Creating a collaboration object

This section describes how to create a new collaboration object using the System Manager wizard. It describes the general flow of the wizard and references other sections in this chapter to address the specifics of collaboration object configuration. Do the following to create a collaboration object using the wizard:

  1. In System Manager, right-click on the Collaboration Objects folder in an integration component library and choose Create New Collaboration Object from the context menu.

    The "Create New Collaboration" wizard appears, listing the installed templates in the Template Name column and a description (if provided by the developer) in the Description column. The dialog is the first screen in a wizard that steps you through the initial creation and configuration of a collaboration object. You can later modify the configuration values. Figure 52 shows the "Select collaboration template" screen:

    Figure 52. Selecting a collaboration template


  2. Select the collaboration template upon which the object should be based from the list of templates. The name you select is displayed in the Selected Collaboration template field below the list.

    You can also type text in the Find field and the dialog will select a collaboration template whose name begins with the characters you type in the field. You can then use the up and down arrows to navigate among templates that share the pattern of characters, if there are several that match.

    Figure 53. Using the Find field


  3. Type a name for the collaboration object in the Collaboration object name field.

    Refer to the Naming Components Guide for requirements and conventions regarding collaboration object names.

  4. Click Next to advance the wizard to the Bind ports screen.

    The "Bind ports" screen displays the ports defined in the collaboration template, the business object definition supported by each port, the type of component to which the port might be bound, and the particular components of the specified type to which each port can be bound. Figure 54 shows the "Bind ports" screen:

    Figure 54. Binding collaboration ports


    Depending on the value in the Type column, the Bind With column displays either the connectors or the collaborations that support the business object type in the Business Object Definition field. For each port displayed, choose either Collaboration, Connector or Web Service from the Type column and then choose the desired component in the Bind With column.

    To configure a port so that it can receive business object requests from an external programmatic entity (such as a servlet), you must follow the instructions in Configuring external port bindings.

    You can bind some, all, or none of the ports at this screen of the wizard. If you do not bind all the ports at this point you can always modify the port bindings after finishing the wizard. This way, if a particular component that you have to bind to a port does not support the necessary business object definition you can finish the collaboration object wizard, add support for the business object definition to the required component, and then reconfigure the collaboration object.

    For more information about binding ports, and information about how to modify port bindings, see Binding collaboration object ports.

  5. Click Next to advance the wizard to the "Collaboration General Properties" screen. This screen allows you to configure the properties that belong to all collaboration templates defined in the WebSphere InterChange Server business integration system. Figure 55 shows the "Collaboration General Properties" screen:

    Figure 55. Configuring collaboration object general properties


    Set each property to the desired value.

    For more information about collaboration general properties and how to modify them for an existing collaboration object, see Configuring collaboration object general properties.

  6. Click Next to advance the wizard to the Properties screen. This screen allows you to configure the properties that are specific to the particular collaboration template.

    Figure 56. Configuring collaboration template-specific properties


    Enter a value for each property or accept the default value. For information about each property, refer to the documentation for the particular collaboration template.

    Click Finish to complete the collaboration object creation wizard. The new collaboration object is displayed in the Graphical View tab. For more information about the collaboration object graphical view and tree view, see Collaboration object views.

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