meet certain requirements. SAP sets these requirements to provide the customer with an adapter that is easy to use, configure, and manage.

Integration

Any requirements that you must meet are also covered in the SAP certification process.

Features

Guidelines for Adapter Design

Cluster-enabled
AS Java allows you to cluster many servers.

Take the side effects of clustering into account in your adapter design.

Note
For example, if the quality of service in your adapter is to be Exactly Once In Order, you must prevent queue-jumping, which is possible due to the parallel processing of multiple clusters of the same physical connection.

More information: Quality of Service
Specialization
In your adapter, establish a connection to exactly one type of business system or industry transport protocol, for example, UCCnet, EDI, or CIDX.
Direct connection
In your adapter, establish the connection to a business system or an industry transport protocol directly.

Do not use any other software.
Lightweight
Develop a 'lightweight' adapter.

Avoid unnecessary and frequent changes, for example, many new or changed system DLLs.

Using Adapter Framework Interfaces

Use the following adapter framework interfaces for your adapter:

Interface	Remarks	Use Obligatory
JCA 1.0-compliant Using the Java Connector Architecture 1.0	Your adapter must meet the JCA 1.0 SPI requirements (for example, deployment, server contracts) and the optional JCA 1.0 requirements that are used by SAP NetWeaver Process Integration (for example, CCI). You can ignore the JCA 1.0 requirements, which are not required within PI.	Yes
Adapter Framework message exchange Message Exchange	The minimum requirement for your adapter is connectivity. It must be able to receive messages from the Adapter Framework and forward them to the connected business system, and the other way round.	Yes
Adapter Framework adapter-specific modules Message Exchange	Program the specific message and protocol conversion either entirely within the adapter or implement it in adapter-specific modules. These modules are called in the module processor. More information: Module Processor	No
Configuration Services Adapter Configuration in the Integration Builder	Without a uniform adapter configuration, customers, consultants, and technical support have difficulties in managing adapters.	Yes
Administration services Administration	The user can use the same management and error diagnosis tools for all adapters.	Yes
Utility services AS Java Resource Access	The Adapter Framework utility service provides access to basic AS Java resources and to the AS Java keystore, mainly to transactions and threads. They must be controlled by AS Java. Use multi-threading and some public and private certificates in the adapters.	Yes
Logging API Tracing, Logging, and Monitoring	You can use your own logging mechanisms for your adapter.	No
Message data exchange Message Metadata	The message metadata provides the structure definition of the XI message. You can also define message types in the Enterprise Services Repository. More information: External Definitions	No