Generating business object definitions

This section describes how to use the iSeries ODA in Business Object Designer to generate business object definitions. For information on launching and using Business Object Designer, see IBM WebSphere Business Integration Adapters Business Object Development Guide.

Starting the iSeries ODA

You can start the iSeries ODA using one of the following scripts:

You select, configure, and run the iSeries ODA using Business Object Designer. Business Object Designer locates each ODA by the name specified in the AGENTNAME variable of each script or batch file.

Running Business Object Designer

Business Object Designer provides a wizard that guides you through the steps to generate a business object definition using the ODA.

Selecting the agent

You must first select the ODA agent.

  1. Open Business Object Designer.
  2. Click File > New Using ODA. The Business Object Wizard - Step 1 of 6 - Select Agent window opens.
  3. Select the ODA/AGENTNAME (from the start_iSeriesODA script) in the Located agents list and click Next. (You may have to click Find Agents if desired agent is not listed.)

Figure 15. Select Agent window

Select Agent window

Configuring the agent

After you click Next on the Select Agent window, the Business Object Wizard - Step 2 of 6 - Configure Agent window opens.

Figure 16. Configure Agent window

Configure Agent window

The properties you set on this screen are described in Table 5. You can save all the values you enter on this screen to a profile. Instead of retyping the property data the next time you run the ODA, you simply select a profile from the drop-down menu and re-use the saved values. You can save multiple profiles, each with a different set of specified values.


Table 7. Configure Agent properties

Property name Default value Type Description
iSeriesHostName
String (required) The iSeries host machine name.
iSeriesUserName
String (required) The User name used to connect to the iSeries machine.
iSeriesPassword
String (required) The Password used for connecting to the iSeries machine.
iSeriesFilePath /QSYS.LIB/ String Absolute IFS path to the select source.
iSeriesODAOption
String The type of resource to access on iSeries. Currently there are 2 options: RPGMBR and DTAQ. Based on this selection, the source files are accessed to create corresponding business object definitions
TraceFileName None String The name of the trace message file.
TraceLevel 5 Integer (required) The tracing level (from 0 to 5) for the agent.
MessageFile None String (required) The name of the message file that contains all the messages displayed by the ODA. If you do not correctly specify the name of the message file, the ODA will run without messages.

Use the New and Save buttons in the Profiles group box any time you want the ODA to create a new profile. When you use the ODA again, you can select an existing profile. Type the value of each property, as defined in Table 7.

Whenever any required field is left blank or during any error, (for example an invalid username), a pop up message is displayed with the corresponding error message.

Note:
If you use a profile, the property values are filled in for you, though you can modify the values as needed. You can also save new values.

Selecting a business object

The Business Object Wizard - Step 3 of 6 - Select Source window opens, as illustrated in Figure 17.

This screen lists either the *.MBR for RPG source files or *.DTAQ files for data queues, where users can select the names of those files. The file type is decided by the iSeriesODAOption Agent property. The IFS Directories are represented as expandable tree nodes while the source names (MBRs and DTAQ) are shown as leaf nodes. You can select more than one source (leaf nodes only) either in the same IFS directory or in different IFS directories. Use this screen to select any number of source files for which the ODA will generate business object definitions.

Figure 17. Select Source window

Select Source window

  1. If necessary, expand a node to see a list of sub nodes.
  2. Select the source file(s) you want to use. Click Next.
  3. To select multiple nodes, see the Business Object Development Guide for more information regarding tree structures.

Confirming the object selection

The Business Object Wizard - Step 4 of 6 - Confirm source nodes for business object definitions window opens. It shows the object(s) you selected.

Figure 18. Confirm source node window

Confirm source node window

Click Back to make changes or Next to confirm that the list is correct. The Business Object Wizard - Step 5 of 6 - Generating business objects... window opens with a message stating that the wizard is generating the business objects.

Generating the business objects

After you confirm your node sources, the iSeries ODA generates the business objects. The Business Object Wizard - Step 6 of 6 - Saving business object definitions... window opens.

  1. Check either window Save a copy of the business object definitions to a separate file, or check Open the new business object definitions in separate windows. The latter choice launches the Business Object Designer and opens the business objects in that application.
  2. If you are finished and want to close the ODA, check Shutdown ODA and click Finish.

Figure 19. Save business objects window

Save business window

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