Application Ping is the functionality of the edge controller to check the availability of the entire sensor events system.
The concept of Application Ping is similar to the concept of the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), which is a protocol for controlling messages reporting errors between a host server and a gateway. Application Ping uses an agent on the edge controller to periodically check whether the whole sensor events system is available by sending out an Application Ping Request on the MicroBroker bus. The Application Ping Request travels from the edge controller through WebSphere® Sensor Events to the back-end of the sensor events system. The back-end system then responds to the Application Ping Request with an Application Ping Response message, which includes any errors from the back-end devices. WebSphere Sensor Events routes the Application Ping Response back to the originating edge controller.
If there is no Application Ping Response to the Application Ping Request, then the edge controller does not recognize the sensor events system as available and will disable the portals on that controller.
The setting for Application Ping is configurable in the SystemAgent. The possible values for the com.ibm.rfid.applping.shortcut property are true or false.
A value of false means that the Application Ping Request is passed through WebSphere Sensor Events and answered by the back-end sensor events system. A value of true means that the Application Ping Request is answered by WebSphere Sensor Events.
The default value is true.
To view the Application Ping configuration settings in the WebSphere Sensor Events Administrative Console, navigate to . Look for com.ibm.rfid.applping.shortcut in the Name column. The current set value for each configuration variable is in the Value column.