1.5 Driver Components

The driver uses the following components:

Table 1-2 Components needed for the different PeopleSoft versions

Component

For PeopleSoft 7.5

For PeopleSoft 8.1

PSA

dirxml_driver 3_6 psa.exe

dirxml_driver 3_6 psa.exe

Driver shim

npsshim.dll

npsshim.dll

XML Import File

peoplesoft36-IDM3_5_0-V1.xml (iManager and Designer)

peoplesoft36-IDM3_5_0-V1.xml (iManager and Designer)

Event Server

nps75eventserver.exe

nps81eventserver.exe

1.5.1 Driver Configuration

The driver is responsible for reporting object change events that it receives from PeopleSoft to the Metadirectory engine. The driver consists of both an Event Server program and the npsshim.dll file.

The driver contains both a Publisher channel and a Subscriber channel. The Subscriber channel receives XML-formatted eDirectory events from the Metadirectory engine. The driver then converts these documents to an appropriate data stream, forwards them to the Event Server, and updates PeopleSoft via the Message Agent interface.

The Publisher channel receives XML-formatted PeopleSoft events from the Event Server and submits them to the Metadirectory engine for publication into the Identity Vault. The engine processes the document by sequentially applying all configured policies based on standard driver process flow.

Each policy performs a transformation on the XML document. The engine processes the event document according to the policies and the filter found in the Driver Publisher object.

1.5.2 Driver Shim

The driver shim handles communication between the event server and the Metadirectory engine. For this version of the driver, the driver shim is named npsshim.dll.

1.5.3 Event Server

The Event Server is a standalone executable process. It establishes and maintains connectivity between the driver shim and the PeopleSoft Message Agent.

The Event Server communicates with the driver via a sockets interface and communicates with the Message Agent via proprietary PeopleSoft Message Agent APIs.

The Event Server is a bidirectional component with Publisher and Subscriber channels. The Publisher channel polls the Message Agent for transactions. When transactions are available, the Event Server reads the record data via the Message Agent and transforms the proprietary format of the PeopleSoft records into an XML-formatted representation. The XML records are sent to the driver for submission to the Identity Vault.

Likewise, the Subscriber channel receives XML-formatted eDirectory events from the driver and transforms them into the PeopleSoft proprietary format. The event data is then sent to the Message Agent for publication into the PeopleSoft database.

1.5.4 PeopleSoft Service Agent

The PeopleSoft Service Agent (PSA) is software that you receive as a PeopleSoft project. A PSA is a collection of objects. This collection customizes the PeopleSoft module that the objects are applied to.

You can install the PSA components and then configure them for any PeopleSoft application.

The PSA serves three purposes:

  • Traps events as they occur in PeopleSoft

  • Places a transaction for trapped events into the worklist

  • Exposes the transaction (which is joined with relevant, current data) to the driver via the Message Agent

The PSA includes a sample of all objects necessary in PeopleSoft so that any PeopleSoft module can have connectivity to and from the Event Server.