New Development Considerations
Beginning the development of any new adapter requires careful thought and planning. Here are some considerations:
• Availability of existing adapters and future adapters in development in PTC
• Customer requirements
• Licensing requirements for newly developed adapters
• Extending beyond the capabilities of the ADK
• Communication between your organization and PTC
Custom Adapter Requirements and Planning
When considering adapter development, keep in mind that many systems are compliant with these standards: Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), the Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI), Java Database Connectivity (JDBC). Adapters are available for these common interface methods and may be perfectly suited for the needs of your customer. If none of the standard adapters appear to meet the needs of your customer, a prototype adapter might already be in development. Check with Windchill Development about the availability of existing adapters or adapters that are currently being developed.
Adapter Definition
Always thoroughly define customer requirements. Here are some helpful questions to ask when defining the adapter:
• Which data is required of the data source to satisfy the needs of the Windchill solution? (This will define what data has to be read from or sent to the data source.)
• What interfacing capabilities are available for the data source? Does it have an API or proprietary database structure? (This dictates how the interface to the data source will be built. Often, a general technology interface is available for an application or data source, eliminating the need to develop a special application adapter. Once again, consider if any of the adapters already available could satisfy your needs.)
• Does the business process require that data be read-only, or will data be created, updated, deleted, or moved from one application to another? (This defines the complexity of the adapter.)
Licensing Requirements
Adapters used by Info*Engine are sold on a per user basis. There might be a development charge for the adapter in addition to the licensing fee.
Capabilities Beyond Those of the ADK
The Windchill Development group has adapter development solutions for applications using Java and other types of APIs. If your interface requirements extend beyond the capabilities of the ADK, contact the development group through PTC Technical Support.