Int4 Messenger

Int4 Messenger is a dedicated virtualization engine supporting manual testing of integrated processes. It also enables automatic tests in specific scenarios.

Int4 Messenger operates by building a dedicated virtualization layer over the basic features available in the Int4 APITestes. It utilizes the same basic configuration for System Lines and Environments and uses Automation Objects and Test Cases internally for processing. Thus, all Int4 Messenger users must also familiarize themselves with the Int4 APITester manual.

Principles of operation

Int4 Messenger actively monitors selected integration pipelines of the integration servers and selected IDoc repositories in the SAP system, looking for messages intended for specified receivers. In addition, Int4 Messenger captures all messages that match the configured virtualization scenarios.

Based on Int4 Messenger configuration, it will generate the response message. Then, depending on the operation mode, Int4 Messenger will either automatically inject the response message into a specific communication pipeline or leave the response for user revision before injection.

In this way, Users can use Int4 Messenger to pretend the presence and behavior of integrated systems, effectively virtualizing them to execute an integration scenario.

Example of Service Virtualization, in a purchase process scenario.

Internal organization

Int4 Messenger builds on the concepts of System Lines, Environments, Automation Objects, and Test Cases from Int4 APITester.

It introduces two other entities for virtualization delivery.

Service Virtualization Objects

These objects define the capture and injection points for a specific virtualization application. Additionally, users can specify behavior (Injection, Synchronous, Asynchronous). Finally, users can configure the response profile (e.g., existing mapping) or select responding from historical messages according to the configured values.

Service Virtualization Scenarios

Service Virtualization Scenarios bind the Service Virtualization Objects to a specific landscape and enable the virtualization runtime for the pair. At the level of Service Virtualization Scenario, one can define whether it’s enabled or not, and further, whether the responses should be automatic or require user intervention.