LOGIN | REGISTER NOW | SUBSCRIBE
 

RSSBus Takes Middleware To the Nth Degree


N Software is latest to try for universal API

By Edward J. Correia
Email    print   
June 15, 2006 —  (Page 1 of 2)
Is universal middleware—a system that enables a single API for any and all applications and data sources—really possible?

Gent Hito thinks so. The president and CEO of N Software in May demonstrated to SD Times the first beta of RSSBus, a simple approach to application and data integration that uses Really Simple Syndication 2.0 specifications to “normalize” the APIs of literally any application, system, data source or Web service.

“This lets you create an RSS feed from anything, like a service bus for the masses,” said Hito. “The idea is to make your data available as a single format that anything can read, to build your apps on top of. Then anything can change on the back end without affecting what the customer sees.”

At least one analyst advised caution. “The connectivity part we’ve overcome, but what about the governance piece?” asked Frank Kenney, principal analyst for research, application integration and emerging technologies at Gartner. “I’m sending a name and credit-card number to get it validated. How do I know which policies are being invoked? Can I just push a token through?”

“People tend to think that RSS itself is not secure,” responded Hito. “Sure, news feeds that use RSS are all wide open, but nothing prevents you from applying the same security measures to RSS that you now apply to Web pages,” such as HTTPS and SSL, he said. “You can enable security controls just like on any Web page.”

RSSBus uses the extension methods specified in RSS 2.0 to convert API calls to and from an application or system to the name/value pairs similar to those used by RSS. To RSS and RSSBus, these are known as items. Input values are known to RSSBus as item inputs, and typically contain a URL query string or other standard HTTP mechanism. The resulting outputs are known as item outputs.

Groups of item inputs are stored as operations, and executed by the RSSBus Engine, which is an ASP.NET app running on IIS. The engine creates RSS feeds by serving the item output operations. Since inputs and outputs share the same format, outputs can be consumed by other operations as inputs, creating pipelines. Multiple feeds pipelined from one or more locations to others create workflows.




Pages 1 2 


Share this link: http://sdt.bz/29389
 
Most Read Latest News Blog Resources
Taking enterprise architecture to the business side
Startup Corso is bringing out a cloud-based planning platform that ties into business plans
From the Editors: Node.js is unruly, but that’s where the fun is
The time to get involved with Node.js is now; Hadoop is about to break its own barriers
Top five apps to manage your workload
Web applications offer new ways to track your “to-do” lists
Zeichick’s Take: Looking for the best of the best of the best
It's time once again for readers to send in nominees for the SD Times 100
Digg!  Digg
Reddit  Reddit
Slashdot  Slashdot
Share on facebook  Facebook
Share on Twitter  Twitter


Add comment


Name*
Email*  
Country     


  • Comment
Loading




close
NEXT ARTICLE
Short Takes: July 1, 2010
The editors talk about Apple fatigue, TechEd and putting your face in space Read More...
 
 
 
 
News on Monday
more>>
SharePoint Tech Report
more>>


   

 
 

Download Current Issue
FEBRUARY 2012 PDF ISSUE

Need Back Issues?
DOWNLOAD HERE

Want to subscribe?


 
blogs tab
Agility, mom, and apple pie
If we're to evaluate the state-of-the-art in software development, we should start with the values espoused in the Agile Manifesto.
02/07/2012 11:57 AM EST

RIM woos developers with free tablet
How do you get more apps ported to the BlackBerry PlayBook? By giving every developer a free tablet, of course!
02/04/2012 01:57 PM EST

GitHire: Use Headhunters to Find Your Perfect Programmer
Are you a hiring manager tired of scouring the job boards? Check out this new service that will find 5 people interested in your jobs.
02/03/2012 12:17 PM EST

Facebook claims hacker cred
Facebook's SEC S-1 filing form includes a short essay on the Hacker Way by Mark Zuckerberg himself.
02/02/2012 08:26 AM EST

Ryan Dahl steps down
Ryan Dahl, creator of Node.js, steps back from his position as gatekeeper for the project.
02/01/2012 04:58 PM EST

Bloomberg opens its API
Bloomberg's APIs could lead to a future standard for accessing market data.
02/01/2012 04:41 PM EST

 
Events calendar tab
Cloud Connect
2/13/2012 to 2/16/2012
Santa Clara
TechWeb

SPTechCon: The SharePoint Technology Conf.
2/26/2012 to 2/29/2012
San Francisco
BZ Media

RSA Conf.
2/27/2012 to 3/2/2012
San Francisco
RSA

IBM Pulse Conf.
3/4/2012 to 3/7/2012
Las Vegas
IBM Tivoli

Game Developer Conf.
3/5/2012 to 3/9/2012
San Francisco
TechWeb