IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Authoring services in Integration Designer > Get started with IBM Integration Designer > Create a new project > Create and wiring components > Components
Partner references
A partner reference is required when one component uses another component; it is defined on the component that wants to use another component. The partner reference (sometimes referred to as a reference) specifies the interface that is used in the invocation of the other component. The partner reference also contains wires that specify the target components that can be used.
Assembling the components for the application involves creating partner references, interfaces, and the wiring of components in the module assembly. The result is an assembly diagram that represents the modeled solution.
In the assembly editor, the component's partner references are represented by small blocks on the right side of the component. The block contains the number of wires that are allowed in the partner reference; the numbers are either 1..1 or 0..n to indicate one wire or 0 to n number of wires. Adding more than one wire to a partner reference explains how to add several wires. The following image shows a CustomerQuery component that has partner references:
If there are many partner references for your component, you can collapse them. Select the partner reference on the component and right-click to invoke the Collapse References and Expand References actions to collapse and expand them. As shown here, the CustomerQuery component's partner references have been collapsed:
