Configuring InterChange Server

For your interactions between Business Integration Connect and InterChange Server, you must create an Integration Component Library (ICL) within the System Manager tool. This ICL will include the following artifacts:

You must also create a user product and select from the ICL those artifacts required for your particular interaction between InterChange Server and Business Integration Connect.

Note:
For more information on how to create ICLs and configure InterChange Server, see the System Implementation Guide in the WebSphere InterChange Server documentation set.

Creating business object definitions

Business Integration Connect sends your message to an ICS-compatible component, which routes the message to InterChange Server in the form of one or more business objects. For InterChange Server to recognize a business object, it must first locate a template, called a business object definition, to describe the structure of the information in the business object. Each piece of information in a business object definition is held in an attribute. Therefore, you must create business object definitions to represent the information in your message. To create business object definitions, use the Business Object Designer tool to create business object definitions.

Note:
Business Object Designer is included as part of both the WebSphere InterChange Server and the WebSphere Business Integration Adapter products. For more information on the use of this tool, see the Business Object Development Guide.

InterChange Server uses business objects for the following information:

Business object for the document

To hold the payload of the Business Integration Connect document or message, you must define a business object definition to represent the payload business object. It is in the form of a payload business object that the ICS-compatible component transfers the document into (or out of) InterChange Server. This section provides the following information on the payload business object:

Business object structure

The payload business object must be designed so that each piece of information in the document that you want to transfer must have an attribute in its associated payload business object definition. As Table 33 shows, the contents of the payload business object depends on the structure of the document and the packaging type that the document uses.

Table 33. Relationship of packaging to the structure of the payload business object

Document structure Packaging type Payload business object definition
Payload only None Holds the payload information of the document.
Payload only Backend Integration

Holds:

  • The payload information of the document
  • Transport-level headers

Payload and attachments None Not applicable. You must use Backend Integration packaging if your document contains attachments.
Payload and attachments

The document contains an XML wrapper, called a transport envelope, in which both the payload and attachments are wrapped.

Backend Integration

Holds:

  • The payload information of the document
  • Transport-level headers
  • The attachment container, which holds the attachment data and any attachment business objects

A Business Integration Connect-supplied data handler, called the Attachment data handler, is required to process the transport envelope. For more information, see Handling documents with attachments.

The payload business object must also be designed in according to the requirements of the particular ICS-compatible component used for integration with Business Integration Connect (see Table 27). Table 34 provides information on where to find details of how to create the payload business object for transfer over a particular transport protocol.

Table 34. Creating payload business objects for different transport protocols

Transport protocol Notes and restrictions For more information
HTTP

Use for a pre-4.2.2 InterChange Server

Creating business object definitions for pre-4.2.2 ICS over HTTP
HTTP

Use for a version 4.2.2 InterChange Server

Creating business object definitions for v4.2.2 ICS over HTTP
JMS If document uses Backend Integration packaging Creating business object definitions for JMS
All If document has attachments Creating attachment-related business object definitions

Business object conversion

Usually, the ICS-compatible component uses a data handler to convert between the format of the document and its business-object representation. This data handler is called the payload data handler. The ICS-compatible component must be configured to call appropriate data handler for the payload's content type. Usually, the WebSphere Business Integration Data Handler for XML is configured as the payload data handler because it converts between XML messages and business objects. However, you can create custom data handlers for any message formats that do not have a corresponding data handler provided by WebSphere Business Integration Server.

Note:
For processing XML messages, make sure you are using the WebSphere Business Integration Data Handler for XML Version 2.3.1 or higher. For cXML messages, you must use the Data Handler for XML Version 2.4.1 or higher.

You must make sure the payload data handlers you are using can ignore the child meta-object that are required by the transport protocol you are using. Before using a data handler (whether it is supplied by WebSphere Business Integration or whether it is a custom data handler), make sure it provides support for child meta-objects. Refer to the section on the cw_mo_label tag in the business object's application-specific information in the appropriate section for your transport protocol (see Table 34).

To indicate which data handler to use to convert the payload, you must take the following steps:

InterChange Server terminology

For InterChange Server, the name of the payload business object depends on the direction of the communication, as follows:

Business objects for configuration information

For many of the ICS-compatible components, you create business object definitions to hold configuration information. Such business objects are often called meta-objects.

Table 34 provides information on where to find details of how to create the data business object for transfer over a particular transport protocol.

Table 35.

Transport protocol Related component For more information
HTTP (to pre-4.2.2 InterChange Server) Wrapper data handler

Creating the configuration business objects for the Wrapper data handler

HTTP (to v4.2.2 InterChange Server) Adapter for HTTP Creating HTTP transport-level header information for pre-4.2.2 InterChange Server.
JMS Adapter for JMS Creating JMS header information
All Attachment data handler Creating the Attachment child meta-object

Creating the connectors

If the ICS-compatible component for your transport protocol is a WebSphere Business Integration Adapter, you must create a connector object for that adapter. This connector object represents an instance of the adapter at run-time. You create connector objects within InterChange Server's System Manager tool.

Note:
For information on how to create connector objects, refer to the System Implementation Guide in the WebSphere InterChange Server documentation set.

Table 36 summarizes where to find information about how to create connector objects, based on the transport protocol you are using.

Table 36. Creating connector objects for different transport protocols

Transport protocol ICS-compatible component For more information
HTTP

(with a pre-4.2.2 InterChange Server)

Adapter for XML

(Request processing only)

Creating the XML connector object
HTTP

(with a version 4.2.2 InterChange Server)

Adapter for HTTP Creating the HTTP connector object
JMS Adapter for JMS Creating the JMS connector object

Creating the collaborations

It is the collaboration, within InterChange Server, that performs the actual business process you need. Therefore, the appropriate collaboration must exist for InterChange Server to correctly process your Business Integration Connect documents. Make sure you take the following steps to make the appropriate collaboration available at run-time:

  1. Ensure that a collaboration template exists that provides the business process you need:
  2. Create a collaboration object and bind its ports, as follows:

Table 37 summarizes where to find information about how to create connector objects, based on the transport protocol you are using.

Table 37. Collaboration binding for different transport protocols

Transport protocol ICS-compatible component For more information
HTTP

(with a pre-4.2.2 InterChange Server)

Adapter for XML

(Request processing only)

Binding collaborations to communicate with Adapter for XML
HTTP

(with a version 4.2.2 InterChange Server)

Adapter for HTTP Binding collaborations to communicate with Adapter for HTTP
JMS Adapter for JMS Binding collaborations to communicate with Adapter for JMS

Deploy the project

Once your user project contains the artifacts that define the run-time components needed, you must deploy it to the InterChange Server repository. You deploy a user project within System Manager.

Copyright IBM Corp. 2003, 2004