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 > IBM i > Overview of WebSphere Adapter for IBM i > Technical overview

Outbound processing

Outbound processing refers to the operations performed when the module makes an outbound request to the adapter, such as adding messages to or removing messages from a data queue or calling an IBM i program, such as Report Program Generator (RPG), COBOL, or service program (SRVPGM) on the IBM i system. The adapter provides a standard set of outbound operations.

Outbound processing begins when a module receives a business object from a service in the form of a request. When a request is received, the adapter uses the information stored in the business object and metadata from the interaction specification properties to perform an operation on the IBM i system. The adapter supports three outbound operations: GetQueue, PutQueue, and CallPGM.

Business objects represent data that the adapter needs to process, such as messages on a data queue, or calls to an IBM i program, such as Report Program Generator (RPG) or COBOL or service program (SRVPGM) on an IBM i server.

Figure 1.shows how the adapter and module function together as part of an outbound service. A module created for outbound processing receives the request, the adapter determines the operation to be performed based on the information received in the metadata from the interaction specification properties, and then performs the operation on the IBM i system.

Each outbound module contains components that form a service, including an import. An import has a binding and one or more interfaces. To communicate with references, imports require IBM i binding information which specifies how the data gets transported from the module. The references are bound to the physical location of the resource in the target operational environment at deployment. The IBM Integration Designer provides an interface that you use to setup the import.

Interfaces and references are used by the component and import to communicate with each other. Interfaces dictate to the users of a service, in this case the import, how the component can be used. It is a specification of the component operations, which are GetQueue, PutQueue, or CallPGM for outbound requests. References declare what interface your service component calls. Each component in your module has one or more references. When you write your implementation for your service component using the IBM Integration Designer, you call a reference instead of directly calling the component itself. There by allows you to reassemble components in the future because you have not built dependencies into the code.

Figure 1. IBM i adapter as a part of an Outbound SOA implementation

Technical overview of WebSphere Adapter for IBM i


Related reference:

Managed connection factory properties