GT 4.1.0 Release Notes: OGSA-DAI

1. Component Overview

OGSA-DAI provides a pure Java data service framework for accessing and integrating data resources - such as files, relational and XML databases - on to Grids. Towards this end, OGSA-DAI:

  • Exposes intrinsic data resource capabilities - such as the ability to perform SQL queries on relational resources or evaluate XPath statements on XML collections - through web service based interfaces, thus allowing data resources to be easily incorporated as first class citizens in grids.
  • Allows additional functionality to be implemented at the service - such as transformation of data coming out of a data resource - so as to avoid unnecessary data movement.
  • Provides a compact way of handling multiple potential interactions with a service within a single request via an XML document, called a perform document, where data is pipelined between different set of activities that operate on a data stream coming out of, or going into, a data resource.
  • Allows developers to easily add or extend functionality within OGSA-DAI. The perform document, and underlying framework, are extensible allowing additional functionality to be added, or existing functionality to be customised, and still operate within the same framework.
  • Allows metadata about data and the data resources in which it is found to be queried via a service interface.
  • Facilitates the provision of data integration capabilities from various sources to obtain the required information.

This WS-RF distribution of OGSA-DAI has been designed to work with the Globus Toolkit 4 implementation of WS-RF; a WS-I distribution is also available from the OGSA-DAI web site, which is designed to work with the UK OMII web services infrastructure releases. Finally, an OGSI-based distribution of OGSA-DAI, designed to work with the GT3.2 releases, is also available from the project web site. Note: these releases are not designed to inter-operate. More information about these and OGSA-DAI in general is available from the project website at http://www.ogsadai.org.uk.

2. Changes Summary

The current online documentation is compatible with GT 4.0.2. For information on changes made for the GT4.1.0-compliant OGSA-DAI WSRF 2.2, there is a single page in the source and binary distributions at <OGSA-DAI>/doc/wsrf/gt4.1.0changes.html which is linked from our index page <OGSA-DAI>/doc/index.html where <OGSA-DAI> is the directory the distribution unpacks into.

3. For More Information

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