Architecture

The Supplier Portal web application comprises several components packed together as a deployable file for a target application server, for example, a WAR file for Apache Tomcat. Some of the identifiable components, as per the Model-View-Controller framework are:

• View components, which are implemented using Struts 2 and the Google Web Toolkit (GWT) framework.

• Model components, which comprise the data layer and the core business logic.

• Controller components that form a framework to support the communication between the view and model components.

The web application also exposes specialized web services as a REST API in order to synchronize with the ERP systems. The exposed web services can be accessed using the following root URI: {context-path}/rest/sync/{service}/{service-name}

For example, use this syntax to call the authentication service: http://{endpoint}/supplier-portal/rest/sync/authentication/authenticate

For information about the references in the web services, see the Tungsten Supplier Portal API Guide.

Supplier Portal uses Apache CouchDB as the backend. It is recommended to install the latest application version available from the Apache CouchDB website.

The Supplier Portal web application and CouchDB are physically separated.

The Synchronizer is a software component that runs within the SAP system and communicates with Supplier Portal through web services.

For more information, see the Tungsten Supplier Portal Synchronizer for Process Director Accounts Payable Installation and Configuration Guide.