About variables
In orchestrations, variables provide temporary storage locations to hold the input and output data of activities.
This is shown in the example orchestration of the following figure:

During run time, this orchestration extracts data from
and stores data into variables as described in the following steps:
- The FTP Poll Directory activity polls for a Flat File on an FTP Server and places the contents of the Flat File into the data output parameter. The data output parameter is mapped to the string variable called flatFileRawContent.
- The Flat File data returned from the FTP Poll Directory activity is stored as a string into the flatFileRawContent variable.
- The flatFileRawContent variable is mapped to the Data input parameter of the Read Flat File activity. The Flat File data is parsed by the Read Flat File activity and returned from the activity in the XML output parameter.
- The XML output parameter is mapped to the batchOrderXML Flat File Schema variable. The data is available in the orchestration from the batchOrderXML Flat File Schema variable. For example, if an activity is added to the orchestration to the right of the Read Flat File activity, it can use this data as input.
Variable scope
Variables defined within the Group, Try/Catch, If Then, While Loop, or For Each activities are considered as local variables. When such a variable is used as an input of a Map Inputs Tasks activity or a Map Variables activity that is outside of, and following the Group, Try/Catch, If Then, While Loop, or For Each activity, the variable is considered as uninitalized because it is outside the scope of the activities where it was declared. Therefore, these variables must be initialized with a default value.For more information about specifying a default value, see the Specifying a default value section.
The Variables tab
The Variables tab contains the following panes:- Variables: Displays the variables that are defined and available for use in the Mapping Editor. A predefined variable called JobInfo is available in the Variables pane of the Variables tab by default.
- Schema of <variable>: Displays the schema for the selected variable.
- Activities using <variable>: Displays all activities in the orchestration which use the variable.
- Properties of <variable>: Where you define or edit variable properties or specify a default value.
The JobInfo variable
By default, Studio provides the JobInfo variable. The Integration Appliance provides the values for the JobInfo nodes during run time. The JobInfo variable contains the nodes defined in the following table:JobInfo Node Name | Data Type | Description |
---|---|---|
jobId | String | Contains the job ID number assigned to the instance of the orchestration. When the orchestration starts processing the activities contained in the orchestration, a job ID number is assigned to that instance of the orchestration. This job ID number is also visible from the Web Management Console (WMC). |
jobStartTime | XML Schema data type xsd:dateTime | Contains the date and time that the instance
of the orchestration started processing. Note: The jobStartTime is
the date and time that the orchestration starts processing the messages
or events and is assigned a job ID number. The jobStartTime is
not the date and time that orchestration was deployed on the Integration
Appliance and became active —ready to start processing messages and
events. For example, an orchestration contains a FTP Poll
Directory activity (a starter activity) that is deployed
on the Integration Appliance. The orchestration becomes active waiting
for a file to show on the FTP Server in a particular directory. When
the orchestration determines that a file has been placed in a particular
directory on the FTP Server, it starts processing the FTP
Poll Directory activity. When the orchestration starts
processing, the current date and time is stored in thejobStartTime node.
|
projectName | String | The name of the project that contains the current orchestration. |
configurationName | String | The name of the configuration associated with the current instance of the orchestration. Different configurations of projects are created using the Web Management Console (WMC). |
orchestrationName | String | The name of the orchestration currently processing. |
routerHostName | String | The host name of the Integration Appliance that the current instance of the orchestration is running on. |
Note: The JobInfo variable or the nodes
of the JobInfo variable cannot be removed.