Running an ODA

At run time, running an ODA involves the following components:

Figure 52 shows the components of the ODA runtime architecture.

Figure 52. Object Discovery Agent Architecture

To generate the business object definitions, the ODA must take the following steps:

  1. Obtain values for the ODA configuration properties (such as user name and database type) that the ODA requires to connect to the data source (such as an application, database, or filesystem).
  2. Use these configuration properties to connect to the data source.
  3. Obtain the list of source nodes for which business object definitions are to be created.
  4. Discover the requirements for the data-source entity underlying the source node (as defined by an application, database table, filesystem, or DTD).
  5. Generate business object definitions that meet the requirements of the WebSphere business integration system and the component that processes the business object, and return the business object definitions to users.
Note:
In addition to business object definitions, an ODA can also generate files as content. For more information, see Generating content.

Table 16 summarizes the steps in the running of an ODA and the steps in Business Object Wizard that initiate them.

Table 16.

Running the Object Discovery Agent
Task Step in Business Object Wizard For more information
1. Select the desired ODA to start Step 1: Select Agent Selecting the ODA
2. Obtain the ODA configuration properties, including those that describe the data source to open. Step 2: Configure Agent Obtaining ODA configuration properties
3. Obtain the source data for which to generate the ODA content. Step 3: Select Source Selecting and confirming source data
4. Confirm the source data that you have selected. Step 4: Confirm Source Nodes Selecting and confirming source data
5. Generate the business object definitions. Step 5: Generating Business Objects Generating content


Business Object Properties Obtaining business-object properties
6. Save the business object definitions. Step 6: Save Business Objects Saving content

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