Active Declarative Integration Rules for Developing Distributed Multi-Tiered Applications

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Although there are tools that allow access to information and data from distributed sources, there is a strong need to develop a semantic layer on top of such tools to deal with the challenging requirements of applications built from distributed software components. This research is investigating the design of an integration rule language and the development of a middle-tier, rule-processing framework for the integration of distributed, black-box components. Integration rules are active, specifying how objects react to events, and declarative, specifying the conditions under which the defined action should be executed. The rules are used within an integration framework that encapsulates the processing logic associated with the interconnection of distributed components. A user interface allows the user to graphically specify the processing logic, which is automatically translated into the appropriate integration rules. Integration rules are executed within a rule engine, which is designed to build on the recognized strengths of distributed object computing with CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) and the Java programming language. The expressiveness and use of integration rules are evaluated by case study comparisons of integrating components using imperative code versus the use of integration rules. The development of such a rule-processing environment has an immediate relevance to the integration of distributed applications, such as electronic commerce, engineering design and manufacturing, and Web-based applications, in general. This integration framework provides a rapid approach to the construction of multi-tiered applications that separate processing logic from client and data sources.