You can start and stop relationships from either System Monitor or from System Manager in the InterChange Server Component Management view.
You can view the state of a relationship either by logging on to System Monitor and opening a view that contains relationship status or by using the InterChange Server Component Management view in System Manager. To log on to System Monitor, follow the instructions in Steps for logging on to System Monitor. To use the InterChange Server Component Management view of System Manager, follow the instructions in Steps for connecting to an InterChange Server Express instance..
The state of a relationship is represented differently, depending on which tool you are using.
Perform the following steps in System Monitor to view relationship states:
When the product is installed, the default view is set to System Overview, and the default monitor contained in that view is set to System Overview. These defaults can be changed to suit your monitoring needs. See Setting up views to monitor the system for instructions.
Perform the following steps in System Manager to view relationship states:
Table 11 lists the relationship states represented by the display color and describes what actions can be performed during that state.
Relationship state (color) | Description |
---|---|
Active (green) | Relationship is ready to run and available for use. To use Relationship Manager on a relationship, the relationship must be in the active state. |
Inactive (red) | Relationship is not ready to run or available for use. When the relationship is stopped, it becomes inactive -- all current jobs in the queue are completed and no new jobs are accepted. To modify a relationship definition, it must be in this state. |
Unknown (gray) | Relationship does not have a compatible run-time schema. To create a compatible run-time schema, from Relationship Designer Express, save the relationship with the Create run-time schema option selected. The state changes to Inactive, at which point the relationship can be started. |
Relationships are used to establish associations between business object attributes that cannot easily be mapped. The tool used for creating relationships is Relationship Designer Express. For more information about Relationship Designer Express, see the Map Development Guide.
When you expand the Relationships folder in the InterChange Server Component Management view, two subfolders appear: Dynamic and Static.
This section describes the following topics:
Steps for starting and stopping relationships
For a relationship to be executable, it must be activated. However, you cannot modify a relationship when it is active. Therefore, you must stop the relationship, modify it, and then restart it. See Appendix B. Requirements for restarting IBM WebSphere Business Integration Server Express system components to find out what changes require relationships to be restarted.
Perform the following steps to start and stop relationships in System Monitor:
Perform the following steps to start and stop relationships in System Manager:
As part of the design process of a static relationship, a developer can indicate whether the relationship's tables are to be cached in memory. A static relationship is one whose data does not change frequently so is a good candidate for table caching. If the developer has indicated that the static relationship's tables can be cached, you can control whether to enable caching from System Manager. System Manager lists all static relationships in the folder labeled Static in the Relationships folder.
Perform the following steps to enable relationship table caching for a static relationship:
When the Cached option appears with a check mark to the left, InterChange Server reads the relationship tables into memory the next time the run-time data is accessed.
Steps for disabling CachingPerform the following steps to disable relationship table caching for a static relationship:
When the Cached option appears with no check mark to the left, InterChange Server reads run-time data from the tables in the relationship database.
Steps for reloading the Cached tablesPerform the following steps to tell InterChange Server to reread the relationship's tables into memory with the Reload feature:
InterChange Server reloads the cached relationship tables by rereading the tables from the relationship database into memory. This option is useful when the static relationship's tables are updated directly in the database through SQL statements. To get the more current version of the tables into cache, select the Reload option.
Steps for tracing Cached tablesPerform the following steps to tell InterChange Server to log a trace message each time it loads and unloads relationship tables in memory:
RELATIONSHIP.CACHING=5
InterChange Server Express routes these messages to the trace file (if one is configured). By default, InterChange Server Express does not generate trace messages when it loads and unloads the relationship tables. Trace levels less than five (0-4) do not produce messages either.
Relationship Manager allows you to view and perform operations on relationship run-time data, including participants and their data. For background information about relationships, see the Map Development Guide.
You create relationship definitions with Relationship Designer Express. At run time, instances of the relationships are populated with the data that associates information from different applications. This relationship instance data is created when the maps that use the relationships start. The data is stored in the relationship tables specified in the relationship definition. Relationship Manager provides a graphical interface to interact with the relationship tables regardless of the database vendor.
For each relationship instance, Relationship Manager displays a hierarchical listing of its participant definitions and participant instances, which are a set of key and non-key attributes. The relationship tree also provides detailed information about each of the participants in the relationship instance such as the type of entity, its value, and the date it was last modified. A relationship instance ID is automatically generated when the relationship instance is saved in the relationship table. Relationship Manager displays this instance ID at the top level of the relationship tree.
Figure 37 shows an example in Relationship Manager of a relationship tree for an identity relationship.
You can use Relationship Manager to work on entities at all levels: the relationship instance, participant instance, and attribute levels. For example, you can use Relationship Manager to:
Perform one of the following steps to start Relationship Manager:
Relationship Manager starts. At this point it is disconnected from the server; you must connect to an InterChange Server Express instance as described in Steps for connecting Relationship Manager to InterChange Server Express to proceed further.
Figure 38 shows Relationship Manager in a disconnected state.
You must connect Relationship Manager to InterChange Server Express to work with relationship instances and data. Follow the instructions in the following sections to connect Relationship Manager to a server and disconnect Relationship Manager from it:
Perform the following steps to connect Relationship Manager to InterChange Server Express:
If you do not want to open a relationship at this time you can open it after connecting to the server. For more information, see Steps for opening a relationship.
If you connect to InterChange Server Express in Relationship Manager and specify a relationship to open as described in step 6, then Relationship Manager displays the Retrieve Relationship Instances window, described in Steps for retrieving relationship instances.
Perform the following step to disconnect Relationship Manager from InterChange Server Express:
After you have started Relationship Manager and connected it to an InterChange Server Express, you can use Relationship Manager to work with relationship data as described in the following sections:
Steps for opening a relationship
Steps for retrieving relationship instances
Steps for creating relationship instances
Steps for deleting relationship instances
Deactivating and activating participants
Steps for copying participants
Steps for loading and unloading business object files
Perform the following steps to open a relationship definition in Relationship Manager after it is already connected to the server:
Figure 40 shows the Open Relationship dialog box.
When you open a relationship, Relationship Manager displays the Retrieve Relationship Instances window, described in Steps for retrieving relationship instances.
Perform the following steps to retrieve relationship instances or to return a count of how many instances there are for a relationship:
The Retrieve Relationship Instances window is also displayed when you specify a relationship to open when connecting to InterChange Server Express.
Depending on the number of participants in the relationship definition and the number of participant instances in each relationship instance, these retrieval queries may take some time.
Steps for retrieving all instancesPerform the following steps to retrieve the first 500 instances for a relationship:
Relationship Manager displays the first 500 instances for the relationship.
Perform the following steps to retrieve a range of up to 500 instances by relationship ID:
Relationship Manager displays up to 500 instances in a range of the IDs specified.
Perform the following steps to retrieve a relationship instance based on values for key or non-key attributes of selected participants:
For identity relationships, participant names are followed by the business object definition with which the participant is associated.
For lookup relationships, participant names are followed by the word "Data".
Value | Description |
---|---|
Participant data | The data of the selected participant.
For example, if the relationship is an identity relationship you would specify the ID of the participant instance that you know to find the relationship instance in which it exists. If the relationship is a lookup relationship you would specify the non-key data value of the participant instance. |
% |
Any string of characters. This option is case-sensitive; numbers are included in the character set. For example, if %A were specified for a participant that stores abbreviated forms of the names of the United States, the values CA, GA, IA, LA, MA, PA, VA, and WA would be returned. |
_ |
Any single character. As an example, _00 would retrieve 100, 200, a00, b00, and so forth. |
Relationship Manager displays the first 500 relationship instances that match the specified value.
Perform the following steps to return the number of relationship instances that satisfy a retrieval criteria:
Perform the following steps to create a new instance for a relationship:
Relationship Manager displays the new relationship instance.
Highlighted at the top of the hierarchal relationship tree, on the entry line with the relationship icon is the placeholder for the relationship instance ID, which displays three question marks (???). After you save the relationship instance or any of its participants, InterChange Server Express automatically generates the new relationship instance ID and Relationship Manager replaces the question marks with this instance ID.
The relationship tree displays participant definitions, participant instances, and participant key and non-key attributes beneath the relationship instance in descending order.
Task | Action |
---|---|
Save the participant instance. | To save the new participant instance, right-click
the participant instance and click Save Participant.
Relationship Manager saves in the appropriate relationship table
the data for this participant. The Modified column
for the participant instances displays the date the participant
was saved, which is the create date, in this case.
Note:
After the participant data has been saved, it cannot
be changed. To change its data, the participant must be deleted
and another created. |
Add more participant instances. | Repeat repeat step 3 in the previous list.
Note:
If you are working with an identity relationship,
you cannot create more than one participant instance for a participant
definition. |
Delete a participant. | If necessary, you can delete a saved participant instance by right-clicking the participant instance and selecting Delete Participant. Relationship Manager removes the participant instance from the relationship table. If you do not want to remove the participant instance from the database, use the Deactivate Participant option (see Deactivating and activating participants). A deactivated participant retains its instance ID and its values. |
Save the relationship instance. | Save the relationship instance by performing
one of the following tasks:
Note:
At least one participant instance and all key attribute
data must be created before the relationship instance can be saved. |
Save all relationship instances. | Click File > Save All. InterChange Server Express generates the relationship instance IDs for any relationship instances that do not have one. Relationship Manager replaces any ??? placeholders with the new IDs. Relationship Manager updates the modified date on all saved participant instances to this date. |
Perform the following steps to delete a relationship instance from the relationship tables:
The relationship instance and its data are deleted from the relationship tables for the current relationship.
A participant instance can be deactivated, or made inactive. Deactivating a participant instance removes it from the relationship instance and prevents it from displaying in the Relationship Manager window, but its record remains in the relationship table so it can be re-activated in the future.
Steps for deactivating a participantPerform the following step to deactivate a participant instance:
Perform the following steps to activate a participant instance:
The Deactivated Participants window appears as shown in Figure 42.
The activated participant instance appears in its relationship instance in the Relationship Manager window.
You can create a new participant instance by copying an existing participant instance.
Perform the following steps to copy a participant instance:
You can load a business object file of the same type into a participant. Perform the following steps to load a business object data file into a participant:
The Load Participant with Business Object dialog box displays the business object associated with that participant instance, as shown in Figure 43.
An important feature of Relationship Manager is the ability to access and manipulate relationship run-time data contained in the relationship tables. The following topics describe how to use Relationship Manager to manipulate and access run-time data:
Steps for searching for participants
Steps for filtering the displayed participants
Steps for cleaning up participants
Steps for printing relationship data
You can search for participant instances based on different criteria. Depending on how specific your search criteria is, your searches can locate a unique participant instance or a group of participant instances.
Perform the following steps to search for instances by business object:
The Find Instances by Business Object window appears (see Figure 44).
Relationship Manager displays any matching instances in a dialog box.
Perform the following steps to search for instances by data:
Relationship Manager displays the Find Instances by Data dialog box, as shown in Figure 45.
Relationship Manager displays any matching instances in a dialog box.
You can filter the participants to only display those created or modified between certain dates.
Perform the following steps to filter the displayed participants:
The Filter dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 46.
Relationship Manager displays the history of activity for the filtered interval in the Filter Results dialog box. The dialog box includes inactive participants if Include inactive participants as well is selected. Figure 47 shows the Filter Results dialog box.
You can remove incorrect participant information caused by inconsistent or corrupt data from the source application or generic object.
Perform the following steps to clean up participants in System Manager:
The Clean Up Participants dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 48.
All participant adds, deactivations, and activations since that point in time are erased from the database. A participant that has been deleted or whose value has been modified cannot be cleaned up.
Relationship Manager allows you to print information about a relationship's run-time data. It creates a tree representation of the run-time data, much like the data appears in the tool's main window. The print command in Relationship Manager sends the current contents of the relationship tree in the main window to the printer.
Perform the following steps to print relationship run-time data: