IBM® InfoSphere™ Traceability Server
version 3 is
available. Compatibility, installation, and other getting-started
issues are addressed.
Introduction
IBM InfoSphere Traceability Server
version 3 helps
enterprises capture, manage, and share track-and-trace information
about products and assets for real-time analysis and decision making.
Traceability data is used for a variety of operations and solutions,
including monitoring pharmaceutical supplies, tracking automotive
assets, tracing food products, and overseeing other supply chain needs.
IBM InfoSphere Traceability Server
version 3 offers
a framework to build solutions that use the sensor and other traceability
data. Built on a standards-based, scalable and security-rich architecture, IBM InfoSphere Traceability Server
version 3 delivers
sophisticated technology used by a variety of tools and operations
to enable multiple business use cases. The insight and intelligence
gained from these applications can generate significant savings by
helping companies streamline their critical business and supply chain
processes.
New features
Key features
of
IBM InfoSphere Traceability Server
version 3 include:
- Event capture
- A more robust and better performing capture that reads, validates,
records, and updates the state of traced entities
- New functionality for event validation, event extensibility, and
synchronous/asynchronous invocation patterns
- Compliance with the Electronic Product Code Information Services
(EPCIS) V1.0.1 standard, including support for EPCIS queries
- Track and trace
- Track and trace data model that presents EPCIS event data in an
operational view
- Optimized operational query performance by supporting rapid operational
queries
- Operational queries
- A set of out-of-the-box operational queries for common operational
questions
- Option to generate custom operational queries to leverage serialization-enabled
insights into your supply chain process
- Reduced development time and cost for custom applications
- Installation and configuration
- A new installation tool to provide a more user-friendly and quicker
installation process
- Provision of a default installation or ability to tailor the installation
process for your business environment
- An optimized and easier system configuration by separating configuration
of IBM InfoSphere Traceability Server, IBM WebSphere® Application Server, WebSphere MQ, and the database
from the installation process
- A launchpad used as a starting point for the IBM InfoSphere Traceability Server installation,
configuration, and deployment to enhance a user-friendly experience
- High availability
- A mechanism that offers failover support for the software stack
- Master data enhancements
- Improvements that help manage vocabularies, domains, and hierarchies
- Support to work with Location master data that is stored on the
Master Data Management Server 9.0.1
- Support for a delta update of EPCIS hierarchies
- Enhancements to support master data import that contains special
XML characters
- Serial number management improvements
- A feature that helps regulate resources, rules, and policies,
including a user interface for managing serial numbers
Changed functionality
IBM InfoSphere Traceability Server
version 3 contains
some changes in functionality:
- MaxEventCount parameter
- The MaxEventCount parameter can be specified in one of two places:
as part of a simple event query (SimpleEventQuery) and in the RFIDICServer.xml file.
In IBM InfoSphere Traceability
Server Version 2,
if this parameter was specified in both places, the parameter in the
query took precedence. In IBM InfoSphere Traceability Server
version 3,
the opposite is true: if the parameter is specified in both places,
the smaller of the two takes precedence.
Known limitations, problems, and
workarounds
As limitations and problems are discovered and
resolved, the IBM Support team
updates the online knowledge base. By searching the Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQs), you can find solutions to problems that you
experience. To learn more, see the Support Portal fact sheet.
Following
is a description of a current limitation with the product:
- Current® limitation
- During event metadata definition in the EPCISDocumentMetaData.xml file,
if an attribute definition of an event extension includes a namespace
prefix in its path, you must prepend the full namespace URL plus the # symbol
to the attribute name. Otherwise, you will experience problems when
you query the attribute. Once this limitation is addressed, you can
have a namespace prefix in the attribute path without also needing
to include the namespace URL and the # symbol in
the attribute name.
- A correct example follows:
</tns:EventType>
<Name>ObjectEvent</Name>
<Path>ObjectEvent</Path>
<Attribute>eventTime</Attribute>
<Attribute>recordTime</Attribute>
...
<!-- object event extension attributes -->
<Attribute>http://www.ibm.com/xmlns/prod/ts/rcm#assetType</Attribute> Namespace URL and "#" are pre-pended
</tns:EventType>
...
<tns:AttributeMetaData>
<Name>http://www.ibm.com/xmlns/prod/ts/rcm#assetType</Name> Namespace URL and "#" are pre-pended
<Path>rcm:assetType</Path> Namespace prefix is included
<Required>false</Required>
<Type>string</Type>
<MaxSize>100</MaxSize>
<TableName>event</TableName>
<ColumnName>asset_type</ColumnName>
</tns:AttributeMetaData>
- An incorrect example follows:
</tns:EventType>
<Name>ObjectEvent</Name>
<Path>ObjectEvent</Path>
<Attribute>eventTime</Attribute>
<Attribute>recordTime</Attribute>
...
<!-- object event extension attributes -->
<Attribute>assetType</Attribute> Namespace URL and "#" are missing
</tns:EventType>
...
<tns:AttributeMetaData>
<Name>assetType</Name> Namespace URL and "#" are missing
<Path>rcm:assetType</Path> Namespace prefix is present
<Required>false</Required>
<Type>string</Type>
<MaxSize>100</MaxSize>
<TableName>event</TableName>
<ColumnName>asset_type</ColumnName>
</tns:AttributeMetaData>
Following is a list of known problems and workarounds:
- If you try to extract the release image using the native AIX® or Solaris tar command, you
may get an @LongLink error.
- Install and use the GNU version of tar, found at http://www.gnu.org, when you extract
the IBM InfoSphere Traceability Server tar
image on AIX or Solaris. The IBM Installation
Manager installation
kits that are included on the product DVD media use a directory structure
that may be too deep for some Unix platforms, namely AIX and Solaris. This error is caused by the
length of the filename, which includes the full path of the file,
because it is too long for the native OS command. If you are using
the DVD to install the product, you will not encounter this problem.
- An event that is returned by the SimpleEventQuery has the attributes
listed in a different order than the original submitted event, making
the event non-compliant with the EPCIS requirement that attributes
be in a certain order.
- Order the attributes in the EPCISDocumentMetaData.xml file
in the order in which they appear in the original event that IBM InfoSphere Traceability Server captures.
- If you have security enabled and make a group change, your changes
may not be detected.
- If you make a group change, you must restart IBM WebSphere Application Server.
This workaround applies to IBM InfoSphere Traceability Server installations
with security enabled. If the group membership for a user is changed
in the OS or directory (LDAP), the IBM WebSphere Application Server instance
containing IBM InfoSphere Traceability Server must
be restarted for the changes to be detected.
- If you update master data or remove elements, the capture validation
rules continue to accept events with the deleted master data.
- Since validation rules do not recognize that master data elements
have been deleted unless IBM WebSphere Application Server is
restarted, restart IBM WebSphere Application Server whenever
master data is deleted.
- After you deploy a TSAR file, you receive a ClassCastException
in response to some web service calls or notice that validation rules
do not execute.
- Because the TSAR deployment scripts start and stop IBM InfoSphere Traceability Server applications
but not applications for IBM WebSphere Application Server,
restart IBM WebSphere Application Server after
you deploy a TSAR file.
- If you add a new custom entity that is not supported by the default IBM InfoSphere Traceability Server configuration,
you will receive a NameNotFoundException for the ts/cache/NewEntityName name.
- If you add any custom entity, define the metadata for the new
custom entity and create a IBM WebSphere Application Server cache
through the IBM WebSphere Application Server Administrative
Console for the new entity. The cache framework expects the following
naming convention for the JNDI cache name: ts/cache/NewEntityName,
where NewEntityName is the metadata file.IBM InfoSphere Traceability Server supports
product, location, source, and partner as default entities.
Deprecated products
The
following products and services have been deprecated:
- the solution class loader web service
- the event model used by custom-written alerts
- any namespace that contains the rfidic string
See the hardware
and software requirements topic for the complete list of IBM InfoSphere Traceability Server version
requirements.
Contacting Customer Support
If
you live in the U.S.A., you can call one of the following numbers:
- 1-800-IBM-SERV (1-800-426-7378) for customer service.
- 1-888-426-4343 to learn about available service options.
Notices and trademarks
The
following terms are trademarks of International Business Machines
Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both:
- AIX
- Cognos
- DB2®
- IBM
- InfoSphere
- Tivoli®
- WebSphere
Linux is a registered
trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries,
or both.
Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, and the Windows logo are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States,
other countries, or both.
Java and
all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks
of Oracle and/or its affiliates.