The following changes have been made in release 4.2:
- The CrossWorlds name is no longer used to describe an entire system or to
modify the names of components and tools, which are otherwise mostly the same
as in previous releases. For example, CrossWorlds System Manager is now
System Manager, and CrossWorlds InterChange Server is now WebSphere
InterChange Server.
- The CollaborationFoundation and WrapperFoundation templates have been
included in this release. These templates help you create standard
collaboration and wrapper collaboration templates for use in your business
integration system. For more information on CollaborationFoundation and
WrapperFoundation, see Designing a collaboration.
- All collaboration templates in release 4.2 are XML-based.
The process for converting old templates (both XML and non-XML) to the format
required by release 4.2 has been simplified. All templates
stored in InterChange Server (ICS) are converted automatically when they are
imported into a project in release 4.2. Templates stored in a
file system (in other words, not in ICS) are converted automatically when they
are imported into your Process Designer session. For more information,
see Updating templates from previous releases.
- InterChange Server now supports long-lived business processes (LLBP);
this feature enables collaborations to be deployed as a long-lived business
process. Two asynchronous service calls have been added to support
long-lived business processes: asynchronous inbound and asynchronous
outbound. Both the new asynchronous inbound service call and the
original synchronous service call can now specify a static or dynamic timeout
value to further refine the parameters of a long-lived business
process. See Collaborations as long-lived business processes and Designing for long-lived business processes for more information.
- Asynchronous service calls have been added to WebSphere InterChange
Server. You can now implement an Asynchronous Outbound Service Call or
an Asynchronous Inbound Service Call. To support the new asynchronous
service calls, a new ServiceCall Properties Advanced Properties dialog box has
been added; use this dialog box to configure the service calls.
For more information, see Service calls.
- A decision node has been added to Process Designer's diagram
editor. This node replaces the conditional transition links and
exception links used in previous versions. The decision node handles
all branching tasks in a scenario diagram. For more information, see Decision nodes.
- The iterator node has been revised to accommodate For loops and While
loops. In addition, a break symbol has been added to allow an iterator
to terminate prematurely and return control to the parent diagram. See Iterators.
- The Process Designer GUI has been significantly enhanced:
- The Service Call Properties dialog box has been redesigned to simplify the
assignment of ports, verbs, and business object variables for both regular and
compensation service calls. In addition, a new Advanced Service Call
Properties dialog box has been added to enable you to specify the type of
service call, its timeout value (if used with long-lived business processes),
and its correlation attribute.
- A Decision Properties dialog box has been added to support the new
decision node. In addition, a new Decision Node symbol has been added
to the Symbols toolbar.
- The Link Transition Properties dialog box has been modified to remove the
conditional link functionality (replaced by the new decision node) and to add
support for business object probes.
- The General tab of the Template Definitions window no longer contains a
list of defined collaboration-specific properties. Instead,
collaboration-specific properties can be added, modified, and viewed from the
new Properties tab of the Template Definitions window.
- The Declarations tab of the Template Definitions window has been
redesigned to simplify the process of declaring Java variables and importing
Java packages. Variables and packages are declared and imported via a
table; wherever possible, the table contains drop-down lists of all
supported values to make it easier for the user to accurately declare and
import needed items.
- You can now monitor business objects in an InterChange Server
environment. By adding new business object probes to a transition link
in a scenario, you can specify the particular objects you want to monitor, and
view the results through the System Monitor.
- Note:
- Business object probes cannot be used on the incoming transition link for a
decision node or a service call link.
For more information, see Using business object probes.
- A new code fragment editor, called Activity Editor, has been added.
This editor is used to add Java code fragments to action nodes; users can
write traditional Java code or use it to drag and drop graphical elements to
create an action node's logic. The Activity Editor enables users to
create action node logic without writing a full Java program. For more
information, see Adding activity definitions to an action node.
- Note:
- Activity Editor has not been fully documented for this release.
Complete instructions for using Activity Editor will be available in a
documentation patch release.
- Process Designer can export and import BPEL and UML files. You can
import files for use as the basis for a new WebSphere InterChange Server
collaboration template, or export a WebSphere InterChange Server collaboration
template to BPEL or UML format for use with other applications. See Converting templates for more information.
- Process Designer no longer requires a connection to ICS. All
collaboration development operations can be done locally, within the context
of a running System Manager session. The System Manager does not need
to connect to a running ICS during collaboration development; the ICS
connection is needed only when the collaboration is being deployed to the
runtime environment.
- Information on creating an internationalized collaboration has been added
to this book. See An internationalized collaboration.
