Appendium^TM Portfolio uses Java Technologies selected Java as its main platform, offering an industry standard for portable, scalable, open technologies that can be used in all tiers. Appendium Portfolio is built from the ground up using Java 5.

Appendium has used open source technologies for many years and selected a range of enterprise-proven tools like JBoss, Hibernate, Spring, JFreeChart, Jasper Reports, MySQL, etc

Architecture

The architecture is a pragmatic use of Java and distributed J2EE technologies.

Appendium Portfolio is designed to work securely and well in both a corporate environment or across the internet, without the need to open extra firewall ports. Any communication between the client and server can be encrypted at 256 bits if required, without changing a line of code.

The Java code and SQL schema follow industry standards to ensure portability. Hibernate is used to manipulate the persistent objects. Appendium has more than 6 years of experience using JBoss in both development and production environments and therefore elected this application server although the code adheres to J2EE standards and can be ported to another application server.

Appendium Portfolio does not depend on a specific database vendor and has been fully tested with MySQL 5.x, MS SQL Server 2005 and Oracle 10g

Client Application

Appendium uses a rich-client interface for maximum conviviality and productivity.

The client is a simple SWING application delivered via WebStart (internally or across the web), it does not require anything but a standard JRE 5 on the client.

Enterprise Software

The application server can interface in real-time with other systems; these interfaces are implemented using Mule, an open-source Enterprise Server Bus (ESB). This is a very flexible system that can mix protocols and formats easily.

For robustness and guaranteed delivery, Appendium Portfolio uses mainly authenticated asynchronous communications using JMS and it can use any JMS-compliant queue system; so far it has been fully tested with JBossMQ and ActiveMQ; once again, the application does not use any vendor-specific features, WebSphereMQ or Tibco EMS are options.

The ESB also provides a simple "file drop" mechanism whereby files will be picked up by a small gateway and sent via a guaranteed JMS mechanism.

Appendium Portfolio provides a "Staging Area" for incoming messages, keeping production data safe. The Staging Area provides a real-time mechanism for staging, enrichment and promotion of reference, pricing and transaction data. Appendium Portfolio is also able to send real-time changes for data required by downstream systems. Reference, pricing and transaction data can be sent, via the ESB, to the required systems using our fully enforced XML schemas.