BPEL Basics

Web services standards, including web services description language (WSDL),
extensible markup language (XML), and simple object access protocol (SOAP), have
emerged as an effective and highly interoperable platform for publishing services. In
addition, high performance binding frameworks enable enterprises to access legacy
systems and native Java code without having to wrap them in a SOAP interface.


BPEL Concepts
BPEL is emerging as the clear standard for composing multiple synchronous and
asynchronous services into collaborative and transactional process flows. BPEL
benefits from over 15 years of research that improves upon its predecessor languages
of XLANG and WSFL. BPEL provides the following features:
¦ Web services/WSDL as component model
¦ XML as data model (data loose-coupling)
¦ Synchronous and asynchronous message exchange patterns
¦ Deterministic and nondeterministic flow coordination
¦ Hierarchical exception management
¦ Long-running unit of work/compensation
Since the BPEL specification was submitted to the Organization for the Advancement
of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) in March 2003, it has gained the support
of nearly every major industry vendor. This provides a great benefit to enterprises that
can now implement their business processes in a standard and portable way, avoiding
vendor-specific rules to a degree not previously possible.

Oracle BPEL Process Manager is loaded into Oracle JDeveloper. This extends the
functionality of Oracle JDeveloper to enable you to model, edit, and design business
processes using BPEL.

Oracle JDeveloper provides a graphical and user-friendly way
to build BPEL processes.

What is unique about Oracle JDeveloper is that it uses BPEL
as its native format. This means that processes built with Oracle JDeveloper are 100%
portable.

The core BPEL engine provides the most
mature, scalable, and robust implementation of a BPEL server available today.

Oracle BPEL Process
Manager also provides a dehydration capability that enables the states of long-running
flows to be automatically maintained in a database, thus enabling clustering for both
fail over and scalability.

The built-in integration services enable you to use advanced connectivity and
transformation capabilities of standard BPEL processes. These capabilities include
support for XSLT and XQuery transformation, and bindings to hundreds of legacy
systems through Java connector architecture (JCA) adapters and native protocols.

The extensible WSDL binding framework enables connectivity to protocols and
message formats other than SOAP.
Bindings are available for JMS, e-mail, JCA, HTTP
GET, HTTP POST, and many other protocols enabling simple connectivity to hundreds
of back-end systems.


How Is Oracle BPEL Process Manager Different?

¦ The power of an open standard

By capturing your business processes in BPEL, you protect your intellectual
property and investments while avoiding vendor lock-in. BPEL is to business
process management what SQL is to data management.

¦ Unparalleled visibility and administration

Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g BPEL Control reduces the cost and complexity of
deploying and managing your business processes. Visually monitor the execution
of each BPEL process, drill down into the audit trail and view the details of each
conversation, or debug a running flow against its BPEL implementation.

¦ Open and flexible binding framework

You can orchestrate XML Web services, and also Java/J2EE components, portals,
JCA interfaces, and Java message service (JMS) destinations. You can tie into
back-end systems. You can use your Java skills and application server investments.


Identifying Ports
Identify several port numbers that were automatically configured during installation.
You use these port numbers when creating application server and integration server
connections to Oracle BPEL Server.
1. Use a text editor to open the SOA_Oracle_
Home\bpel\utilities\ant-orabpel.properties file.
2. Make note of the ports being used by the following properties:
¦ http.port
¦ opmn.requestport
These port values are required later when you create connections in "Creating
Oracle Application Server and Integration Server Connections"