Developing Component Integrator-Based Workflow Applications
A "Component Integrator-based Application" is a work performer that
depends on using the FileNet Component Integrator feature and processes workflow
data. A work performer is an application that performs tasks associated with
a workflow. Typically, work performers are designed without a user interface
and are used to perform automatic workflow operations on Process Engine work
items, within a step of a workflow definition.
The subtopics of Component Integrator-based application development are as
follows:
Overview of the Component Integrator
The Component Integrator is an out-of-the-box application service that provides
the following advantages for custom step processor development:
Note The integration features of the Component Integrator are not designed
to serve as a complete Enterprise Application Integration (EAI)
product.
This overview of the Component Integrator includes the following subtopics:
Using the Component Integrator for Business Needs
Some examples of uses for the Component Integrator to provide Process Engine
workflow functions for business problems are as follows:
- A customer has a supplier that processes RFQs in a Java program and would
like to automatically provide the RFQ processing to a workflow as part of
their business process.
- A customer has existing java business objects which update sales order records
in a proprietary sales order system and would like to integrate those functions
with their business processes.
- A customer has a supplier which accepts order requests as XML documents
via guaranteed messaging service and would like to generate those order requests
as part of their business process.
Process Engine Runtime Integration
Functions
When a running workflow has a work item that reaches a Component Step, the Process Engine
integrates the component by performing the following:
- Defining a Process Operation
that applies parameter values to a component method, where the parameters
values may be defined as expressions that incorporate work item field values.
Using Process Operations, you can pass work item field values into a Java
Component method, and Java Component methods can automatically update work
item field values.
- Waiting for a response from from the Component method.
- Updating work item values with argument values that were set by the execution
of the Component method.
Note In contrast to the automatic updating of work item values that
can be performed by the Component integrator, updating
data field values with ordinary custom step processors is not automatic
and requires explicit API method calls.
- Saving the work item.
- Unlocking the work item.
- Completing the step by
dispatching the work item to a subsequent step.
For more information about Process Engine integration, see Steps
in the flow of Component Integrator Processing Tasks.
Application Integration Tools
The Process Engine is used with workflow applications for convenient setup,
design, and connnection management. The following comprise workflow applications
for convenient integration of a Java Component or Java Message Service (JMS):
- A standard graphical interface that can create queues for Components, know
as the Configuration Console.
With the Configuration Console, customer (external) component methods can
be incorporated into Operations that can
be associated with a Component Queue, for use in an operating workflow.
- A workflow design tool (the Designer
tool) that can insert Operations associated with Component Queues into workflow
steps. The interface represents these steps as nodes on a workflow map.
- A Component Manager
graphical interface that controls runtime connectivity and interface call
management.