Complete glossary of terms

Term

Definition 

Abbreviation

Accelerator Packages

These are the most powerful components available in PlatformManager Marketplace. They are pieces of code (Groovy, JSON definitions, Rest API calls) which allow you to configure a partition to a required pricing application state (ie. Handling Rebates, approval workflows, sales insight dashboards, etc). They provide ability for user interaction like entering inputs and uploading data.

Accelerators 

These are snippets of Groovy logics which are deployed to partitions and designed to set up some frequently used functionality within a Pricefx partition, typically various dashboards. These snippets are pulled directly from a Git repository.

Activity Logs

Shows changes relate to accounts, integrations and partitions as well as user accounts creation/deletion, permissions changes, group assignments.

Apache Camel

A “mediation router”: a message-oriented middleware framework implementing the enterprise integration patterns. It makes use of these patterns along with supporting all common transport protocols and having a vast set of useful adapters included.

Apache Kafka

A distributed publish-subscribe messaging system that receives data from disparate source systems and makes the data available to target systems in real-time. It facilitates the asynchronous data exchange between processes, applications, and servers. 

Application integration

The sharing of processes and/or data with different application systems within an organization using real-time communication. It is typically implemented to increase application efficiency and improve scalability between systems.

Application Programming Interface

part of our software (PriceFx) that allows and enables other programmers to connect to it.

API

Assets

Identifies and defines a group of Pricefx partitions and can be used to associated with a user or a business role.

Business intelligence

The purpose of Business Intelligence is to make educated business decisions based on data. Its components are collecting, integrating, analyzing, and presenting business information.

Business Roles 

Assigns a name to a set of specific PlatformManager permissions and accesses and used to as a template for permission assignment to one or more users.

Camel component

Will act as an endpoint factory. To put it simply, components offer an interface to different technologies using the same approach and syntax. Camel already supports a lot of components in its DSLs for almost every possible technology, but it also gives the ability for writing custom components

Change Data Capture

Capturing the changes made to a production data source, typically performed by reading the audit or log files.

CDC

Cloud data management

A method to manage data across cloud platforms, either with or instead of on-premises storage. The goal is to curb rising cloud storage costs. It is emerging as an alternative to data management since instead of buying on-premises storage resources and managing them, resources are bought on-demand in the cloud.

Cloud migration

Movement of data, processes, and applications from on-premises storage or legacy infrastructure to cloud-based infrastructure for storage, application processing, data archiving, and ongoing data lifecycle management.

Connection 

Utilize the partition access credentials to create a link between PlatformManager to the Pricefx partition.

Connector

Refers to specific software used to create a data connection and is used as a synonym for middleware.

Converters

Are used by by mappers (LoadMapper, IntegratMapper and MultilevelMapper) to convert data types.

Data blending

A data management technique that provides a fast, easy, and flexible method to extract value from multiple data sources and to find patterns without the deployment of a traditional data warehouse architecture.

Data cleansing

The transformation of data from its native or raw state to a pre-defined or standardized format or structure using customized software.

Data federation

Process where data is collected from distinct databases without ever copying or transforming the original data.

Data governance

The application of rules and standards for the management of the availability, usability, integrity, and security of the data stored within an enterprise.

Data integration

The combination of business and technical processes that are used to merge data from multiple disparate sources into standard architectures for the purpose of gaining meaningful insights.

Data lake

Refers to unstructured data that is sitting on different storage environments and clouds. The data lake supports data of all types  (ie. text, video, blog, etc).

Data lineage

Referred to as the data life-cycle, which includes the origins of the data and where it moves over time, describing what happens to data as it goes through diverse processes.

Data Mapping 

The process of creating data element mappings between two different data models. It is commonly used as a first step for a wide array of data integration tasks, including data transformation between a data source and a destination. The process where an uploaded CSV file’s columns are linked to the Pricefx mandatory fields either for a specific Pricefx entity during Data Uploads or for linking to columns in a Datamart for the loading of an Accelerator.

Data mart

A data repository that contains data arranged in specific patterns (star schema, snowflake schema, etc) to support informational applications.

Data mining

Extracting previously unknown information from databases and using that data for important business decisions, in many cases helping to create new insights.

Data modeling

A method used to define and analyze the data requirements needed to support an entity’s business processes, defining the relationship between data elements and structures.

Data ownership

Answers the question: ‘who owns the data?’. It is also the philosophical and legal concept of an entity owning the right to control access to a particular set or group of data.

Data quality

Refers to the overall level of “quality” or perceived value of the data. If a particular datastore is seen as holding highly relevant data for a project, that data is seen as a quality to the users when their is a high degree of trust in the data values.

Data silos

A separate database or set of data files that are not part of an organization's enterprise-wide data administration.

Data steward

Another term used in conjunction with Data Ownership implies who owns and is responsible for the data. It is also the philosophical and legal concept of an entity owning the right to control access to a particular set or group of data.

Data Upload

Use of uploaded CSV files to load Pricefx entity types in a partition. Supported entities include Customer, Customer Extension, Product, Product Extension, Data Source, Price Parameter, Product Competition and BoM data

Data virtualization

A Data Integration approach that allows applications to retrieve and manipulate data without requiring technical details about the data. Virtualization is seen as an alternative to the traditional ETL process.

Data warehouse

This is conceived as a central location of integrated data from other more disparate sources, storing both current (real-time) and historical data which can then be used to create trends reports. They are generally used for analytics in an information system.

Endpoint

a channel through which the system can receive or send a message. It can refer to a web service URI, queue URI, file, email address, etc

Enterprise Integration pattern

a software pattern that is used for designing data flows between different pieces of enterprise software.

EIP

Events 

Pricefx generates various events which can trigger an action by IntegrationManager.

Exchange

the container of a message and it is created when a message is received by a consumer during the routing process. The exchange allows different types of interaction between systems – it can define a one-way message or a request-response message

Groovy Sandbox 

Since IntegrationManager runs untrusted Groovy scripts that could contain malicious code, these scripts must be evaluated inside a sandbox to prevent malicious code. If the sandbox detects a forbidden code, it throws an exception

Hybrid cloud

An application environment model that combines an on-premises data center (also called a private cloud) with a public cloud, allowing data and applications to be shared between them.

Inbound 

Refers to data that is migrating from customer application systems to Pricefx partitions.

IntegrateMapper

Will perform insert and update operations on selected backend objects. This operation is not available for all types of objects. This command is particularly useful in a situation where the caller does not (and should not) know about typed IDs and other “internal” data fields, i.e. typically in an integration scenario. 

Integration Platform as a service

A suite of cloud services enabling the execution and governance of Data Integration flows connecting to on-premise and cloud-based processes.

Integration Templates

These are predefined and prebuilt components that contain pieces of code which allow you to efficiently set up IntegrationManager to do specific actions with 3rd party systems. 

IntegrationManager

Allows uploading data from the external systems, such as SAP, into Pricefx and exporting data from Pricefx, so that they can be further used in the external systems. This two-way exchange uses a format which best suits the given scenario (CSV file, XML file, JMS message or calling a web service). 

JSON Web Token

JSON Web Tokens are an open and standard way to represent your user’s identity securely during a two-party interaction. When two systems exchange data you can use a JSON Web Token to identify your user without having to send private credentials on every request.

JWT

Lightning

Powered by Accelerators it delivers a full suite of standard pricing analytics, management and CPQ realization tools designed to jumpstart pricing application implementation.

LoadMapper

It is a very efficient and quick way to load bulk data. The main benefit is its enormous speed to load thousands of rows (compared to e.g. integrate). The main drawback is that it will always work on entire rows. 

Mandatory Fields

These are the required fields that are used as the Output of the Data Mapping process and refer to fields that must be populated for Data Uploads and loading of Accelerators.

Mappers

Mappers are used for conversion of the message body to the Pricefx format. The message body is usually a list of maps or a map. We have the following types of mappers: LoadMapper, IntegrateMapper and MultilevelMapper.

MarketPlace 

Provides access and execution of wizards in the form of Integration Templates, Accelerators and Accelerator Packages.

Master data management

An industry-standard term that incorporates processes, policies, standards, tools, and governance to define and manage all of an enterprise’s most critical information in order to articulate a single point of reference.

Message

Contains the data which is being transferred to a route. Each message has a unique identifier and it's constructed out of a body, headers, and attachments

Metadata

“data about data” or data that describes other data, it makes finding and working with data easier by allowing the user to sort or locate specific documents.

Model Object

an instance of a Model Class which defines its structure and behavior.

MO

MultilevelMapper

This is used to remap values from multiple levels of multiple sources into one output body. It can combine calculated values with values extracted from the body and headers, including lists at several levels. Output mapping must always be unambiguous.

Namespace

An XML namespace is a collection of names that can be used as either elements or attribute names in another XML document. The role of the namespace is to qualify element names uniquely on the Web to avoid conflicts between elements with the same name.

OAuth2

OAuth2 is a protocol enabling a Client application, often a web application, to act on behalf of a User, but with the User’s permission. The actions a Client is allowed to perform are carried out by a Resource Server (another web application or web service), and the User approves the actions by telling an Authorization Server that he trusts the Client to do what it is asking. 

Object Types

PlatformManager supports a set of the standard Pricefx entity types; customer, , customerExtension, product, productExtension, pricingParameter, datamart, rebateRecords, payoutRecords

Outbound

Refers to data that is migrating from Pricefx partitions to customer application systems.

Parsing Options

A set of options that allow the data conversion process to interpret our uploaded CSV file and determine the following characteristics; separator, quote character used, escape character, decimal separator and the data format.

Permissions

Identifies the low-level and granular tasks that can be performed within PlatformManager. Defines ability to read, use, deploy or update specific aspects or functions within the product.

PfxClient 

A prebuilt module that will allow all other components to connect to Pricefx server.

PlatformManager 

PlatformManager allows you to create, administer and maintain certain assets, like Pricefx partitions and IntegrationManager instances. You can connect to them, monitor their activity, upload master data, set up user access and deploy templates and deploy Accelerators.

Processor

This is a simple Java interface that is used to add custom integration logic to a route. It contains a single process method that will be used to perform custom business logic on a message received by a consumer.

Realtime

Used in conjunction with a route, the route listens to events / input data and processes this input immediately. There is no delay. Examples of realtime include; event listeners (based on the REST WebService listener), WebService listener, Socket listener and JMS listener.

REST

Representational State Transfer is a software architectural style for distributed hypermedia systems, used in the development of Web services. Distributed applications send and receive data via REST.

REST

REST Basic

The most simple way to deal with authentication is to use HTTP basic authentication, it uses a special HTTP header that adds 'username:password' encoded in base64. We Do not use this authentication scheme on plain HTTP, but only through SSL/TLS.

REST JWT 

See JSON web token

REST JWT

REST OAuth2

See OAuth2

REST Public

An open and accessible REST service that does not require any authentication or authorization.

Route

A route is a set of rules which describe how to react to a specific event (incoming SOAP call, uploaded CSV file, etc), in particular how to extract, transform and load the incoming data.

Route

A route is where the integration flow is defined. For example, to integrate two different systems then a Camel route can be coded to specify how these systems are integrated.

S3

The S3 protocol is used in a URL that specifies the location of an Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) bucket and a prefix to use for reading or writing files in the bucket.

S3

Scalability

The ability to increase and upscale key system services; inbound and outbound volumes of data, accessibility of processes and services, and the number of users accessing data critical to the enterprise.

SFTP

Secure File Transfer Protocol, used when you need to secure server-to-server file transfers between yourself, your trading partners, and enterprise servers, SFTP (which stands for SSH File Transfer Protocol or Secure File Transfer Protocol) is a more secure option than FTP.

Spring boot

an extension of the Spring framework, but it has some specific features that make the application easier for working within the developer ecosystem. This extension includes pre-configurable web starter kits to facilitate the responsibilities of an application server

Spring DSL

This is essentially a facade for Spring Integration. The DSL provides a simple way to embed Spring Integration Message Flows into your application by using the fluent Builder pattern together with existing Java configuration from Spring Framework and Spring Integration. Provides an alternative to XML configuration.

Spring framework

This is an open-source application framework that provides infrastructure support that enables faster development of Java applications by externalizing the configuration and using dependency injection.

Structured Query Language

a standardized query language used for managing relational databases and performing 

SQL

Trigger

A type of route that periodically checks if the input data was delivered at a given location or if it is the correct time to start a route. This type of public routes is most used. The integration (in this case a scheduled job) usually starts by detecting whether the input data (CSV or XML file) was delivered into a source folder or whtether it is the correct time to start an action.

Unstructured data

refers to data that doesn’t fit nicely into the traditional database architecture and has no identifiable internal order or structure. It is considered to be the opposite of structured data, which is data stored in a database.

Web Service

These services are part of the web service framework within IntegrationManager and are used to support inbound messages that are part of the integration between customer systems and Pricefx partition.