Creating a connector-specific property template

To create a configuration file for your connector, you need a connector-specific property template as well as the system-supplied standard properties.

You can create a brand-new template for the connector-specific properties of your connector, or you can use an existing file as the template.

Creating a new template

This section describes how you create properties in the template, define general characteristics and values for those properties, and specify any dependencies between the properties. Then you save the template and use it as the base for creating a new connector configuration file.

To create a template:

  1. Click File>New>Connector-Specific Property Template.
  2. The Connector-Specific Property Template dialog box appears, with the following fields:
  3. Select a template from the Template Name display, enter that template name in the Find Name field (or highlight your selection in Template Name), and click Next.

If you do not see any template that displays the connector-specific properties used by your connector, you will need to create one.

Specifying general characteristics

When you click Next to select a template, the Properties - Connector-Specific Property Template dialog box appears. The dialog box has tabs for General characteristics of the defined properties and for Value restrictions. The General display has the following fields:

After you have made selections for the general characteristics of the property, click the Value tab.

Specifying values

The Value tab enables you to set the maximum length, the maximum multiple values, a default value, or a value range for the property. It also allows editable values. To do so:

  1. Click the Value tab. The display panel for Value replaces the display panel for General.
  2. Select the name of the property in the Edit properties display.
  3. In the fields for Max Length and Max Multiple Values, make any changes. The changes will not be accepted unless you also open the Property Value dialog box for the property, described in the next step.
  4. Right-click the box in the top left-hand corner of the value table and click Add. A Property Value dialog box appears. Depending on the property type, the dialog box allows you to enter either a value, or both a value and range. Enter the appropriate value or range, and click OK.
  5. The Value panel refreshes to display any changes you made in Max Length and Max Multiple Values. It displays a table with three columns:

    The Value column shows the value that you entered in the Property Value dialog box, and any previous values that you created.

    The Default Value column allows you to designate any of the values as the default.

    The Value Range shows the range that you entered in the Property Value dialog box.

    After a value has been created and appears in the grid, it can be edited from within the table display. To make a change in an existing value in the table, select an entire row by clicking on the row number. Then right-click in the Value field and click Edit Value.

Setting dependencies

When you have made your changes to the General and Value tabs, click Next. The Dependences - Connector-Specific Property Template dialog box appears.

A dependent property is a property that is included in the template and used in the configuration file only if the value of another property meets a specific condition. For example, PollQuantity appears in the template only if JMS is the transport mechanism and DuplicateEventElimination is set to True.
To designate a property as dependent and to set the condition upon which it depends, do this:

  1. In the Available Properties display, select the property that will be made dependent.
  2. In the Select Property field, use the drop-down menu to select the property that will hold the conditional value.
  3. In the Condition Operator field, select one of the following:

    == (equal to)

    != (not equal to)

    > (greater than)

    < (less than)

    >= (greater than or equal to)

    <=(less than or equal to)

  4. In the Conditional Value field, enter the value that is required in order for the dependent property to be included in the template.
  5. With the dependent property highlighted in the Available Properties display, click an arrow to move it to the Dependent Property display.
  6. Click Finish. Connector Configurator stores the information you have entered as an XML document, under \data\app in the\bin directory where you have installed Connector Configurator.

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