Trace-X is an end-user application to visualize and utilize data provided to the Catena-X network. This includes the traceability of manufactured parts and batches as well as the shipped and supplied components. To utilize the CX open ecosystem it is necessary to exchange information on serialized parts and batches with supply chain partners in a standardized, data-sovereign and interoperable way. This section describes the environment of Trace-X, its intended users and which systems and components it interacts with.
Business context
Trace-X exchanges data with any other traceability applications within the CX ecosystem. This is implemented by integrating the service into the CX network and the usage of required central components and services provided by CX.
User
Trace-X can be deployed, hosted and run by every party that is part of the Catena-X network. They need to be registered, have a BPN and a technical user as well as provide valid credentials. An end-user in Trace-X can have roles provided by the CX portal (user, supervisor, admin).
IRS
The Item Relationship Service is the component that is used by Trace-X to fetch data chains from Catena-X network. Data that is provided by IRS gets extracted, aggregated, transformed and is used for further actions in Trace-X. Further information can be found in the IRS architecture documentation (arc42).
Catena-X network
Trace-X and IRS are retrieving necessary information and data from the Catena-X network (users, digital twins, aspects, submodels, business partner information). If CX services are unavailable, Trace-X will not be able to perform most of its work.
Any other traceability app
Trace-X interacts with any other traceability app using the CX standards. This enables sovereign data exchange as well as receiving and sending notifications to interact between different parties.
Technical context
Component overview
Trace-X API
We provide a REST API that is consumed by Trace-X frontend in order to deliver Trace-X related features such as quality investigations or asset chain visibility. Since the Trace-X component is the very last component in the Catena-X ecosystem we are mostly dependent on the other services and theirs APIs in other to deliver desired functionalities. The development of the services is not a part of the Trace-X application and each of the system that we utilize exposes a REST API that we consume and interact with directly.
Trace-X is a Spring Boot based application and is secured with the OpenID connector provider Keycloak and the OAuth2. This means for the companies, that utilize Trace-X component, it is required to obtain a technical user in order to be authorized to get access to the external components within Catena-X ecosystem.
In order to use the Trace-X frontend with the Trace-X backend, users need to authenticate themselves in order to be authorized to get access to the Trace-X. In the frontend UI users provide valid credentials and the system generates a bearer token that it gets from Keycloak and attaches it to the HTTP header parameter Authorization. Once a user is authorized and has a proper role in the Trace-X backend, the backend delegates HTTP calls to specific services on their behalf as technical user in order to fulfill specific functionalities.
[Outdated] Registry API
The Trace-X acts as a consumer of the asset administration shell registry component. Trace-X contains a restful client (REST template) that builds a REST call to the mentioned digital twin registry API based on its known URL (the AAS registry URL is configurable in Trace-X). Requests contain "assetIds" provided by the component during asset synchronization. Like described in the above section, the security aspect is required in order to achieve a REST call against the AAS Registry. As a response, Trace-X gets the corresponding shells and shell descriptors utilized later for asset synchronization. The HTTP(s) transport protocol is used for the REST call communication.
IRS API
Trace-X acts as a consumer of the IRS component. Trace-X contains a restful client (REST template) that build a REST call to the mentioned IRS API based on its known URL (the IRS URL is configurable in Trace-X). The request contains details required to start an IRS fetch job provided by the component during asset synchronization. Like described in the above section, the security aspect is required in order to achieve a REST call against the IRS. As a response, Trace-X gets the created job id and periodically pulls for the job details that contains assets that will be uploaded to the system. As mentioned above, the transport protocol HTTP(S) is used for the REST call communication.
[Outdated] Portal API
Trace-X acts as a consumer of the portal component. Trace-X contains a restful client (REST template) that builds a REST call to the mentioned Portal API based on its known URL (the Portal URL is configurable in Trace-X). The portal is used to authenticate users and requests against the backend. As mentioned above, the transport protocol HTTP(S) is used for the REST call communication.
[Outdated] EDC API
The Trace-X acts as a consumer and provider of the EDC component. In Trace-X we communicate with EDC directly only for the sake of fulfilling quality investigation functionality. Specific use cases can be viewed in Runtime view section. For these purposes the integrated EDC clients in Trace-X are responsible for creating restful requests to the EDC component. As mentioned above, the transport protocol HTTP(S) is used for the REST call communication.