BizAPI Development

BizAPI's are grouped by a combination of characteristics. The characteristic categories are the Message Direction and the Protocol Type. This page tries to sort out the differences between the different types of BizAPI's that exists in the set of valid combinations.

Categories of BizAPI's

The first part of the BizAPI category is the message direction:

Inbound: A BizAPI that handles incoming messages being sent to IFS Applications.
This BizAPI type is implemented in Java using the Java Server Framework of Extended Server
Outbound: BizAPI that handles outgoing messages from IFS Applications.
These messages are invoked from PL/SQL using the PLSQL Access Provider. A message containing only key values should be created in PLSQL and the BizAPI Java implementation should get and add the rest of the information. The complete message can be created in PLSQL but this may lead to performance problems when messages are large. There is also a simplified way to send outbound messages without creating a BizAPI.

The second part of the category indicates whether the BizAPI is of the type request/response.

Request/response type: These are messages that have a synchronous response returned and assumes a short-lived transaction. Examples are: CHECK_AVAILABILITY, LIST_PRICES. These messages are always synchronous and don't use message queues. The sender hangs (execution suspended) and waits for the response.
Not of the request/response type: These are documents that are submitted to an application or system. They are often part of a long-lived transaction. Examples of this are RECEIVE_CUSTOMER_ORDER, SEND_ORDER_RESPONSE. These messages are always asynchronous and use message queues for batch execution.