Describing a service interface
A Service interface represents the exchange of information between architecture components.
A Service Interaction represents an interaction for service purpose between entities in a specific context inside or outside a company. These entities can be enterprise org-units, applications, activities or processes, as well as external org-units. The content of this interaction is described in a service interface.The content of a service interaction is described by a service interface.
A Service Interface is a template of a contract between entities (organizational, IT …). The contract is described by available operations which can be triggered trough messages exchanged by roles (vendor, buyer..).A service contract is described by a sequence of operations which are represented:
• By service interfaces used,
A service interface use is associated to a service interface. It enables representation of complex exchanges.• Or by service operations used.
A service operation use represents the usage of a service operation in an service interface.
For further detail on service operations, see Describing a Service Operation.Examples of Service Interface Diagrams (BPMN)
A service interface is described by a sequence of steps which are represented:
• By service operations used,
• By service interfaces used.
A service interface use is associated to a service interface. It enables representation of complex exchanges.The service interface roles, presented at the border of the frame, represent participants:
• customer/supplier, or
• sender/recipient
A service interface can be described by involving more than two participants. In this case, a role is consumer of the service interface and the others are providers.
Example of Service Interface Diagram (BPMN)
The service interface diagram associated with the “customer identification protocol ” describes in BPMN formalism the operations executed.
Service interface Diagram (BPMN) "Customer Identification"
Customer identification protocol starts with a customer identification step. If the customer is found the service interface returns customer information, if not, a “customer creation” service interface is activated.
Example of an advanced service interface communication
“Information Requirement” Service Interface diagram (BPMN)
The "Information Request" service interface is used by Center call center to take account of a customer request online. There are therefore three participants in this service interface: the customer, the IT applications and the customer representative who is the effective requester of the service (in this case the call center).
This service interface consists of identifying the customer, then analyzing the request. The request is then processed as a purchase request or as another request if it is an information request for example.
The Roles property page provides access to the list of contributor roles and to the initiator role of a service interface.