Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC) refers to the cloud-based integration between various applications and services. Oracle offers a combination of prebuilt connectivity to on-premises and SaaS applications. It allows integrating multiple technologies with Oracle cloud applications, resulting in better application management and more features. It also helps in gaining insights into the business, automating processes, and creating visual applications. In Oracle, there are countless OIC Adapters that can be used for cloud integration.
The word Adapter generally means something that adapts or converts incompatible information into compatible information for end-users. Adapters in the cloud are programs that control the transfer of information between users and a cloud. In general, Oracle adapters are ready to use and pre-built blocks of code for specific technologies. Oracle Adapters allow connectivity and integration of the cloud with Oracle applications. They support various integration interface types like SQL API, Open Interface Table, XML Gateway, Business Gateway, E-Commerce Gateway, and many more.
Advantages of OIC Adapters
Oracle Integration Adapters offer numerous advantages in Oracle Applications, with key features of OIC adapters including:
- Allows integrating various Oracle and third-party technologies.
- Supports the widest range of integration types.
- Works securely under the configured connection between Oracle Applications and Oracle Fusion Middleware, using authentication with Username and password.
- Leverages Oracle User Management function security to allow only authorized users to access and execute APIs.
- Supports Multiple Organization Access Control (MOAC) and multiple languages based on the application context concept.
- Implements global transaction control with a two-phase commit by leveraging the underlying JCA standards-compliant framework.
- Adapters support multiple versions of the E-Business Suite from the same instance of the adapter at design time.
Types of Oracle OIC Adapters
Various types of adapters can be used in Oracle Cloud. I have listed down only a few of the Oracle adapter categories and a brief introduction of them. It will help you to get an idea of Adapters in OIC and their uses.
Technology Adapters
In Oracle cloud applications, technology adapters enable the integration of various useful technologies. Some of the technology adapters integrated with the Oracle cloud include the Apache Kafka Adapter, AS2 Adapter, File Adapter, FTP Adapter, MySQL Adapter, Microsoft SQL Server Adapter, REST Adapter, SOAP Adapter, and many more. Below is a brief explanation of the REST Adapter and SOAP Adapter, which are commonly used:
- REST Adapter: The REST (Representational State Transfer) Adapter is one of the most frequently used adapters in Oracle Integration Cloud. It can expose integrations as REST APIs by configuring the REST Adapter connection as a trigger. This adapter allows configuring multiple operations entry points with different resource URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers) and HTTP actions. When configured as a trigger, it ensures that incoming messages, structured messages, and JSON attachments do not exceed the size of 10 MB, 10 MB, and 1 GB, respectively.
- SOAP Adapter: The SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) Adapter consumes external SOAP APIs for messaging protocols in Oracle Integration Cloud. Messages received from the integration are passed as payloads to an external SOAP endpoint by the SOAP Adapter. When configured as a trigger, it ensures that the incoming structured payload (XML) and unstructured payload (MTOM) from a client do not exceed the size of 10 MB and 512 MB, respectively.
Oracle Application Adapters
Application adapters enable virtual connections to applications, services, or stores. They simplify integration by eliminating the complexity associated with web services and connectivity methods. Oracle offers a comprehensive library to connect various protocols required by each application vendor. Examples of application adapters include the Oracle NetSuite Adapter, Oracle Service Cloud Adapter, PayPal Adapter, Salesforce Adapter, SAP Commerce Cloud Adapter, Shopify Adapter, and many more.
Database Adapters
The Oracle Database Adapter utilizes the on-premises connectivity agent to integrate the Oracle database within the firewall of your on-premises environment. It enables the execution of SQL queries or stored procedures in the Oracle database. Key features of these adapters include the ability to create, update, and manage the database. Examples of database adapters include the IBM DB2 Adapter, Microsoft SQL Server Adapter, Oracle Autonomous Data Warehouse (ADW) Adapter, Oracle Database Adapter, and many more.
E-Commerce Adapters
E-Commerce, the service of purchasing goods by transferring money via the internet, is widely adopted by users in the present and upcoming modern era. Oracle E-commerce Adapters, such as the Oracle Commerce Cloud Adapter, PayPal Adapter, SAP Commerce Cloud Adapter, and Shopify Adapter, integrate with Oracle Applications to fulfill the need for E-Commerce services.
Social/Productivity Adapters
These adapters facilitate integration with social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Additionally, they encompass productivity tools like email clients or office suites such as Microsoft Office 365.
Database Adapters
Database adapters are utilized for accessing data from on-premises databases, including Oracle Database, Microsoft SQL Server, and IBM DB2. These adapters enable synchronization of data between an on-premises database and Oracle Integration Cloud bidirectionally.
For instance, suppose you have an Oracle table named Customers in an Oracle Database. You can establish a database adapter that links to that table and maps each row from the table to a record in Oracle Integration Cloud. Subsequently, you can configure the adapter to ensure that any modifications made in the database are replicated in Oracle Integration Cloud.
Oracle ATP Adapter
The Autonomous Transaction Processing (ATP) Adapter facilitates interoperability between your Oracle database and Oracle Integration. This adapter automatically manages the complexities of a wallet, enabling the execution of SQL statements or stored procedures on your Oracle database through the connection established with this adapter.
SOA Connectivity Adapters
SOA (Service-Oriented Architecture) is an architectural approach where applications utilize services available in the network. This approach offers advantages such as availability, reliability, scalability, service reusability, easy maintenance, and platform independence. The SOA Connectivity adapter, such as the Oracle SOA Suite Adapter, enables the implementation of the SOA architecture in a cloud environment.