XAware Solves Integration Problems with 'Executable XML'

Published: September 5, 2006

by Alex Woodie

Extensible Markup Language is normally not used as a language for writing executable code. Instead, it's typically viewed as a file format, albeit a very flexible one. But XAware, an IBM service oriented architectures (SOA) business partner, has found a way to wring more use out of XML's self-referential nature by hooking applications together using what it calls "executable XML." The company recently expanded on that theme with XA-Suite version 4.2, which was also certified for IBM systems, including the OS/400 server.

XAware, with its XA-Suite, is serving the need for SOA-based integration tools, which is expected to be a multibillion dollar market in several years. According to Rohit Mital, chief technology officer and co-founder of Colorado Springs, Colorado-based XAware, the rigidity of legacy interfaces, coupled with the lack of easy-to-use SOA tools, is creating a market for XA-Suite.

"People want to be able to access the information in their legacy systems, but using new access technologies," he says. "They want to be able to access an application as a service so they don't tightly couple the application [with the new mode of consumption]."

The Java-based XA-Suite accomplishes this task through several components, including the XA-Designer development environment, the XA-iServer runtime engine, and various adapters (for inputting from data sources) and connectors (for outputting to different formats).

Depending on the customer's particular industry, XAware can also provide additional products, such as a knowledge repository called Enterprise Aware, or the Business Service XCelerators (BSX) products.

Executable XML

XAware employs a "configuration-based" approach to Web services development that leverages existing metadata, as opposed to traditional programming. At the same time, the company has refined its approach by focusing on a few key industries, including insurance, financial services, and government services, which has the side effect of boosting the reusability of assets created with its tools to 50 to 60 percent--a reusability rate competitors cannot match, Mital says.

"Rather than being purely horizontal, we try to be more vertical with industry-specific solutions," he says. "Another important thing when you create service applications is, if you don't get reusability . . . you're not going to get an ROI. Our approach , rather than build them in Java code, is to make them more configuration driven, through a process we call 'executable XML.'"

Executable XML is one of the key ingredients that makes XA-Suite easy to use. "Executable XML knows what to do, what kind of orchestrations, how to apply business rules," Mital says, adding that XAware has received a patent for its work on executable XML, which resides in its iServer.

iSeries Experience

XAware has experience with the OS/400 server going back to 2000, when it worked on part of the EPA Network Node Project, a project to facilitate better sharing of information among state environmental agencies and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Different platforms and databases at each of the agencies--including Oracle database running on Windows and Novell, SQL Server database running on Windows, and DB2 running on an AS/400--made it difficult to share information without rekeying the data into new systems and performing other manual tasks. However, by using the XA-Suite, the groups were able to aggregates data from the different systems into a single XML-based database that all systems could view and read.

"The XAware product does what we need, it's easy to use, and they are supportive in each of our different projects," said Dennis Burling, the information technology manager for the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, the AS/400 shop among the bunch, according to a case study on the XAware Web site (in PDF format). Since that time, the XAware implementation has become a model for other states to use, and Burling's IT crew has found new uses for the XA-Suite in Nebraska, as well.

4.2 Enhancements

With XA-Suite version 4.2, announced last month, the company has made several significant changes, and achieved IBM certifications. Perhaps the biggest enhancement, according to Mital, is the capability to run the XA-Designer as a plug-in to IBM's Eclipse development framework, which gives the XA-Designer user access to all of the other utilities that plug into Eclipse.

Support for "J2EE BizDriver" is another enhancement. Support for this technology enables the XA-Designer to access J2EE managed resources, such as JMS or data connection pools managed by an application server, at design time, the company says. This is important because it allows more "wizard-driven" development, and less modification and testing as new integrations are rolled into production.

Support for complex SQL statements has also been rolled into this release. This enhancement makes XA-Designer compatible with widely used query generation and optimization tools and enables drag-and-drop mapping results, the company says. Similarly, support for relative paths in version 4.2 should boost integration with source code control systems and makes it easier for multiple developers to collaborate.

Lastly, the XA-Suite gains greater interoperability with Web services created by other development tools in other styles, including RPC encoded and literal, document/literal, and document/literal wrapped styles. So, if an XAware user had some Web services developed in IBM's WebSphere, the user should run into fewer problems making them work together.

Aligned with IBM

Mital makes no bones that XAware is more closely aligned with IBM and its development strategies, which hinges on Java. This alignment is born from experience, as the company migrated its software from Microsoft's C++ code, with which it had "initial problems," to Java.

"I think it's the leading standard when it comes to service oriented architectures," Mital says of IBM. "That's not to say anything against Microsoft, BEA, or Oracle. I think IBM is head and shoulders above them."

It also doesn't hurt that many of XAware's companies are "true Blue" shops, according to Mital. To that end, the company certified its latest software on IBM's latest enterprise hardware, including: a System i 520 with i5/OS V5R4; System i 520 running Novell SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 Service Pack 3; System p 570 with AIX 5.3 TL 4; System p 570 with SLEP 9 SP3; IBM zSeries z990 with z/OS 1.7; and zSeries z990 running SLEP 9 SP3.

XAware also received the first two levels of SOA certification, Connect and Extend, from IBM. "XAware's unique approach to SOA is compatible with IBM's goals," says Sandy Carter, vice president of SOA and WebSphere in IBM Software. "We are excited to work with them to create advanced SOA applications."

XA-Suite version 4.2 is available now. The product is sold on a per-CPU basis, with prices ranging from $25,000 to $50,000 per CPU. For more information, visit www.xaware.com.