The Business Processing Engine (BPE), the heart of the Document Manager component, is responsible for performing the main transformations at the core of the WBI Connect process. It does so by following a series of distinct processing steps, grouped into three basic units: fixed inbound workflow, variable workflow, and fixed outbound workflow. User exits allow user defined processes to be plugged into each of these basic units.
Fixed inbound and fixed outbound workflow cover standard processing that all documents undergo as they flow into and out of the main processing stage. They are called fixed because the number and type of processing steps are always the same. Main processing takes place in variable workflow, where the number and type of processing steps are completely dependent on the handling requirements of the specific situation. As of the 4.2.2 release, users may customize the workflow stage of WBI-Connect processing in two ways, by creating custom handlers for certain steps in fixed workflows, and by defining new actions (named sequences of steps) in the variable workflow stage. This chapter covers both ways of customizing workflow:
An additional section covers development and deployment issues.
An API listing and example code follows in the next chapter. Also included in this listing is information on a number of utility, security, and classes common to all WBI-C components.