Use the HTTP Receive Request activity to configure
the Integration Appliance to act as an HTTP listener
The following figure shows the Integration Appliance acting as
an HTTP listener.
The
HTTP Receive Request activity is a starter activity.
When an orchestration that starts with an
HTTP Receive Request activity
is deployed to the Integration Appliance, the Integration Appliance
acts as an HTTP listener waiting for HTTP requests. When a HTTP request
is received, the following actions occur:
- An orchestration job is started.
- The HTTP Receive Request activity processes the incoming
HTTP request and maps the HTTP request to the output parameters of
the activity.
- The output parameters are mapped to the specified orchestration
variables. During design time in the Map Outputs task of the Checklist,
the mapping between the output parameters and the orchestration variables
is defined.
- The remaining activities in the orchestration are processed. (In
the graphical representation of the orchestration, the remaining
activities are the activities located on the right side of the HTTP
Receive Request activity).
By default, decompression is enabled for the
HTTP Receive
Request activity. For more information, see
Decompression with the HTTP Receive Request activity.
Adding an HTTP Receive Request activity to the orchestration
- Create or open an orchestration. A graphical representation of
the orchestration is displayed.
- Select the Activities tab and expand the
HTTP folder.
- Drag the Receive Request activity onto the orchestration.
- Select the activity. The Checklist is displayed with the Summary task
active in the properties pane. The Properties pane is located under
the graphical representation of the orchestration in the Workspace.
Creating, selecting, or editing an HTTP endpoint
- Click Pick Endpoint task from the Checklist and
choose from one of the following actions:
- Select an existing endpoint:
- Select Browse. The Project Explorer is
displayed.
- Select an existing endpoint and click OK.
Skip to the "Configure the activity" procedure.
- Select an existing endpoint and edit the endpoint:
- Select Browse. The Project Explorer is
displayed.
- Select an existing endpoint and click OK.
- Click Edit. The Edit Endpoint pane is displayed.
- Create a new endpoint: Select New. The
Create Endpoint pane is displayed.
- Create or edit a HTTP endpoint, see Creating or editing an HTTP endpoint.
Configuring the activity
- Select the Configure task from the Checklist. The
Configure pane is displayed.
- Configure all the fields and check boxes in this pane as described
in the following table:
Table 1. Field |
Description |
URL (Path After Hostname) |
Specifies the resource path where the Integration
Appliance listens for inbound HTTP requests, for example: /mypath.
The string you specify in this field must exclude the string: http://,
the hostname, and the port number of the Integration Appliance. The
full URL that the Integration Appliance uses to listen for inbound
HTTP requests is automatically constructed from the hostname of the
Integration Appliance, the port number specified in the HTTP endpoint,
and the path specified in this field. For example, if the full URL
that the Integration Appliance listens for HTTP requests is http://myAR:myPort/myPath,
in this field you only need to specify the string: /myPath. The specified
path must be unique for the HTTP Receive Request activities
that are deployed at the same time on the same Integration Appliance
using the same port. Note: The path that the Integration Appliance
listens for inbound HTTP requests is a resource path string that you
specify and does not correspond to actual directory path on the Integration
Appliance.
|
Of Type |
Specifies the expected message type of the HTTP
request - either Text or Binary. |
Requires a Reply |
Specifies if a reply should be sent to the sender
of the request. Note: If this check box is selected, you must add and
configure a HTTP Send Response activity in your orchestration.
|
Use Compression/Decompression |
Specifies if compression/decompression is turned
on or off at the activity level. By default, the Use Compression/Decompression check
box is selected. Clear the Use Compression/Decompression check
box to disable decompression for this activity. For more information,
see Compression with the HTTP Send Response activity. |
Mapping the output of the activity
- Select the Map Outputs task in the Checklist. The
output parameters of the activity are displayed in the From Activity
pane of the Map Outputs task as described in the following
table:
Table 2. Output Parameter |
Description |
httpheaders |
Specifies the header of the HTTP request. |
body |
Specifies the body of the HTTP request message. |
The following table defines the nodes of the optional httpheaders output
parameter. Table 3. Nodes of the httpheaders Output Parameter |
Description |
httpheaders/uri |
Specifies the resource path of the incoming
request, for example: /myPath. |
httpheaders/method |
Specifies the type of HTTP request. For this
activity, POST is the type of HTTP request. |
httpheaders/otherHeaders/headerItem |
Specifies an element that contains a set of
HTTP header parameters as name/value pairs. Multiple HTTP header parameters
can be specified in the HTTP request, so this is a recurring node. |
httpheaders/otherHeaders/headerItem/name |
Specifies the name of the HTTP header parameter. |
ttpheaders/otherHeaders/headerItem/value |
Specifies the value of the HTTP header parameter. |
- Create a map between the output parameter or parameters of the
activity and orchestration variable or variables. See Creating a map for general instructions on
mapping.
Note: To test your orchestration that starts with the HTTP
Receive Request activity, you can use the HTTP Post Utility included
with the Studio installation, to send HTTP requests to the listening
Integration Appliance during run time. You can access the HTTP Post
Utility from the start menu, select option. The
URL you specify in the URL of the inbound connector field must contain
the full URL, for example: http://myAR:myPort/myPath.