Tools for data-handler development

Because data handlers are written in Java, data handlers can be developed on either a Windows or UNIX system. Table 71 lists the tools that IBM provides for data handler development.

Table 71. Tools for data-handler development

Development Tool Description
Adapter Development Kit (ADK) Includes the following:
  • Sample data handlers
  • Stub file for extending DataHandler class
Data Handler API Single class, DataHandler, which you extend to create a custom data handler.
Java Connector Development Kit (JCDK) Contains Java classes to work with business objects.

The Adapter Development Kit

The Adapter Development Kit (ADK) provides files and samples to assist in the development of an adapter. It provides samples for many of the adapter components, including an Object Discovery Agent (ODA), a connector, and a data handler. The ADK provides these samples in the DevelopmentKits subdirectory of the product directory.

Note: The ADK is part of the WebSphere Business Integration Adapters product and requires its own separate Installer. Therefore, to have access to the development samples in the ADK, you must the WebSphere Business Integration Adapters product and install the ADK. Please note that the ADK is availableonly for Windows systems.Table 72 lists the samples that the ADK provides for the development of a data handler as well as the subdirectory of the DevelopmentKits directory in which they reside.

Table 72. ADK samples for data handler development

Adapter Development Kit component DevelopmentKits subdirectory
Data handler samples edk\DataHandler

Sample data handlers

To assist with the development of a data handler, ADK includes code for several sample data handlers in the following product directory:

DevelopmentKits\edk\DataHandler\Samples
 

Table 73 lists the sample data handlers that the ADK provides.

Table 73. Sample data handlers included with the EDK

Name Description
delimited.java Converts business objects to Delimited strings and Delimited strings to business objects.
fixedwidth.java Converts business objects to FixedWidth strings and from FixedWidth strings to business objects.
namevalue.java Converts business objects to NameValue strings and NameValue strings to business objects.
Note:
While these samples are useful to examine, they do not provide examples of all the functionality supported in the DataHandler class.

Development files

The DevelopmentKits\edk\DataHandler directory provides several files that assist in the development of a custom data handler, including those listed in Table 74.

Table 74. Data-handler development files

Data-Handler development file For more information
StubDataHandler.java Extending the data handler base class
makeDataHandler.bat (Windows systems)
Adding a data handler to the jar file

Data Handler API

The Data Handler API provides a single Java class, called DataHandler. The abstract DataHandler base class facilitates the development of a custom data handler. This class contains the methods that populate a business object with values extracted from input data, and methods that serialize a business object into a string or a stream. The class also includes utility methods that a custom data handler can use. You derive a custom data handler from the DataHandler class.

For information on the methods in the DataHandler class, see "Data Handler base class methods".

Java Connector Development Kit

To work with business objects, a data handler must use methods from the classes in the Java Connector Development Kit (JCDK). As you develop your data handler, you may need to import additional JCDK classes, such as CxCommon.CxObjectContainerInterface or CxCommon.CxObjectAttr. For reference information on the JCDK methods, see the Connector Development Guide for Java in the WebSphere Business Integration Adapters documentation set.

Note:
The JCDK is the low-level Java connector library. Documentation of its methods are contained in a separate part of the Connector Development Guide for Java.

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