WebSphere brand IBM WebSphere Telecom Web Services Server, Version 7.1

Service types

The Parlay specification defines a set of service types. Each service type has a service type name and an interface definition. Each service type also has a set of properties that define its capabilities.

When there is more than one service instance of a service type, the instances usually have different properties. If all of the service manager instances meet the needs of your application, you do not need to specify service properties for a service type. Otherwise, you must define service properties to ensure that the Parlay Connector selects the correct service manager from the Parlay gateway.

The Parlay Specification defines a set of service type names as possible values for TpServiceTypeName. Two gateways might define additional service type names. One gateway might define the names as additions to the specified list. Another gateway might define the names as replacements to the names in the list. In either case, both gateways are compliant with the Parlay specification.

Because service type names might vary from one gateway to another, applications must allow for configurable service type names. Before requesting a service manager, the application must locate the exact service type name in its configuration data.

Service managers

The Parlay Connector uses the default behavior to obtain a service manager from the Parlay gateway. By default, the connector specifies a service type and requests a single service manager from the gateway. If there is more than one service manager for the service type registered on the gateway, the gateway uses its own criteria to determine which service manager to return to the connector. You can control which service manager is returned to the connector by defining environment variables.

Although service managers are normally on remote computers, you can configure to obtain service managers implemented locally if the service managers meet certain requirements.

A Parlay client application obtains Parlay service managers by requesting them from the Parlay Connector as specified in the Parlay Connector APIs. The service managers available to a Parlay client application depend on the Parlay gateway and the service agreements in effect for the Parlay client. The vendor provides a list of Parlay services and the properties for each.

Multiple services of the same type

When you define service types for the Parlay Connector, you must create a unique definition for each service type. Therefore, you might have service types with the same name that have different properties. To differentiate between service types that have the same name but different properties, you can assign an alias name to represent a service type with specific properties.

For more information, refer to the topic Assigning aliases to service types.

Nonstandard service type names

As part of configuring Parlay Connector initialization, you can configure for nonstandard gateway services. This includes specifying nonstandard service type implementations.

A Parlay gateway might provide more than one service manager for a service type, each with its own set of properties. In this case, the Parlay gateway might use the standard service type name for one of the service managers and define a nonstandard service type name for each of the other service managers.

To configure the Parlay Connector for a gateway service that uses a nonstandard service type name with a standard interface definition, you must have the following information:
  • The service type name used on the gateway
  • The standard service type name for the service



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