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 > Reference > Configuration properties > Outbound configuration properties

Interaction specification properties

Interaction specification properties contain the outbound connection properties the adapter uses to interface with the file system. You configure these properties using the external service wizard. To change the interaction specification properties after the application is deployed, use the assembly editor in IBM Integration Designer.

Interaction specification properties control the interaction for an operation. The external service wizard sets the interaction specification properties when you configure the adapter. Typically, you do not need to change these properties. However, some properties for outbound operations can be changed by the user. To change these properties after the application is deployed, use the assembly editor in IBM Integration Designer. The properties reside in the method binding of the import.

The following table lists the interaction specification properties. A complete description of each property is provided in the sections that follow the table. For information about how to read the property detail tables in the sections that follow, see Guide to information about properties.

Interaction specification properties
Property name Description
In the wizard In the Process Administrative Console
Archive directory for retrieve operation ArchiveDirectoryFor
DeleteOnRetrieve
The directory where retrieved files are stored before they are deleted, if the DeleteOnRetrieve property is set to true.
Create a new file if the file does not exist CreateFileIfNotExists When this property is set to true, the adapter creates a file during Append and Overwrite operations if the file does not exist.
Default target file name OutputFileName The name of the output file that is created or modified.
Delete the file after retrieve operation DeleteOnRetrieve During Retrieve operations, when this property is set to true, the file is deleted from the file system after the file content is retrieved.
Delimiter between business objects in the file IncludeEndBODelimiter The file content is appended with this value.
File content encoding FileContentEncoding Specifies the encoding set used in writing to or reading from the event file.
Generate a unique file GenerateUniqueFile Specifies that the adapter creates a unique file during Create, Append, and Overwrite operations.
Output directory OutputDirectory The full path name of the directory on the local file system where the adapter writes the output files.
Prefix for the unique file name uniqueFilePrefix The predefined prefix that is added to the generated unique file name during outbound operations.
Specify criteria to split file content SplitCriteria Specifies either the delimiter that separates the business objects in the retrieved file or the size of the chunks into which the retrieved file is split.
Split function class name SplittingFunctionClassName Specifies how the retrieved file is to be split, by delimiter or by size, during an outbound Retrieve operation.
Staging directory StagingDirectory A temporary directory where the adapter stores the initial output files during Create and Overwrite operations.
Suffix for the unique file name uniqueFileSuffix The predefined suffix that is added to the generated unique file name during outbound operations.


Archive directory for retrieve operation

The directory where retrieved files are stored before they are deleted, if the DeleteOnRetrieve property is set to true.

Archive directory for retrieve operation details
Required No
Default None
Property type String
Globalized Yes
Bidi supported Yes


Create a new file if the file does not exist

When this property is set to true, the adapter creates a file during Append and Overwrite operations if the file does not exist.

Create a new file if the file does not exist details
Required No
Possible values

True
False

Default False
Property type Boolean
Usage When this property is set to false and the file does not exist, the adapter generates the RecordNotFoundException error.

If a value is not specified for this property on the wrapper, then the value specified here is used.

Globalized No
Bidi supported No


Default target file name

The name of the output file that is created or modified.

Default target file name details
Required Required for all outbound operations except List
Default None
Property type String
Globalized Yes
Bidi supported Yes


Delete the file after retrieve operation

During Retrieve operations, if this property is set to true, the file is deleted from the file system after the file content is retrieved.

Delete the file after retrieve operation details
Required No
Possible values

True
False

Default False
Property type Boolean
Usage To archive the file before it is deleted, specify a directory in the ArchiveDirectoryForDeleteOnRetrieve property.

If a value is not specified for this property on the wrapper, then the value specified here is used.

Globalized No
Bidi supported No


Delimiter between business objects in the file

The file content is appended with this value.

Delimiter between business objects in the file details
Required No
Default

<EndBO> for Append operation
None for Create and Overwrite operations

Property type String
Usage This property is used during outbound Create, Append, and Overwrite operations. Any value specified in this property is appended to the file. If the value specified has escape sequence characters and Unicode escape characters, they are parsed and the corresponding control characters are inserted in the file. The escape sequence characters include the following: carriage return (\r), new line (\n), carriage return and new line (\r\n), tab space (\t), backspace (\b), form feed (\f), and so on. An example of a Unicode escape character that represents the character ? is \u2297.
Globalized Yes
Bidi supported No


File content encoding

The encoding set used when writing to or reading from the event file.

During the Create operation, the adapter creates the file with the specified encoding.

File content encoding details
Required No
Possible values Any Java™ supported encoded character sets.
Default UTF-8
Property type String
Usage You can specify any Java supported encoding set, such as UTF-8.

If the adapter is working with binary event data, set this property to BINARY. If the adapter is working with non-binary event data, such as text or XML, set this property to a valid file encoding value, such as UTF-8 or UTF-16.

The value set in the interaction specification property is used only if no value is set on the wrapper.

Globalized No
Bidi supported No


Generate a unique file

Specifies that the adapter creates a unique file during the Create operation.

Generate unique file property details
Required No
Possible values

True
False

Default False
Property type Boolean
Usage During Create operations, if this property is set to True, the adapter creates a unique file and ignores any value set for the Filename property.

If a value is not specified for this property on the wrapper, then the value specified here is used.

Globalized Yes
Bidi supported No


Output directory

The full path name of the directory on the local file system where the adapter writes the output files.

Output directory details
Required No
Default None
Property type String
Usage If this property is not specified, the adapter writes the output files to the directory specified by the OutputFileName property on the request.
Globalized Yes
Bidi supported Yes


Prefix for the unique file name

The prefix for the unique file name that you predefine for outbound operations.

Prefix for the unique file name details
Required No
Default None
Property type String
Usage You can define the prefix to be added when the adapter generates the unique file name during the outbound operations. The length of the prefix must be of minimum three letters.

For example, abc can be used as a predefined prefix for the unique file name.

If you do not specify the prefix, the adapter automatically adds a prefix ffa for the file name.

Globalized No
Bidi supported No


Specify criteria to split file content

This property specifies either the delimiter that separates the business objects in the retrieved file, or the size of the chunks into which the retrieved file is split.

Specify criteria to split file content details
Required No
Possible values A delimiter or a valid number
Default 0
Property type String
Usage

This property specifies either the delimiter that separates the business objects in the retrieved file, or the size of the chunks into which the retrieved file is split. The value of this property is determined by the value that is set in the SplittingFunctionClassName property:

  • If the SplittingFunctionClassName property is set to com.ibm.j2ca.utils.filesplit.SplitByDelimiter, the SplitCriteria property must contain the delimiter that separates the business objects in the retrieved file.
  • If the SplittingFunctionClassName property is set to com.ibm.j2ca.utils.filesplit.SplitBySize, the SplitCriteria property must contain a valid number that represents the size in bytes. If the retrieved file size is greater than this value, it is split into chunks of this value and that number of chunks are posted. If the file size is less than this value, the entire event file is posted.

If the SplitCriteria property is set to 0, chunking is disabled.

The SplitCriteria property must contain the same value for the newline character as the event file.

For example, if the event file was created on a Macintosh system, the newline character is \r, and the SplitCriteria property must contain \r. The platform-specific newline characters are as follows:

  • Macintosh - \r
  • Microsoft Windows - \r\n
  • UNIX - \n

If there is more than one delimiter in the SplitCriteria property, each delimiter must be separated by a semicolon (:). If a semicolon (;) itself is part of the delimiter, the semicolon (;) must be escaped, as in \;.

For example, if the delimiter given is ##\;##. it is evaluated to ##;##.

Globalized Yes
Bidi supported Yes


Split function class name

This property specifies how the retrieved file is to be split, by delimiter or by size, during an outbound Retrieve operation.

Split function class name details
Required No
Possible values

com.ibm.j2ca.utils.filesplit.SplitByDelimiter
– Files are split based on a delimiter that separates business objects in the event file
com.ibm.j2ca.utils.filesplit.SplitBySize
– Files are split based on the size of the event file

Default com.ibm.j2ca.utils.filesplit.SplitBySize
Property type String
Usage The delimiter or file size is set in the SplitCriteria property.
Globalized No
Bidi supported No


Staging directory

A temporary directory where the adapter stores the initial output files during Create and Overwrite operations to avoid write conflicts.

Staging directory details
Required No
Default None
Property type String
Usage If a staging directory is specified, the file to be operated is copied from the output directory to the staging directory. The operation is performed on the file in the staging directory, and the file is then renamed and copied to the output directory.
Globalized Yes
Bidi supported Yes


Suffix for the unique file name

The suffix for the unique file name that you predefine for outbound operations.

Suffix for the unique file name details
Required No
Default None
Property type String
Usage You can define the suffix (file extension) to be added when the adapter generates the unique file name during the outbound operations.

If you do not specify the file extension, the adapter automatically adds the .tmp extension to the file name.

Globalized No
Bidi supported No

Outbound configuration properties


Related tasks:

Changing interaction specification properties


Related reference:

Guide to information about properties

Connection properties for the wizard

Managed connection factory properties

Resource adapter properties

Globalization