Before using an ODA

Before you run an ODA, verify that the following steps have occurred:

System startup files

For the ODA to start, you need to verify that your system has the required files for the ODA. When you install a pre-defined adapter that has an ODA, these ODA system startup files should be installed automatically. However, IBM recommends that you confirm that the following files exist and are correct for your ODA:

ODA startup script: Each ODA requires a startup script, which begins execution of the ODA. Before you start an ODA for the first time, you must make sure that the variables are correctly set within the startup script. Open for editing the batch file (start_ODAname.bat) and confirm that the values described in Table 9 are correct.

Table 9. ODA batch file configuration variables
Variable Explanation Example
set AGENTNAME Name of the ODA set AGENTNAME=ODAname
set AGENT Name of the ODA's jar file

set AGENT = %ProductDir%\ODA\srcDataName\ODAname.jar

set AGENTCLASS Name of the ODA's Java class set AGENTCLASS=com.ibm.oda.srcDataName.ODAname

ODA environment file: For an ODA's startup script to run, it needs to locate the ODA environment file. This file, CWODAEnv.bat, establishes general settings for various software and information that an ODA needs at run time. It should be installed in the bin subdirectory of your product directory: ProductDir\bin

Starting the ODA

You can start an ODA with the following startup script:

start_srcDataNameODA.bat

You configure and run the ODA using Business Object Wizard within Business Object Designer Express. Business Object Wizard locates each ODA by the name specified in the AGENTNAME variable of each script or batch file.

Note:
For information on how to start multiple instances of the ODA, see Using multiple ODAs simultaneously.

Starting Business Object Designer Express

Once you start the ODA, you must start Business Object Designer Express to configure and run it. For information on the ways to start Business Object Designer Express, see Starting Business Object Designer Express. To run an ODA, Business Object Designer Express provides Business Object Wizard, which guides you through each step.

To start Business Object Wizard, do the following:

  1. Open Business Object Designer Express using one of the methods listed in Table 8.
  2. Click File -> New Using ODA.

Business Object Designer Express invokes the Business Object Wizard to run the ODA. Step 1 of Business Object Wizard displays the first dialog box, Select Agent, which provides graphical access to all available Object Discovery Agents. From this dialog box, you select the desired ODA to run. To display the names of all ODAs that are running on the current machine, click the Find Agents button.

Note:
An ODA must already be started for Business Object Wizard to list it as an ODA you can run. For more information, see Before using an ODA.

Table 10 summarizes the steps of Business Object Wizard.

Table 10. Steps of Business Object Wizard
Task Step in Business Object Wizard
1. Select the desired ODA. Step 1: Select Agent
2. Obtain the configuration properties, including those that describe the data source to open. Step 2: Configure Agent
3. Obtain the source data for which the ODA generates the content. Step 3: Select Source
4. Confirm that the selected source nodes are those desired for content generation. Step 4: Confirm Source Nodes
5. Initiate the content-generation process. Step 5: Generating Business Objects


Business Object Properties
6. Save the business object definitions in a user-specified format. Step 6: Save Business Objects

Copyright IBM Corp. 2003, 2004