Oracle8i Application Developer's Guide - XML Release 3 (8.1.7) Part Number A86030-01 |
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Using Oracle Advanced Queuing (AQ) in XML Data Exchange, 3 of 6

## How do AQ and XML Complement Each Other?

A key strength of XML is that you can use it as a common format for data exchange between applications. XML is self-describing and an application can share its data without any predefined knowledge of the applications receiving the data. XML is used to define messages communicated between two or more applications, while AQ is used to enable and manage that communication.

Figure 9-1 shows an Oracle8i database using AQ to communicate with three applications, with XML as the message payload. The main tasks performed by AQ in this scenario are:

- Message flow using subscription rules

- Message management

- Extracting business intelligence from messages

This is an intra-business scenario where XML messages are passed asynchronously among applications within an organization via AQ. Examples of this kind of scenario include sales order fulfillment and supply-chain management.

A similar scenario can apply to inter-business processes in which multiple integration hubs communicate over the Internet backplane. Examples of inter-business scenarios include travel reservations, coordination between manufacturers and suppliers, transferring of funds between banks, and insurance claims settlements, among others. Oracle uses this in its enterprise application integration products. XML messages are sent from applications to an AQ hub, here shown as an OIS hub. This serves as a "message server" for any application that wants the message. Through this hub and spoke architecture, XML messages can be communicated asynchronously to multiple loosely-coupled receiving applications.

#### Figure 9-1 Advanced Queueing and XML Message Payloads

#### AQ Enables Hub-and-Spoke Architecture for Application Integration

A critical challenge facing enterprises today is application integration. Application integration involves getting multiple departmental applications to cooperate, coordinate, and synchronize in order to execute complex business transactions.

Advanced Queuing enables hub-and-spoke architecture for application integration. It makes integrated solution easy to manage, easy to configure, and easy to modify with changing business needs.

#### Messages Can be Retained for Auditing, Tracking, and Mining

Message management provided by AQ is not only used to manage the flow of messages between different applications, but also, messages can be retained for future auditing and tracking, and extracting business intelligence.

#### Viewing Message Content With SQL Views

AQ also provides SQL views to look at the messages. These SQL views can be used to analyze the past, current, and future trends in the system.

#### Advantages of Using AQ

AQ provides the flexibility of configuring communication between different applications.

An XML message can be communicated using AQ in the following ways:

- Stored as an XML message in the AQ payload, as a VARCHAR or CLOB, or it can be compressed and stored as a BLOB.

- Using JMS, stored as a TextMessage or BytesMessage. It can also be processed into an object and stored as an ObjectMessage or an SQL ADT message.

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