IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Authoring services in Integration Designer > Services and service-related functions > Access external services with adapters

Create a business object from a source file

Using the external data wizard, you can create a business object from a C, COBOL or PL/I source file. You can also create a wrapper business object from an existing business object to be used with the EMail, Flat File and FTP adapters. A wrapper business object provides more fields for information related to the particular adapter you selected.


Prerequisite: You will need the source file of a program. In this set of steps, a COBOL program is used. You can have a module already created, as in this set of steps, or you could add the module on the final page of the wizard.

The external data wizard lets you create business objects for your services based on applications available locally. Though similar in use to the external service wizard, the external data wizard does not require you to go through the steps of connecting to an EIS system.

The external data wizard also lets you create a wrapper business object from an existing business object. Creating a wrapper business object is discussed at the end of this set of steps.


Procedure

  1. Right-click your module and from the menu, select New > External Data. The External Data window opens. For the EMail, FTP or Flat File adapters, you can create a wrapper business object from a business object. For the purpose of this example, under Languages, select COBOL (CICS Channel). At the end or this set of steps, the other choice, creating a wrapper business object, is discussed.

    If that each language (C, COBOL or PL/I) has three choices:

    • A language which will have one output value at run time

    • A language with CICS channel support. Traditionally, CICS programs have used communication areas (COMMAREAs) to exchange data. Channels and containers provide an improved method for transferring data between programs, in amounts that exceed the 32KB limit that applies to COMMAREAs. A container is a named block of data used to pass information between programs (it can be thought of as a named COMMAREA). Any number of containers can be passed between programs through the use of a channel.

    • A language with multiple outputs, which means at run time one of the outputs will be selected to return a value.

    Click Next.

  2. The Business Object Mapping Details page opens. Select New beside the Containers pane. In the following page, browse to a COBOL file on your computer. Click Next.

  3. The Select Data Structures page opens. Platform and code page are already completed for you, but you can change them. The platform and properties specified here must be those of the target platform where the CICS transaction is running (z/OS , Windows, and so on). The defaults shown are taken from the preferences set for the COBOL importer in the preferences page. To see these preferences, from the menu select Window > Preferences > Importer > COBOL.

    Clicking Advanced reveals other fields you can change such as the floating-point format. Click Find beside the Data structures pane. The wizard returns the data structures in the COBOL file. Select the one you want. Click Finish.

  4. You are returned to the Business Object Mapping Details page. Your selection is in the Containers pane.

    You could continue adding more containers. Click Next.

  5. The Generate Business Objects page opens. You can choose to change or create a new module at this point. The name of the generated business object will be the data structure name if you do not change it. Specifying a folder is recommended since otherwise all generated files will be in the root module folder, which will make them difficult to manage. Generation style, which in this case you will see if you select the container name, lets you choose several options that can shorten the length of the generated file names. A CICS channel name and container name must be specified. Click Finish to complete the generation of your business objects.


What to do next

You have discovered a data structure in a program and generated a business object from it.

You would follow a similar path to create a wrapper business object from an existing object. A wrapper business object provides more fields for information related to the particular adapter you selected. Suppose we had created a business object called DeptPersonnelInfo similar to the one described previously and then selected FTP beneath the Adapters folder to create a wrapper business object for a service using the FTP adapter. Following a similar process, we would create the following DeptPersonnelInfoWrapper business object. Notice the additional fields for FTP adapter-specific information.

Access external services with adapters


Related concepts:
Pattern of accessing external services with adapters
Developing services with adapters
Simple adapter wizard
Migrating applications using previous adapter levels


Related tasks:
Configure and using adapters


Related reference:
J2C data bindings
A closer look at business objects from data structures
J2C imports and exports at run time
Trade-offs when developing adapter imports and exports
Considerations when using adapters
Considerations when refactoring
Contributing your own external service or data wizard plug-in
Limitations for adapter imports and exports