Xephr® Datasources

Xephr® provides a variety of methods for data access. In total, these methods are referred to as datasources and are defined within the Xephr Studio. Each datasource is named and describes the mechanism used to provide access to the underlying data.

Xephr allows almost unlimited expansion of its possible datasources through its service architecture and plug-in management. All that is required if for the plug-in connector to conform to the Xephr Query Manager adaptor specification, and then to be registered with the plug-in manager (part of the Xephr Administration Console).

See Also: Datasources

JDBC Datasources

This kind of datasource uses JDBC (Java DataBase Connector) and is usually associated with a traditional data store. Although primarily designed for use with relational databases, there are “bridges” available to permit connection to non-relational data stores. One such bridge is the JDBC - ODBC bridge, which facilitates access to desktop data stores such as dBase IV, spreadsheets and others. Xephr includes native jdbc connectors for Oracle, PostgreSQL and ODBC (where the licensing rules of the owning company permit unrestricted distribution) and provides registration services, through its plug-in manager, for other connectors such as Microsoft's SQL Server, IBM's DB2 (or UDB – Universal DataBase), where the owning company does not permit unrestricted distribution.

JCA Datasources

The J2EE Connector Architecture is a high level specification for EIS (Enterprise Information System) specific resource adaptors. This style of connector is designed for access to EIS systems based on SAP R/3, IBM's CICS, Bull's GCOS, legacy COBOL, RPG, and 4GL applications, IMS, VSAM, FOCUS, Pick, and other non-relational database systems.

Xephr Interconnect

This datasource is used to allow another Xephr instance to act as a proxy for a remote datasource.

Web Services

This type of datasource permits access to SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) services either locally or on the Intranet/Internet. SOAP is a lightweight protocol intended for exchanging structured information in a decentralized, distributed environment. It uses XML technologies to define an extensible messaging framework providing a message construct that can be exchanged over a variety of underlying protocols (www.w3c.org). This is the open standard for service provision over the internet.

Message Queues

These datasources allow data to be read from and written to standard messaging queues. These include JMS (Java Messaging Service), SUN One Message Queue, MSMQ (Microsoft Message Queue) and others.

Xephr is a registered trademark of NDS Systems, LC.