SOA Patterns > Transformation Patterns > Data Format Transformation
Data Format Transformation (Little, Rischbeck, Simon)
How can services interact with programs that communicate with different data formats?
Problem
A service may be incompatible with resources it needs to access due to data format disparity. Furthermore, a service consumer that communicates using a data format different from a target service will be incompatible and therefore unable to invoke the service.
Solution
Intermediary data format transformation logic needs to be introduced in order to dynamically translate one data format into another.
Application
This necessary transformation logic is incorporated by adding internal service logic, service agents, or a dedicated transformation service.
Impacts
The use of data format transformation logic inevitably adds development effort, design complexity, and performance overhead.
Principles
Architecture
Inventory, Composition, Service
A Format Conversion utility service is added to the architecture. This service abstracts the legacy application API and provides XML-to-CSV and CSV-to-XML functions. Note that in the depicted architecture, the Format Conversion service exists as a component being reused by multiple components that are part of Web services, as per Dual Protocols.
Related Patterns in This Catalog
Canonical Protocol, Data Model Transformation, File Gateway, Inventory Endpoint, Legacy Wrapper, Multi-Channel Endpoint, Protocol Bridging, Service Agent, Service Façade
Related Service-Oriented Computing Goals
Increased Business and Technology Alignment, Increased Vendor Diversification Options, Reduced IT Burden
This pattern is covered in SOACP Module 7: Advanced SOA Design & Architecture with Services & Microservices.
For more information regarding the SOA Certified Pofessional (SOACP) curriculum,
visit www.arcitura.com/soa.
This page contains excerpts from:
SOA Design Patterns by Thomas Erl
(ISBN: 0136135161, Hardcover, Full-Color, 400+ Illustrations, 865 pages)
For more information about this book, visit www.arcitura.com/books.