Replacing the Message Service Component in an Integration Framework

In an on-going set of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) tool integration experiments being conducted by the CASE Environments Project, we have integrated a set of CASE tools using a combination of data integration mechanisms (PCTE Object Management System (QMS) and UNIX file system) and control integration mechanisms (Broadcast Message Server (BMS) of HP SoftBench). One of the key issues addressed in our work is the extent to which the integration of CASE tools can be independent of particular integration framework technology products. This report describes a task to examine interoperability aspects of the control integration component of the integration framework. The major conclusion from our work is that it is possible to integrate CASE tools using a message-passing approach that is independent of the integration framework product used. This report describes the activities an organization must undertake to integrate CASE tools in order to ensure this interoperation of message-passing integration products. The report also includes a set of lessons learned concerning the experiments we carried out.