Using Connector Configurator

This appendix describes how to use Connector Configurator Express to set configuration property values for your adapter.

The topics covered in this appendix are:

Overview of Connector Configurator Express

Connector Configurator Express allows you to configure the connector component of your adapter for use with InterChange Server Express.

You use Connector Configurator Express to:

Connector configuration properties include both standard configuration properties (the properties that all connectors have) and connector-specific properties (properties that are needed by the connector for a specific application or technology).

Because standard properties are used by all connectors, you do not need to define those properties from scratch; Connector Configurator Express incorporates them into your configuration file as soon as you create the file. However, you do need to set the value of each standard property in Connector Configurator Express.

The range of standard properties may not be the same for all brokers and all configurations. Some properties are available only if other properties are given a specific value. The Standard Properties window in Connector Configurator Express will show the properties available for your particular configuration.

For connector-specific properties, however, you need first to define the properties and then set their values. You do this by creating a connector-specific property template for your particular adapter. There may already be a template set up in your system, in which case, you simply use that. If not, follow the steps in "Creating a new template" to set up a new one.

Starting Connector Configurator Express

You can start and run Connector Configurator Express in either of two modes:

Running Configurator Express in stand-alone mode

You can run Connector Configurator Express independently and work with connector configuration files, irrespective of your broker.

To do so:

You may choose to run Connector Configurator Express independently to generate the file, and then connect to System Manager to save it in a System Manager project (see "Completing a configuration file".)

Running Configurator Express from System Manager

You can run Connector Configurator Express from System Manager.

To run Connector Configurator Express:

  1. Open the System Manager.
  2. In the System Manager window, expand the Integration Component Libraries icon and highlight Connectors.
  3. From the System Manager menu bar, click Tools>Connector Configurator Express. The Connector Configurator Express window opens and displays a New Connector dialog box.

To edit an existing configuration file:

  1. In the System Manager window, select any of the configuration files listed in the Connector folder and right-click on it.
  2. Click the Standard Properties tab to see which properties are included in this configuration file.

Creating a connector-specific property template

To create a configuration file for your connector, you need a connector-specific property template as well as the system-supplied standard properties.

You can create a brand-new template for the connector-specific properties of your connector, or you can use an existing file as the template.

Creating a new template

This section describes how you create properties in the template, define general characteristics and values for those properties, and specify any dependencies between the properties. Then you save the template and use it as the base for creating a new connector configuration file.

To create a template:

  1. Click File>New>Connector-Specific Property Template.
  2. The Connector-Specific Property Template dialog box appears, with the following fields:
  3. Select a template from the Template Name display, enter that template name in the Find Name field (or highlight your selection in Template Name), and click Next.

If you do not see any template that displays the connector-specific properties used by your connector, you will need to create one.

Specifying general characteristics

When you click Next to select a template, the Properties - Connector-Specific Property Template dialog box appears. The dialog box has tabs for General characteristics of the defined properties and for Value restrictions. The General display has the following fields:

After you have made selections for the general characteristics of the property, click the Value tab.

Specifying values

The Value tab enables you to set the maximum length, the maximum multiple values, a default value, or a value range for the property. It also allows editable values. To do so:

  1. Click the Value tab. The display panel for Value replaces the display panel for General.
  2. Select the name of the property in the Edit properties display.
  3. In the fields for Max Length and Max Multiple Values, make any changes. The changes will not be accepted unless you also open the Property Value dialog box for the property, described in the next step.
  4. Right-click the box in the top left-hand corner of the value table and click Add. A Property Value dialog box appears. Depending on the property type, the dialog box allows you to enter either a value, or both a value and range. Enter the appropriate value or range, and click OK.
  5. The Value panel refreshes to display any changes you made in Max Length and Max Multiple Values. It displays a table with three columns:

    The Value column shows the value that you entered in the Property Value dialog box, and any previous values that you created.

    The Default Value column allows you to designate any of the values as the default.

    The Value Range shows the range that you entered in the Property Value dialog box.

    After a value has been created and appears in the grid, it can be edited from within the table display. To make a change in an existing value in the table, select an entire row by clicking on the row number. Then right-click in the Value field and click Edit Value.

Setting dependencies

When you have made your changes to the General and Value tabs, click Next. The Dependencies - Connector-Specific Property Template dialog box appears.

A dependent property is a property that is included in the template and used in the configuration file only if the value of another property meets a specific condition. For example, PollQuantity appears in the template only if JMS is the transport mechanism and DuplicateEventElimination is set to True.
To designate a property as dependent and to set the condition upon which it depends, do this:

  1. In the Available Properties display, select the property that will be made dependent.
  2. In the Select Property field, use the drop-down menu to select the property that will hold the conditional value.
  3. In the Condition Operator field, select one of the following:

    == (equal to)

    != (not equal to)

    > (greater than)

    < (less than)

    >= (greater than or equal to)

    <=(less than or equal to)

  4. In the Conditional Value field, enter the value that is required in order for the dependent property to be included in the template.
  5. With the dependent property highlighted in the Available Properties display, click an arrow to move it to the Dependent Property display.
  6. Click Finish. Connector Configurator Express stores the information you have entered as an XML document, under \data\app in the\bin directory where you have installed Connector Configurator Express.

Creating a new configuration file

You create a connector configuration file from a connector-specific template or by modifying an existing configuration file.

Creating a configuration file from a connector-specific template

Once a connector-specific template has been created, you can use it to create a configuration file:

  1. Click File>New>Connector Configuration.
  2. The New Connector dialog box appears, with the following fields:
  3. A configuration screen appears for the connector that you are configuring. The title bar shows the integration broker and connector names. You can fill in all the field values to complete the definition now, or you can save the file and complete the fields later.
  4. To save the file, click File>Save>To File or File>Save>To Project. To save to a project, System Manager must be running.


    If you save as a file, the Save File Connector dialog box appears. Choose *.cfg as the file type, verify in the File Name field that the name is spelled correctly and has the correct case, navigate to the directory where you want to locate the file, and click Save. The status display in the message panel of Connector Configurator Express indicates that the configuration file was successfully created.

    Important:
    The directory path and name that you establish here must match the connector configuration file path and name that you supply in the startup file for the connector.
  5. To complete the connector definition, enter values in the fields for each of the tabs of the Connector Configurator Express window, as described later in this chapter.

Using an existing file

To use an existing file to configure a connector, you must open the file in Connector Configurator Express, revise the configuration, and then save the file as a configuration file (*.cfg).

You may have an existing file available in one or more of the following formats:

Although any of these file sources may contain most or all of the connector-specific properties for your connector, the connector configuration file will not be complete until you have opened the file and set properties, as described later in this chapter.

To use an existing file to configure a connector, you must open the file in Connector Configurator Express, revise the configuration, and then resave the file.

Follow these steps to open a *.txt, *.cfg or *.in file from a directory:

  1. In Connector Configurator Express, click File>Open>From File.
  2. In the Open File Connector dialog box, select one of the following file types to see the available files:
  3. In the directory display, navigate to the appropriate connector definition file, select it, and click Open.

Follow these steps to open a connector configuration from a System Manager project:

  1. Start System Manager. A configuration can be opened from or saved to System Manager only if System Manager has been started.
  2. Start Connector Configurator Express.
  3. Click File>Open>From Project.

Completing a configuration file

When you open a configuration file or a connector from a project, the Connector Configurator Express window displays the configuration screen, with the current attributes and values.

Connector Configurator Express requires values for properties described in the following sections:

Note:
For connectors that use JMS messaging, an additional category may display, for special configuration of data handlers that convert the data to business objects. For further information, see Data handlers.

Setting the configuration file properties

When you create and name a new connector configuration file, or when you open an existing connector configuration file, Connector Configurator Express displays a configuration screen with tabs for the categories of required configuration values.

Standard properties differ from connector-specific properties as follows:

The fields for Standard Properties and Connector-Specific Properties are color-coded to show which are configurable:

Setting standard connector properties

To change the value of a standard property:

  1. Click in the field whose value you want to set.
  2. Either enter a value, or select one from the drop-down menu if it appears.
  3. After entering all the values for the standard properties, you can do one of the following:

Setting application-specific configuration properties

For application-specific configuration properties, you can add or change property names, configure values, delete a property, and encrypt a property. The default property length is 255 characters.

  1. Right-click in the top left portion of the grid. A pop-up menu bar will appear. Click Add to add a property. To add a child property, right-click on the parent row number and click Add child.
  2. Enter a value for the property or child property.
  3. To encrypt a property, select the Encrypt box.
  4. Choose to save or discard changes, as described for Setting standard connector properties.

The Update Method displayed for each property indicates whether a component or agent restart is necessary to activate changed values.

Important:
Changing a preset application-specific connector property name may cause a connector to fail. Certain property names may be needed by the connector to connect to an application or to run properly.

Encryption for connector properties

Application-specific properties can be encrypted by selecting the Encrypt check box in the Edit Property window. To decrypt a value, click to clear the Encrypt check box, enter the correct value in the Verification dialog box, and click OK. If the entered value is correct, the value is decrypted and displays.

The adapter user guide for each connector contains a list and description of each property and its default value.

If a property has multiple values, the Encrypt check box will appear for the first value of the property. When you select Encrypt, all values of the property will be encrypted. To decrypt multiple values of a property, click to clear the Encrypt check box for the first value of the property, and then enter the new value in the Verification dialog box. If the input value is a match, all multiple values will decrypt.

Update method

Refer to the descriptions of update methods found in the Standard configuration properties for connectors appendix, under Setting and updating property values.

Connector properties are almost all static and the Update Method is Component restart. For changes to take effect, you must restart the connector after saving the revised connector configuration file.

Specifying supported business object definitions

Use the Supported Business Objects tab in Connector Configurator Express to specify the business objects that the connector will use. You must specify both generic business objects and application-specific business objects, and you must specify associations for the maps between the business objects.

For you to specify a supported business object, the business objects and their maps must exist in the system. Business object definitions, including those for data handler meta-objects, and map definitions should be saved into Integration Component Library (ICL) projects. For more information on ICL projects, see the User Guide for WebSphere Business Integration Server Express.

Note:
Some connectors require that certain business objects be specified as supported in order to perform event notification or additional configuration (using meta-objects) with their applications. For more information, see the chapter on business objects in this guide as well as the Business Object Development Guide.

To specify that a business object definition is supported by the connector, or to change the support settings for an existing business object definition, click the Supported Business Objects tab and use the following fields.

Business object name

To designate that a business object definition is supported by the connector, with System Manager running:

  1. Click an empty field in the Business Object Name list. A drop-down list displays, showing all the business object definitions that exist in the System Manager project.
  2. Click on a business object to add it.
  3. Set the Agent Support (described below) for the business object.
  4. In the File menu of the Connector Configurator Express window, click Save to Project. The revised connector definition, including designated support for the added business object definition, is saved to the project in System Manager.

To delete a business object from the supported list:

  1. To select a business object field, click the number to the left of the business object.
  2. From the Edit menu of the Connector Configurator Express window, click Delete Row. The business object is removed from the list display.
  3. From the File menu, click Save to Project.

Deleting a business object from the supported list changes the connector definition and makes the deleted business object unavailable for use in this implementation of this connector. It does not affect the connector code, nor does it remove the business object definition itself from System Manager.

Agent support

If a business object has Agent Support, the system will attempt to use that business object for delivering data to an application via the connector agent.

Typically, application-specific business objects for a connector are supported by that connector's agent, but generic business objects are not.

To indicate that the business object is supported by the connector agent, check the Agent Support box. The Connector Configurator Express window does not validate your Agent Support selections.

Maximum transaction level

The maximum transaction level for a connector is the highest transaction level that the connector supports.

For most connectors, Best Effort is the only possible choice.

You must restart the server for changes in transaction level to take effect.

Associated maps

Each connector supports a list of business object definitions and their associated maps that are currently active in InterChange Server Express. This list appears when you select the Associated Maps tab.

The list of business objects contains the application-specific business object which the agent supports and the corresponding generic object that the controller sends to the subscribing collaboration. The association of a map determines which map will be used to transform the application-specific business object to the generic business object or the generic business object to the application-specific business object.

If you are using maps that are uniquely defined for specific source and destination business objects, the maps will already be associated with their appropriate business objects when you open the display, and you will not need (or be able) to change them.

If more than one map is available for use by a supported business object, you will need to explicitly bind the business object with the map that it should use.

The Associated Maps tab displays the following fields:

Resources

The Resource tab allows you to set a value that determines whether and to what extent the connector agent will handle multiple processes concurrently, using connector agent parallelism.

Not all connectors support this feature. If you are running a connector agent that was designed in Java to be multi-threaded, you are advised not to use this feature, since it is usually more efficient to use multiple threads than multiple processes.

Setting trace/log file values

When you open a connector configuration file or a connector definition file, Connector Configurator Express uses the logging and tracing values of that file as default values. You can change those values in Connector Configurator Express.

To change the logging and tracing values:

  1. Click the Trace/Log Files tab.
  2. For either logging or tracing, you can choose to write messages to one or both of the following:

Data handlers

The data handlers section is available for configuration only if you have designated a value of JMS for DeliveryTransport and a value of JMS for ContainerManagedEvents. Adapters that make use of the guaranteed event delivery enable this tab.

See the descriptions under ContainerManagedEvents in the Standard Properties appendix for values to use for these properties.

Saving your configuration file

After you have created the configuration file and set its properties, you need to deploy it to the correct location for your connector. Save the configuration in an ICL project, and use System Manager to load the file into InterChange Server Express.

The file is saved as an XML document. You can save the XML document in three ways:

For details about using projects in System Manager, and for further information about deployment, see the User Guide for IBM WebSphere Business Integration Server Express.

Completing the configuration

After you have created a configuration file for a connector and modified it, make sure that the connector can locate the configuration file when the connector starts up.

To do so, open the startup file used for the connector, and verify that the location and file name used for the connector configuration file match exactly the name you have given the file and the directory or path where you have placed it.

Using Connector Configurator Express in a globalized environment

Connector Configurator Express is globalized and can handle character conversion between the configuration file and the integration broker. Connector Configurator Express uses native encoding. When it writes to the configuration file, it uses UTF-8 encoding.

Connector Configurator Express supports non-English characters in:

The drop list for the CharacterEncoding and Locale standard configuration properties displays only a subset of supported values. To add other values to the drop list, you must manually modify the \Data\Std\stdConnProps.xml file in the product directory.

For example, to add the locale en_GB to the list of values for the Locale property, open the stdConnProps.xml file and add the line in boldface type below:

<Property name="Locale" 
isRequired="true" 
updateMethod="component restart">
                <ValidType>String</ValidType>
            <ValidValues>
                                <Value>ja_JP</Value>
                                <Value>ko_KR</Value>
                                <Value>zh_CN</Value>
                                <Value>zh_TW</Value>
                                <Value>fr_FR</Value>
                                <Value>de_DE</Value>
                                <Value>it_IT</Value>
                                <Value>es_ES</Value>
                                <Value>pt_BR</Value>
                                <Value>en_US</Value>
                                <Value>en_GB</Value>
                    <DefaultValue>en_US</DefaultValue>
            </ValidValues>
    </Property>

Copyright IBM Corp. 2004