The Open3.org Adapter Framework enables rapid integration of enterprise applications and data systems. An adapter permits an application to hook into the Open3.org server. Once the adapter for a particular application is written, it's a much simpler matter to access the data and functionality of that application. This is the raison d'?tre for adapters, to provide developed components that speed and simplify the integration process.

The Open3.org Adapter Framework specifies four basic types of adapters:

• Consumer - Used for applications that use (consume) messages.
• Producer - Used for applications that send (produce) messages.
• Requester - Used for applications that send messages and then expect data to be sent in response to the request.
• Replier - Used for applications that receive a message and send a message back in reply.

The Open3.org Adapter Framework software contains the Open3 Base Adapter, which is a lightweight toolkit for building application adapters. The current package supports Java development (we're looking for developers who'd like to build C/C++, Perl, and Python libraries) through five interfaces and one class. Consult the introductory document for more information on the framework.