MSMQ Message Body Format

One general issue still needs to be resolved regarding the Web middleware layer implementation. The MSMQ message sent to the SAP application connector tier has to contain the information needed to update the benefits and payroll information in the SAP system. MSMQ does not care what the message body contains, but the format of the message must be understood by both the sending and receiving applications. There are any number of options as to how this information should be structured in the message body, including the following:

Comma-delimited text strings in a readable format
Based on windows INF file format
OLE/COM structured storage generated using the IStream interfaces
XML generated using the MSXML library installed with Internet Explorer
Records in a database file format such as Microsoft Access MDB format or the Microsoft Foxpro DBF
Custom format

The primary consideration when selecting the message body format is whether the format is easy to prepare by the sending application and correspondingly easy to parse by the receiving application. Messaging containing readable text can be a useful tool for debugging during development. An option worth considering is to base the message format on the SAP COM proxies developed for the application connector layer. The Web middleware layer could use the same COM objects developed for the SAP application connector as the internal representation of how the middleware layer represents information.

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