IBM Integration Bus, Version 10.0.0.5 Operating Systems: AIX, HP-Itanium, Linux, Solaris, Windows, z/OS


Configuring the HTTPRequest node

When you add the HTTPRequest node to a message flow, you can configure it.

About this task

When you have put an instance of the HTTPRequest node into a message flow, you can configure the node; see Configuring a message flow node. The properties of the node are displayed in the Properties view.

All mandatory properties are marked with an asterisk.

Procedure

  1. Optional: On the Description tab, enter a Short description, a Long description, or both. You can also rename the node on this tab.
  2. On the Basic tab:
    1. The HTTPRequest node determines the URL for the web service to which it sends a request. Select one of the following three options; the node checks these options in the order shown (that is, the first always overrides the second, the second overrides the third):
      1. X-Original-HTTP-URL in the HTTPRequest header in the input message
      2. LocalEnvironment.Destination.HTTP.RequestURL in the input message
      3. The Web service URL property

      The first two options provide dynamic methods to set a URL for each input message as it passes through the message flow. To use either of these options, include a Compute node in the message flow, before the HTTPRequest node, to create and initialize the required value.

      The third option provides a value that is fixed for every message that is received in this node. Set this property to contain a default setting that is used if the other fields have not been created, or contain a null value. If either field contains a value, the setting of this property is ignored. The Web service URL property must contain a valid URL or the deployment fails. Ensure that the value that you set in X-Original-HTTP-URL or the LocalEnvironment.Destination.HTTP.RequestURL is also a valid URL; if it is not, the node uses the default setting from the Web service URL property.

      If a URL begins http://, the request node makes an HTTP request to the specified URL. If the URL begins https://, the request node makes an HTTP over SSL (HTTPS) request to the specified URL, by using the parameters that are specified on the SSL tab for the node.

    2. Set the value of the Request timeout (sec) property, which is the length of time, in seconds, that the node waits for a response from the web service. If a response is received within this time, the reply is propagated through the Out terminal to the rest of the message flow. If a response is not received within this time, the input message is propagated through the Failure terminal, if it is connected. If the Failure terminal is not connected, and a response is not received in this time, an exception is generated.
  3. On the HTTP Settings tab:
    1. In HTTP(S) proxy location, set the location of the proxy server to which requests are sent.
    2. Select Follow HTTP(S) redirection to specify how the node handles web service responses that contain an HTTP status code of 300 to 399:
      • If you select the check box, the node follows the redirection that is provided in the response, and reissues the web service request to the new URL (included in the message content).
      • If you clear the check box, the node does not follow the redirection provided. The response message is propagated to the Error terminal.
    3. Select one of the options for the HTTP version property. Valid values are 1.0 or 1.1.

      If you select the HTTP version property value 1.1, you can also select Enable HTTP/1.1 keep-alive.

    4. Select one of the options for the HTTP method property. Valid values are POST, GET, PUT, DELETE, and HEAD.
    5. Select one of the options for the Use compression property to specify the compression of the content of the HTTP request. You can select:
      • gzip
      • zlib (deflate)
      • deflate
      • none

      The value zlib (deflate) represents RFC 1950 and RFC 1951 combined, and deflate represents RFC 1951 only. The default value is none, meaning that the content of the request is not compressed.

  4. On the SSL tab, if you want to use HTTP over SSL (HTTPS) requests, set the values for HTTPS requests:
    1. Specify the Protocol property that you want to use to make the request. Both ends of an SSL connection must agree on the protocol to use. Therefore, the selected protocol must be one that the remote server can accept. The following options are available:
      • SSL. This option is the default. This option tries to connect by using the TLS protocol first, but enables the handshake to fall back to the SSLv2 protocol where the SSLv2 protocol is supported by the underlying JSSE provider.
      • SSLv3. This option tries to connect with the SSLv3 protocol only. Fallback to SSLv2 is not possible.
      • TLS. This option tries to connect with the TLS protocol only. Fallback to SSLv3 or SSLv2 is not possible.
    2. Set the Allowed SSL ciphers property. Use this setting to specify a single cipher (such as SSL_RSA_FIPS_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA) or a list of ciphers that are the only ones that are used by the connection. This set of ciphers must include one or more that are accepted by the remote server. A comma is used as a separator between the ciphers. The default value is an empty string, which enables the node to use any, or all, of the available ciphers during the SSL connection handshake. This method gives the greatest scope for making a successful SSL connection.
    3. Use the SSLKeyAlias property to specify a SSL authentication alias for the client-side of an HTTP connection. The server checks an access control list for this client-side key. The key alias that identifies the key in the integration node or integration server keystore that is to be used for the SSL connection. Set this optional property if your keystore contains more than one key. The default value "" (or none), means that an SSL key alias is not used. Any other string value identifies the alias.
  5. On the Response Message Parsing tab, set values for the properties that describe the message domain, message set, message type, and message format that the node uses to determine how to parse the response message returned by the web service. If an error message is returned by the web service, the values of these properties are ignored, and the message is parsed by the BLOB parser.
    1. In Message domain, select the name of the parser that you are using from the list. If the field is blank, the default value is BLOB. Choose from the following options:
      • DFDL
      • XMLNSC
      • JSON
      • BLOB
      • MIME
      • MRM
      • XMLNS

      You can also specify a user-defined parser, if appropriate.

    2. If you are using the DFDL parser, the MRM parser or the XMLNSC parser in validating mode, select the relevant Message model from the list. This list is populated with available message sets when you select MRM or XMLNSC as the Message domain, or with available DFDL schema files when you select DFDL as the Message domain.
    3. If you are using the DFDL or MRM parsers, select the correct message from the list in Message. This list is populated with messages that are defined in the Message model that you have selected.
    4. If you are using the MRM parser, select the format of the message from the list in Physical format. This list includes all the physical formats that you have defined for this Message model.
  6. On the Parser Options subtab, Parse timing is, by default, set to On Demand, which causes parsing of the message to be delayed. To cause the message to be parsed immediately, see Parsing on demand. If you are using the XMLNSC parser, set values for the properties that determine how the XMLNSC parser operates. For more information, see Manipulating messages in the XMLNSC domain.
  7. On the Error Handling tab, set values for the properties that determine how an error message returned by the web service is handled:
    • For the whole web service error message to be propagated as the output message, leave Replace input with error selected (the default setting).
    • For the web service error message to be included in the output message with part of the input message content, clear Replace input with error and set the Error message location property. If you clear this property, the node copies the input message to the output message and writes the web service error message over the output message content at the specified location (the input message itself is not modified).
    1. In the Error message location field, enter the start location (within the output message tree) at which the parsed elements from the web service error message bit stream are stored. This property is required only if you have cleared Replace input with error.

      You can enter any valid ESQL field reference, including expressions within the reference and new field references (to create a node in the message tree for the response).

      For example, enter:

      OutputRoot.XMLNSC.ABC.DEF
      or
      Environment.WSError

      If you select Replace input with error, this property is ignored.

  8. On the Advanced tab, set values for the Advanced properties that describe the structure and content of the web service request and response:
    1. Specify the content of the request message that is sent to the web service:
      • For the request message to be the whole input message body, leave Use whole input message as request selected (the default setting).

        For the request message to contain a subset of the input message, clear Use whole input message as request and set the Request message location in tree property.

      • In the Request message location in tree field, enter the start location from which the content of the input message tree is copied to the request message. This property is required only if you have cleared Use whole input message as request. The node creates a request message and copies the specified parts of the input message (the input message itself is not modified).

        You can enter any valid ESQL field reference, including expressions within the reference. For example, enter:

        InputRoot.XMLNSC.ABC

        If you select Use whole input message as request, this property is ignored.

      When the appropriate message tree content is parsed to create a bit stream, the message properties (Message domain, Message set, Message type, and Message format) that are associated with the input message body and stored in the Properties folder are used.

    2. Specify the content of the output message that is propagated to the next node in the message flow:
      • For the whole web service response message to be propagated as the output message, leave Replace input message with web-service response selected (the default setting).

        For the web service response message to be included in the output message with part of the input message content, clear Replace input message with web-service response and set the Response message location in tree property. If you clear this property, the node copies the input message to the output message and writes the web service response message over the output message content at the specified location (the input message itself is not modified).

      • In the Response message location in tree field, enter the start location (within the output message tree) at which the parsed elements from the web service response message bit stream are stored. This property is required only if you have cleared Replace input message with web-service response.

        You can enter any valid ESQL field reference, including expressions within the reference, and including new field references (to create a node in the message tree for the response). For example, enter:

        OutputRoot.XMLNSC.ABC.DEF
        or
        Environment.WSReply

        If you select Replace input message with web-service response, this property is ignored.

      When the response bit stream is parsed to create message tree contents, the message properties (Message domain, Message set, Message type, and Message format), that you have specified in the Response Message Parsing properties of the node, are used.

    3. For the node to generate an HTTPRequestHeader for the request message, leave Generate default HTTP headers from input selected (the default setting).

      If you do not want the node to generate an HTTPRequestHeader for the request message, clear Generate default HTTP headers from input. To control the contents of the HTTPRequestHeader that is included in the request message, include a Compute node that adds an HTTPRequestHeader to the input message before this HTTPRequest node in the message flow, and clear this check box.

      • If you have selected Generate default HTTP headers from input and the input message includes an HTTPRequestHeader, the HTTPRequest node extracts web service headers from the input HTTPRequestHeader and adds any unique web service headers, except Host (see the following table), that are present in an HTTPInputHeader, if one exists in the input message. (An HTTPInputHeader might be present if the input message has been received from a web service by the HTTPInput node.)

        The HTTPRequest node also adds the web service headers shown in the following table, with default values, if these are not present in the HTTPRequestHeader or the HTTPInputHeader.

        Header Default value
        SOAPAction "" (empty string)
        Content-Type text/xml; charset=ccsid of the message body

        Unless the input message is in the JSON domain, where the default is:

        application/json; charset=ccsid of the message body

        Host The host name to which the request is to be sent.

        The HTTPRequest node also adds the optional header Content-Length with the correct calculated value, even if this value is not present in the HTTPRequestHeader or the HTTPInputHeader.

      • If you have selected Generate default HTTP headers from input and the input message does not include an HTTPRequestHeader, the HTTPRequest node extracts web service headers, except Host, from the HTTPInputHeader (if it is present in the input message). The HTTPRequest node adds the required web service headers with default values, if these values are not present in the HTTPInputHeader.
      • If you have cleared Generate default HTTP headers from input and the input message includes an HTTPRequestHeader, the node extracts all web service headers present in the input HTTPRequestHeader. The node does not check for the presence of an HTTPInputHeader in the input message, and it does not add the required web service headers if they are not supplied by the input HTTPRequestHeader.
      • If you have cleared Generate default HTTP headers from input and the input message does not include an HTTPRequestHeader, no web service headers are generated. The HTTPRequest node does not check for the presence of an HTTPInputHeader in the input message and does not add any required web service header. The request message is propagated to the web service without an HTTPRequestHeader. This action typically causes an error to be generated by the web service, unless the web service is configured to handle the message contents.
      If you have selected Use compression or Accept compressed responses by default, the Content-Encoding and Accept-Encoding HTTP header fields are populated regardless of whether you have selected Generate default HTTP headers from input:
      • If the value of Use compression is not the default of None, the Content-Encoding HTTP header is populated with this value, and the bit stream is compressed. If the Content-Encoding header is already present in an existing HTTP header, this field is updated with the value of the Use compression property. If the existing Content-Encoding header already starts with the named compression function, then no further compression takes place. If the Content-Encoding header starts with deflate, then no compression takes place irrespective of whether ZLIB (deflate)or deflate is selected.
      • If you have selected Accept compressed responses, the Accept-Encoding field is populated. If this field is already present in an existing HTTP header, the existing value overrides the property on the node. However, if a compressed response is received, it is not decompressed.
    4. Select the Accept compressed responses by default property to indicate whether the request accepts compressed responses. If you select this option, the request can receive responses with a Content-Encoding of gzip or deflate. If such a response is received, the content is decoded and the Content-Encoding header is removed. If the Request Header does not contain an Accept-Encoding header, then selecting this option sets the Accept-Encoding header to "gzip, deflate".
  9. On the Validation tab, set Validation properties if you want the parser to validate the body of response messages against the Message set. (If a message is propagated to the Failure terminal of the node, it is not validated.) These properties do not cause the input message to be validated. It is expected that, if such validation is required, the validation has already been performed by the input node or a preceding validation node.

    For more information, see Validating messages and Validation properties.

What to do next

Connect the Out, Error, or Failure terminal of this node to another node in this message flow to process the message further, to process errors, or to send the message to an additional destination. If you do not connect the Error terminal, the message is discarded. If you do not connect the Failure terminal, the integration node provides default error processing, see Handling errors in message flows.


ac04596_.htm | Last updated 2016-06-25 08:06:53