Connector business object structure

The connector is a metadata-driven connector. In business objects, metadata is data about the application, which is stored in a business object definition and which helps the connector interact with an application. A metadata-driven connector handles each business object that it supports based on metadata encoded in the business object definition rather than on instructions hard-coded in the connector.

Business object metadata includes the structure of a business object, the settings of its attribute properties, and the content of its application-specific information. Because the connector is metadata-driven, it can handle new or modified business objects without requiring modifications to the connector code. However, the connector's configured data handler makes assumptions about the structure of its business objects. Therefore, when you create or modify a business object for WebSphere MQ Workflow, your modifications must conform to the rules the connector is designed to follow, or the connector cannot process the new or modified business objects correctly.

There are requirements regarding the structure of the business objects other than those imposed by the XML data handler. For more on this, see "Meta-object configuration". The business objects that the connector processes can have any name allowed by InterChange Server.

The connector retrieves messages from a queue and attempts to populate a business object (defined by the top-level business object and metadata) with the message contents. Strictly speaking, the connector neither controls nor influences business object structure. Those are functions of meta-object definitions as well as the connector's data handler requirements. The connector's main role when retrieving and passing business objects is to monitor the message-to-business-object (and vice versa) process for errors.

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