Hi All:

I would like to know if there is any book available on the architecture of webMethods, how does it work and all those things? How can we provide customized services?

Khurram

Khurram,

Nothing is available right now that is specific to webMethods. I spoke with Addison-Wesley (publisher) several years ago about this, and they did the due diligence to determine how many webMethods books they would sell. Turned out it was not enough to justify their minimum publishing run (they look for at least 10,000 books to sell, and could only identify about half that number that would buy the book. So it died…

If you Google or check out Amazon, you’ll find several books with a SOA or Integration focus that mention or have a chapter on webMethods, but none of these are really useful for webMethods-specific stuff.

Your best source for webMethods information is the documentation, advantage, and of course, the community here at wmusers.com.

Phil

In these days of micro-publishing, I wonder if a smaller book run would now make economic sense.

I’d be up for contributing to and coordinating an e-book, perhaps done in a Wiki style with contributions from the wmusers community.

Anyone have interest in that?

I think a well-done book would require a dedicated, obsessive-compulsive editor. I’m not sure a Wiki approach would be sufficient given the difficulties of enforcing formating and consistency.

I have considered writing some type of WM book for some time now. The biggest hurdle is making it at least a revenue neutral proposition. If micro-publishing could overcome that, then the next is taking the time off to bang out a decent effort.

Mark

I think I may have mentioned before, wM has been willing in the past to make authors/publishers whole if someone would create the content. They mentioned to Dan Green and I (years back when we were entertaining doing a book on 6) that they would do something akin to guaranteeing minimum publishing runs. They also mentioned providing it to all training class participants.

Of course that was few years ago. Things may have changed but if someone has the motivation to take on a book perhaps its worth asking wM what they might be able to help with?

They did buy large numbers of the book Dan So co-wrote with EBizQ, so there may be something to that.

I work quite a bit with webMethods Education, I’ll talk to the VP there and see if there is interest (and whether the “providing it to all training class participants” is still something they would do). That alone would likely guarantee a break-even run, provided the effort was not significant.

When I talked to Addison-Wesley, the outline we worked out would have come to some 300 pages, and been at about the level of the Understanding Web Services book (by Eric Newcomer) AW published.

Were you thinking of something at that depth, Mark/Rob, or something deeper?

I see a market for 2 books. One would be a “this is the webMethods platform” for noobs and those just wanting to learn about the basics of the product. Basically, the conceptual equivalent of what the wM docs provide but in someone else’s words (and available without signing up for Advantage–just plunk down your cash) and with some basic samples. These are the components. This is what each of them do. Welcome to XML. Here’s how to write FLOW. Here’s how to do .dsp’s. Here’s how to do Java services. Here’s how to do a web service connector. Here’s how to do FTP. Why you probably don’t need a custom SOAP processor. Why you shouldn’t schedule System.gc. A description of transactions and the JDBC adapter. How to get rid of that pesky “cannot locate compiler” error. How partners can post to IS. And so on. Perhaps a handful of tools, such as an add-on to WmPublic stuff. Possibly replacements for some of the PSUtilities stuff that should be reworked (math services, for example).

I see room for another book that gets a bit more advanced. Writing content handlers. Customized TN components. Using the Broker API (and when to do so). A document handling framework to make logging and error handling (somewhat) automatic and consistent across all integrations. How to customize Administrator (might be a moot point now though). Standards processing, like EDI and xCBL and the like. At least a couple of chapters on interacting with SAP (though the interest level on that may have come and gone). This might have tools that use unpublished IS services, though I imagine wM might have issues with that.

I had started down the O’Reilly path, mostly because they provided a good bit of author guidelines and a good description of their process on-line. I’m sure AW has similar stuff.

Dang, now you got me all cranked up about doing this again! Hasn’t someone invented a “brain-print” button yet?

Some consultants write ebooks to add to their web site and promote their expertise in a subject. Since webMethods architecture is my expertise, I’ve been toying with the idea of writing an ebook for several years. I don’t have my own web site yet but I could build one pretty fast. The added cache of having the book can lead to better consulting assignments and higher rates.

I was thinking of something like Frank-McKinney.com except with webMethods Architecture as the theme and the art of building
enterprise backbone systems with webMethods integrations and ERP systems.

I could profile my last 7 clients and do the voice recordings to guide people around the site. I even have a charity to promote with my work saving racing dogs. What do you think? Is it too “out-there” ?

What about video clips of me or you (as a partner) explaining some key concepts? Visitors to the site would be able to sign up for a monthly newsletter about enterprise architecture the JonB way

Aren’t we all going to have these kinds of sites in the near future? I would be willing to build the site, partner for a % of sales using paypal accounts for ebook content, and give you an outlet for your creativity. What do you say ?

I’m not in support of initiatives that would draw traffic away from the user community site, but would certainly be willing to host content that is of interest to the community as a whole such as an architecture book.

I would see any book written being promoted here on wMUsers.Com if it were of a serious nature and not one of those pseudo-books that are really consultancy promotions in disguise.

Mark

Almost every webMethods architect (real and pretend) i know has thought about writing a wM book at some time or another. So, why hasn’t anyone done it?

Is it the relatively limited audience (as described in the other replies)?

Is it a fear that webMethod’s release schedule would make any book quickly obsolete?

Is it that people are afraid that ‘Appendix A: Bugs’ would be 300p by itself?

Is it that we don’t have time because we are always billable?

Is it that the graduate level mathematics underlying the stochastic jackson and whittle star network we call MOM terrifies us (particularly for a webMethods architecture book, as stated in the original question)?

Is it that the solution space for MOM systems is NP complete?

Is it that a webMethods book would be of limited value, since the best way to learn it is to jump in and get lost repeatedly until we figure it out, that is, is this a learn it by experience and exposure task, not a learn by reading task?

Is it that our clients are too varied in terms of their infrastructures, hardware, network, and ideologies, and we don’t know how to distill these down into truly re-usable artifacts that are still useful?


My money is on the fact that each of these contributes to our ‘lack of action’ a little bit, and the overall effect dampens our true desire to write a webMethods book. If anyone ever does write one, and i find it in the bookstore, i would flip through it; if i randomly came across any one thing that surprised me, i would buy it.

Hi,

I am new to web methods i Know about some components , but i need is , in which sequence order those components occur when we are doing a project. i need the complete sequence in detail plz help me.