HTTP Receive Request activity

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.
Figure 1.
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:
  1. An orchestration job is started.
  2. The HTTP Receive Request activity processes the incoming HTTP request and maps the HTTP request to the output parameters of the activity.
  3. 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.
  4. 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

  1. Create or open an orchestration. A graphical representation of the orchestration is displayed.
  2. Select the Activities tab and expand the HTTP folder.
  3. Drag the Receive Request activity onto the orchestration.
  4. 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

  1. Click Pick Endpoint task from the Checklist and choose from one of the following actions:
    • Select an existing endpoint:
      1. Select Browse. The Project Explorer is displayed.
      2. Select an existing endpoint and click OK. Skip to the "Configure the activity" procedure.
    • Select an existing endpoint and edit the endpoint:
      1. Select Browse. The Project Explorer is displayed.
      2. Select an existing endpoint and click OK.
      3. Click Edit. The Edit Endpoint pane is displayed.
    • Create a new endpoint: Select New. The Create Endpoint pane is displayed.
  2. Create or edit a HTTP endpoint, see Creating or editing an HTTP endpoint.

Configuring the activity

  1. Select the Configure task from the Checklist. The Configure pane is displayed.
  2. 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

  1. 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.
  2. 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 Programs > IBM > WebSphere Cast Iron Studio > HTTP Post Utility option. The URL you specify in the URL of the inbound connector field must contain the full URL, for example: http://myAR:myPort/myPath.