Connections

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A connection describes an online communication between source and target endpoints, which can be systems or companies. A connection can also be an integration or transaction.

The source connects to a target. source endpoints play a client, sender, publisher or requester role. Target endpoints play a server, receiver, subscriber or replier role.

NOTE

The target endpoint of a connection can be characterized as an interface that delivers capabilities. Therefore, when you add a capability to a connection, you are in effect describing the target interface.

About subconnections

You can divide connection into subconnections to define the technical details. From the business side, a connection might appear to be a single connection between two important business systems or partners. However, the technical implementation of the connection consists of a number of stages. A logical connection can include many waypoints. For example, transactions between partner business systems can be routed over message buses, proxied over EDI gateways, or staged on FTP servers. You can capture these technical details using sub-connections.

A top-level connection should always represent a business transaction. In other words, top-level connections should always be relevant to a business-oriented reader. These business transactions are the most important to capture because they represent the commerce of your enterprise.

Especially when modeling asynchronous transactions, be sure to use business applications as top level endpoints so that transactional flows and dependencies can always be identified. Do not use hub systems or service buses as endpoints, but instead define these technical details using sub-connections.

Subconnections are connection records, and will appear in reports as such.

Related capabilities

Capabilities where this connection plays a role in delivery.

The target side of a connection can be characterized as an interface, and interfaces deliver capabilities. Therefore, when you add a capability to a connection, you are defining the target interface.

Connection fields

Field name	Description
Description	Description of the entity. Connections do not have a name attribute, but are named according to the data that is associated to the connection. Until data is associated to the connection, the description is used as the connection name in views and reports. Therefore we recommend that you enter a brief phrase that describes the data transmission, for example, "Transmit payment." Note: If you do not enter a description, the barometer number is used until data is associated to the connection.
Type	The technical implementation of the connection in the very broadest terms, for example, database, web service call, remote invocation, etc.
Pattern	The integration pattern (for example request/response or publish/subscribe) that the connection follows.
Data Structure	The technical and/or business specification that describes the format of the transmitted payload. The list of data structures are configured by your workspace administrator.
Transport	The specification that best describes the technical connectivity layer: HTTP, FTP, or JMS, for example.
Lifecycle State	The state of the entity with respect to enterprise management and planning.
Frequency	The frequency of transmissions. This can be any unit of time from real-time to annual.
Source Format	The technical and/or business specification that best describes the format of the payload at the point that it exits the source system or company.
Target Format	The technical and/or business specification that best describes the format of the payload at the point that it enters the target system or company.
Content Status	State of the entity record. Content status is used to control contributions throughout the lifecycle of an entity. The statuses are as follows, in order: Identified – entity record has been added, perhaps with very minimal information. Planned – entity record has been prioritized for inventory, with a completion date. In Process – entity record is being inventoried, with a completion date. Completed – inventory is complete, but is yet to be reviewed. Approved – inventory has been reviewed and verified.
Lifecycle Roadmap	Chart that displays the lifecycle states for the entity graphically in a time frame according to their date ranges (if set).
Links	URLs to online resources that provide additional information about the entity.
Tags	A custom flag that you can add to entity records to group them into a collection or report.
Source	Systems or companies that play a client, sender, publisher or requester role on the connection. Sources connect to targets.
Target	Systems or companies that play a server, receiver, subscriber or replier role on the connection. Targets receive connections from sources.