Converging multiple properties

You can promote properties from several nodes in a message flow to define a single promoted property that provides a single value to be for that property in all those nodes.

Before you start:

To converge multiple node properties to a single promoted property:

  1. Switch to the Broker Application Development perspective.
  2. Open the message flow for which you want to promote properties by double-clicking the message flow in the Navigator view. You can also open the message flow by right-clicking it in the Navigator view and clicking Open The message flow contents are displayed in the editor view.

    If this is the first message flow that you have opened, the message flow control window and the list of available built-in message flow nodes are also displayed, to the left of the editor view.

  3. In the editor view, right-click the symbol of the message flow node whose properties you want to promote.
  4. Select Promote Property.

    The Promote Property dialog is displayed.

    The Promote Property dialog
  5. Select the property that you want to converge. The list on the left initially shows the expanded list of all available properties for the selected node. If you have already promoted properties from this node, they do not appear on the left, but on the right.

    The list on the left also includes the other nodes in the open message flow. You can expand the properties listed under each node and work with all these properties at the same time. You do not have to close the dialog and select another node from the editor view to continue promoting properties.

    You can select multiple properties to promote by selecting a property, holding down Ctrl, and selecting one or more other properties.

    If you have you selected multiple properties to converge, all the properties you have selected must be available for promotion. If one or more of the selected properties is not available for promotion, the entire selection becomes unavailable for promotion, and the Promote button in the right-hand pane is grayed out.

  6. Click the Promote button to promote the property or properties

    Clicking the Promote button invokes the Target Selection dialog:

    The Target Selection dialog

    The Target Selection dialog displays only the valid targets for the promotion of the previously selected property or properties and allows you to create a new target for the promotion, such as to a new group or to a new property.

  7. To converge properties from the same or different nodes in the message flow, expand the tree and click on a property that already exists. You can rename the properties by selecting them and clicking Rename, or by double-clicking on the group or property.
  8. Click OK to confirm your selections.
    Note: If you create a new group or property using the Target Selection dialog, the changes persist even if you select Cancel in the dialog. When the dialog closes, groups or properties that you have created using the Target Selection dialog will appear in the Promote properties dialog.
  9. Expand the property trees for all the nodes for which you want to promote properties.
    1. Drag the first instance of the property that you want to converge from the list on the left, and drop it on the appropriate group in the list on the right. If the group already contains one or more promoted properties, the new property is added at the end of the group. Rename the new property if you want to by double-clicking the property, or by selecting the property and clicking Rename.

      If you want the promoted property to appear in a new group, you can drag and drop the property into an empty space below the existing groups, which forces a new group to be created. You can also place the promoted property in a new group by selecting the property you want to promote, and clicking Promote, which opens the Target Selection dialog. Click New Group, and enter the name of the new group. Click OK to confirm your changes.

      If you drag the property onto an existing promoted property of a different type, a no-entry icon is displayed and you cannot drop the property. You must create this as a new promoted property, or drop it onto a compatible existing promoted property. Properties must be associated with the same property editor to be compatible. For example, if you are using built-in nodes, you can only converge like properties (string with string, boolean with boolean).

  10. Drag all remaining instances of the property from each of the nodes in the list on the left onto the existing promoted property. The new property is added under the existing promoted property, and is not created as a new promoted property.
  11. Click Apply to commit this change without closing the Property Promotion dialog. Click OK to complete your updates and close the dialog.
Note: You can also converge properties from the Promote property dialog by dragging the selected property or properties from the left-hand pane of the Promote Property dialog to the right-hand pane:
  1. Select the property you want to promote. You can select multiple properties to promote by selecting a property, holding down Ctrl, and selecting one or more other properties.
  2. Drop the selected property or properties onto a property in the right-hand pane to converge related properties from the same or different nodes in the message flow.

    For example, you might want to create a single promoted property that overrides the property on each node that defines a data source.

    For more information on converging properties, see Converging multiple properties.

Related concepts
Promoted properties
Related tasks
Defining a promoted property
Promoting a property
Renaming a promoted property
Removing a promoted property
Related reference
Built-in nodes