IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Authoring services in Integration Designer > Services and service-related functions > Access external services with adapters > Configure and using adapters > IBM WebSphere Adapters > Flat Files > Overview of WebSphere Adapter for Flat Files > Technical overview > Outbound processing
Outbound data transformation
During outbound processing, the adapter performs data transformation based on the adapter-specific data binding and data handler you select when you configure the adapter for outbound processing in the external service wizard.
Outbound processing with data transformation
During outbound processing, the adapter transforms business objects to the data format expected by the application. The process is controlled by an adapter-specific data binding and data handler that you select when you configure the module for outbound processing.
Figure 1 illustrates the way data is transformed during outbound processing.
Figure 1. Data transformation during outbound processing
The following steps describe outbound processing with data transformation.
- For all operations except Retrieve, the adapter performs data transformation based on the input data type and the configured data handler. If the input type is not a generic type (FlatFile or FlatFileBG), the adapter transforms the data. For the Retrieve operation, the adapter transforms the data only if the data handler property of the data binding is configured.
- The configured data binding is invoked to process the business object.
- The data binding checks the value specified for the data handler property in the data binding properties, and invokes a content-specific data handler based on the value set for the data handler property.
- The adapter performs the requested operation on the file and can return a response business object:
- For the Create, Append, and Overwrite operations, if output is configured, the response business object contains the file name.
- For the List operation, the response business object contains a list of files in the specified directory.
- For the Exists operation, the response business object contains a value of either true or false.
- For the Retrieve operation, the content of the retrieved file is returned in the form of a generic or content-specific response business object.
- For the Delete operation, if output is configured, the response business object contains a value of either true or false
Outbound processing without data transformation
For all operations except Retrieve, if the input data type is a generic type (FlatFile or FlatFileBG), the adapter performs outbound processing without data transformation. For Retrieve operations, if no value is set for the data handler property of the data binding, no data transformation takes place. During this type of processing, a special data structure, UnstructuredContent, is used to hold the content.
Figure 2 illustrates outbound processing without data transformation.
Figure 2. Outbound processing without data transformation
The following steps describe outbound processing without data transformation.
- For all operations except Retrieve, the adapter checks the input type of the request data object. If the input type is a generic type (FlatFile or FlatFileBG), the adapter does not perform any data transformation on the incoming object. For the Retrieve operation, the adapter checks for the data handler property. If no value is specified, it does transform the data.
- The configured data binding is invoked to process the business object.
- For the Retrieve operation, the adapter checks the data handler property. If no value is set for the data handler, the adapter does not transform the data.
- The adapter performs the requested operation on the file and can return a response business object as follows:
- For the Create, Append, and Overwrite operations, if output is configured, the response business object contains the file name.
- For the List operation, the response business object contains a list of files in the specified directory.
- For the Exists operation, the response business object contains a value of either true or false.
- For the Retrieve operation, the content of the retrieved file is returned in the form of a generic or content-specific response business object.
- For the Delete operation, if output is configured, the response business object contains a value of either true or false.