Use of XFT by Pierre & Vacances IT team Pierre & Vacances September 2009
Table of content. XFT IN THE INFORMATION SYSTEM. ASYNCHRONOUS PROCESS WITH XFT. EXCHANGE WITH PARTNERS. CONCLUSION
1. Information System ow it was before XFT The reservation system (CRS) as a central component Other applications directly connected to each others Communication between applications using programming interfaces or text files No common data format, no common business language
1. Information System he initial situation The CRS based on IBM/AS400 is 15 years old More and more new business requirements The CRS has to be changed If we change it, other applications won t work anymore
1. Information System he solution (1/3) Decoupling the CRS and the other applications Messages to communicate inside the Information System Open standards : XML based messages and HTTP protocole Enterprise Service Bus to route the messages
1. Information System he solution (2/3)
1. Information System he solution (3/3) All applications are at the same level An ESB is used to route messages from an application to another Not any application is directly connected to another 2 different CRS can be used at the same time (migration period) We need a business oriented language for the messages This language must be able to express all P&V business complexi
1. Information System FT for the messages Good experience with XFT Already setup a sales platform using XFT webservices Pierre & Vacances is a member of the XFT association A real language The schema is rich and not limited to sales Can be used to create new services quickly Easy to extend when new business needs appear : detailled customers, specific documents, asynchronous process,
1. Information System onnecting 1 application to the Bus, 3 cases : The application already implements an XFT/HTTP interface Nothing to do The application implements a specific programming interface We can develop an adaptator for XFT/HTTP The application cannot be changed or adapted. The only interface plain old data files We can use the bus to transform these files into XFT format and se them over HTTP to any other connected application
1. Information System onnecting 1 application to the Bus, 3 cases :
Summary. XFT IN THE INFORMATION SYSTEM. ASYNCHRONOUS PROCESS WITH XFT. EXCHANGE WITH PARTNERS. CONCLUSION
2. Asynchronous Process mplementing an asynchronous process using XFT and HTT For off-line process : Document generation Batch processing Data exchange and synchronization XFT provides an asynchonous transaction format : A Process transaction for the distant procedure launching A Notification transaction for the call-back
2. Asynchronous Process synchronous process case : document generation
2. Asynchronous Process FT Asynchronous Process request
Summary. XFT IN THE INFORMATION SYSTEM. ASYNCHRONOUS PROCESS WITH XFT. EXCHANGE WITH PARTNERS. CONCLUSION
3. Exchange with partners nside P&V Information System Only XFT messages Every message is routed by the Bus e need to open it to the outside Electronic distribution (Tour operators, Travel agencies) Providers (Hotels, services) No problem for XFT partners Use transformations for other standards
3. Exchange with partners onnecting partners
3. Exchange with partners FT / OTA transformation Booking synchronization between P&V CRS and Acco Hotels management system From XFT GetBooking transaction To OTA HotelResRQ request XFT richer than OTA no data loss
FT richer than OTA? XFT at Pierre & Vacances 3. Exchange with partners Example for booking prices / rates OTA_HotelResRS : XFT getbooking :
Conclusion NABLE DECOUPLING XFT as a standard of exchange between applications Messages policy instead of direct connections ICH CONTENT A real language with structured content and reusable objects ( > text content) Express enterprise data : bookings, catalogue, documents, customers VOLUTIVE Only one XSD for all the transactions Easy to create new services Sticks to new business requirements