IBM® Integration Bus supports programming interfaces that are in use by WebSphere® MQ applications; it does not provide any unique programming interfaces.
For example, you can use the Message Queue Interface (MQI). The MQI provides a few calls that allow an application to interact with other applications in a network of WebSphere MQ queue managers. The calls support a large range of parameters that allow a rich choice of processing options for each message.
Client applications that use the MQI can run on any supported WebSphere MQ operating system, and therefore any limitations that are enforced for language or function are defined by the relevant product for that operating system.
The MQI is described in the Application Programming Reference and
Application Programming Guide sections
in the WebSphere MQ Version 7.5 product
documentation online. Details
are also provided of the programming language and operating
system support available for clients that use this interface.
If you have existing user applications that are written for a WebSphere MQ interface, the application can typically run unchanged in an integration node environment. You must create the message flows to interact with these applications from the supported protocols, by using the appropriate input and output nodes. IBM Integration Bus provides built-in input and output nodes for its supported protocols and you can create your own user-defined nodes to support additional protocols.
You can also create new user applications to interact with the integration node.
IBM Integration Bus provides parsers for many WebSphere MQ headers, and can therefore accept messages that contain these headers from the WebSphere MQ Enterprise Transport protocol.
Messages must include a WebSphere MQ Message Descriptor (MQMD) as the first header, which must precede user or application data in every message. The MQMD contains basic control information that must travel with the message, including:
When a message is processed by an IBM Integration Bus integration node, it typically (but not necessarily) has one or more additional headers. The header that follows the MQMD is always identified in the format field within the MQMD, and itself contains another format field to identify either the header that follows, or the format of the user data.
The additional headers can include:
Use the MQRFH2 header in all new applications that are written for the IBM Integration Bus environment that use a supported protocol that is based on WebSphere MQ technology. The MQRFH2 header must be immediately before the body of the message (that is, the last header).
If an MQRFH2 header is not included (which is normally the case of the application uses a supported protocol that is not based on WebSphere MQ technology), you must configure the message flow that processes its messages to specify the message characteristics (by setting the input node properties).