WebSphere Business Integration Adapters: An Adapter Development and WebSphere Business Integration Solution

26 WebSphere Business Integration Adapters

3.2 Design considerations

To develop an ODA:

1. Extend the ODA base class, ODKAgentBase2, to create your ODA class.

2. Implement the methods of the ODA class, which provides the means of

starting the ODA.

3. Design and implement the ODA content.

4. Implement error and message handling for all ODA methods.

5. Create any class that needed to handle data-source interactions.

6. Build the ODA.

7. Create a startup script for the new ODA.

8. Test and debug the ODA.

3.3 Setting up the development environment

You need to set up the development environment for the ODA as follows:

1. Install WebSphere Business Integration system software. The ODA library

(CwODK.jar) is necessary to run ODA. Also, Business Object Designer is

necessary to create application-specific business objects by using ODA.

– If you use WebSphere InterChange Server, the ODA library and Business

Object Designer are installed as part of the InterChange Server software.

– If you use WebSphere Business Integration Message Broker or

WebSphere Application Server, you must install the WebSphere Business

Integration Adapters product for the ODA library and Business Object

Designer.

2. Install the Java Development Kit (JDK™) or a JDK-compliant development

product (such as WebSphere Studio Application Development).

3.4 Object Discovery Agent process flows

When a user chooses File → New Using ODA (to create a business object), the

Business Object Designer invokes the Business Object Wizard to run the ODA.

The Business Object Wizard then displays the Select Agent dialog box, which

provides graphical access to all available Object Discovery Agents. From this

dialog box, users select the ODA to run.

Chapter 3. Object Discovery Agents 27

The Business Object Wizard connects to this ODA with the following steps:

1. Instantiates an ODA object, which is an object of the ODA class. The ODA

class is the extension of the ODA base class, ODKAgentBase2. It defines the

behavior of the ODA.

2. Obtains a handle to the ODA object, which can be used to access this object

when started.

3.4.1 Obtaining ODA configuration properties

The Business Object Wizard displays the Configure Agent dialog box, which

shows the ODA configuration properties. Configuration properties are those

properties that the ODA needs to be able to begin running. The ODK API

represents a configuration property as an agent-property (AgentProperty) object.

In this step, the wizard displays the configuration properties, allows you to update

them, and then writes the user-initialized properties into the ODA run-time

memory.

Figure 3-2 Configure agent of Business Object Wizard

Note: An ODA must already be started for the Business Object Wizard to list it

as an ODA available to run.

Object Discovery Agent

Business Object Wizard

Get agent properties

getAgent properties()

Display Configure Agent

dialog box

Send initialized

configuration-property array

Write user-initialized

configuration properties into

ODA-runtime memeory

Retrieve with

getAgentProperty() or

getAllAgentProperties()

Initialize ODA metadata

getMetaData()

Initialize ODA

init()