View and manage Service Exchange content packs and adapters

SX Content Management

Content packs are extension points to Service Exchange (SX). In collaboration with adapters, content packs enable SX to communicate with end-point systems such as SM or Micro Focus CSA. A content pack is a ZIP or JAR file that can contain operation definitions, FreeMarker templates, OO flows and/or other configuration files. Content packs contain the order message lifecycle modeled in OO flows in request-to-fulfill (R2F) use cases. They can be installed or uninstalled on the running SX server.

Content packs can be deployed into SX at run-time. They provide business logic to the specific adapter. For example, the approval process of an order is modeled in OO Flow. The create order, approve operations, etc. must be defined. OO Flow implementation and the operations that have to be defined depend on the specific features the content pack supports.

Operations are defined in SX JSON notation that is interpreted by the operation executor component of the adapter. The operations typically define a set of calls to the end-point systems' APIs. These calls (steps of the operation) are executed sequentially. The operation definition framework uses Freemarker templates to compose URLs, request bodies, transform responses, and other actions.

SX offers out-of-the-box functionality through content packs that can be used as-is or customized. The SX Content Management user interface allows you to view, download, upload and delete content packs in SX. Access to this UI is limited to users with the appropriate user roles. Upload and delete operations include upload or removal of relevant Operation Orchestration JAR files (OO content packs), and the merging of SX customizations into the running SX server.

Content Packs and their contents

Service Portal contains the following out-of-the-box content packs:

  • SM request to fulfillment (sm-r2f) - the content pack providing files for SM requests to fulfillment.
  • Service Exchange base content (sx-base) - the base content for SX. This content pack is required and cannot be removed.
  • Support for test UI (SM) (sm-test-ui-support) - the content pack providing files for SM-related functions of the SX UI.
  • SAW Case Exchange (saw-case-exchange) - the content pack providing files for SAW Case Exchange customizations.
  • SAW Ticketing (saw-ticketing) - the content pack providing files for SAW ticketing.
  • SM Case Exchange (sm-case-exchange) - the content pack providing files for SX Case Exchange customizations.
  • SM Ticketing (sm-ticketing) - the content pack providing files for SM ticketing.
  • Case Exchange (case-exchange) - the content pack providing files for Service Portal Case Exchange.
  • MOCK request to fulfillment (mock-r2f) - an empty content pack.
  • Support for test UI (SAW) (saw-test-ui-support) - the content pack providing files for SAW-related functions of SX UI.
  • CSA request to fulfillment (csa-r2f) - the content pack providing files for Micro Focus CSA requests to fulfillment (r2f).
  • EMAIL request to fulfillment (email-r2f) - files to enable Email requests to fulfillment of native offerings.
  • Support for test UI (CSA) (csa-test-ui-support) - the content pack providing files for Micro Focus CSA related functions of SX UI.
  • OO request to fulfillment (oo-r2f) - the content pack providing files for OO requests to fulfillment (r2f).
  • SAW request to fulfillment (saw-r2f) - the content pack providing files for SAW requests to fulfillment (r2f).

See the Propel Service Exchange SDK for details on how to customize a content pack or create a new one.

SX Adapters

SX adapters interact with underlying (end-point) systems, making them accessible to SX processes. Examples of end-point systems are SM, Micro Focus CSA, and SAW. An adapter is required for an end-point system to be accessed by SX. In this way the adapters make the functionality of the end-point systems available to SX clients.

Service Portal contains the following OOB adapters, located in the /opt/hp/propel/sx/WEB-INF/lib directory:

  • SX adapter - the internal SX adapter. This is always the first adapter and implements the SX CX functionality.
  • SM adapter - specifically for SM end-point systems.
  • Micro Focus CSA adapter - specifically for Micro Focus CSA end-point systems.
  • EMAIL adapter - this adapter enables the fulfillment by email of offerings created independent of third-party products.
  • MOCK adapter - for testing.
To create your own adapter, see detailed procedures in the Propel Service Exchange SDK.