Dependencies and references

Integration components depend upon one another to perform their roles in the business integration system. For instance, business object definitions can contain other business object definitions as children and connectors have maps associated with their supported business objects. These dependencies must be satisfied for the system to function properly.

The terms dependencies and references are used to describe the relationship between components, depending on the context. For example, a connector definition requires the business object definitions it supports so that it can exchange data with the integration broker. In this context, the business object definitions are dependencies of the connector definition. If you view the same relationship between the business object definition and the connector definition, but in the context of the business object, the connector is one of the references of the business object definition--along with any other business objects that contain it as a child, any maps that transform it, any collaboration templates that support it for their port definitions, and so forth.

Table 24 specifies the components that can be dependencies and references for each component type.

Table 24. Integration component dependencies and references

Component Dependencies References
Business objects
  • Business objects

  • Business objects
  • Maps
  • Connectors
  • Collaboration templates
  • Collaboration objects

Connectors
  • Business objects
  • Maps

  • Collaboration objects

Maps
  • Business objects
  • Maps

  • Connectors
  • Collaboration objects

Collaboration templates
  • Business objects

None
Collaboration objects
  • Business objects
  • Maps
  • Connectors
  • Collaboration templates
  • Collaboration objects

  • Collaboration objects

Showing dependencies and references

You can use System Manager to show the dependencies and references for an integration component.

To show the dependencies for a component, right-click it in System Manager and select Show Dependencies from the context menu. The "Dependency Tree" wizard appears. For more information, see Using the Dependency Tree.

To show the references for a component, right-click it in System Manager and select Show References from the context menu. The "Object References" window appears.

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