What's new in Version 6.0?

This topic introduces you to the main new function in WebSphere Message Broker Version 6.0. See also New function added in Version 6.0 fix packs.
Extended platform support
The Configuration Manager is supported on all the broker platforms including z/OS, UNIX, Linux, and Windows, see Configuration Manager.

The Message Brokers Toolkit can be installed on Linux (x86 platform) in addition to Windows, see Client environment.

Database support on Linux (x86 platform) is extended to include Oracle in addition to UDB DB2, see Supported databases.

Simplified installation and migration
The installation of WebSphere Message Broker Version 6.0 is easier than that of WebSphere Business Integration Message Broker Version 5.0 because the number of prerequisite products has been reduced. For more information on installation, see the Installation Guide.

Configuration Managers no longer require a database.

A Default Configuration wizard is provided to quickly build a full environment for development or other simple configurations on Windows and Linux (x86 platform). For more information on the Default Configuration wizard, see Using the Default Configuration wizard, and the Installation Guide.

Migration from WebSphere MQ Integrator Version 2.1 and WebSphere Business Integration Message Broker Version 5.0 are supported. Both Version 2.1 and Version 5.0 can coexist with WebSphere Message Broker Version 6.0 allowing a phased migration. In addition the command mqsimigratecomponents is provided to migrate individual components from one codebase to another. For more information on migration, see Migrating and upgrading.

The installation of WebSphere Message Broker for z/OS Version 6.0 has been simplified in the following ways:
  • A single command can be used to create brokers, Configuration Managers, and User Name Servers.
  • All commands are JCL-based, meaning no UNIX shell is required.
For more information, see the Installation Guide.
Improved Message Brokers Toolkit
The Message Brokers Toolkit is based on the latest release of Rational Application Developer, powered by the Eclipse open source platform. The Message Brokers Toolkit includes the following new features:
  • Support on Linux (x86 platform) in addition to Windows.
  • XML editors.
  • Visual debugging is available with the following resources, which reduces the need for Eclipse perspective switching:
    • Message flows
    • ESQL
    • Java
    • Graphical mappings
    For more information, see Flow debugger overview.

For more information about the Message Brokers Toolkit, see Client environment.

Flexible transformation
Enhanced graphical mapping
The mapping tools support both novice and expert users, when authoring unidirectional transformations between source and target instance data elements. In addition to requiring less ESQL coding, the tools include the following enhancements:
  • A Message Mapping editor with a source pane, target pane, drag and drop, spreadsheet view, expression entry field, edit window, and marker bar with break point indication for debug purposes, see Message Mapping editor.
  • An incremental builder that validates map content and external links, and generates ESQL object code as output for deployment to the broker.
  • Support for user-defined functions written in Java and ESQL.
  • The ability to split source messages into a number of output messages, convert the message type automatically, map message headers, and map repeating elements.

Backward compatibility is provided by automatic migration, where existing mfmap files are rewritten in the new msgmap format. Message flows with Mapping nodes continue to function without change.

For more information about mapping, see Message mappings overview.

Routing and transformation rules in Java
You can use the JavaCompute node to write routing and transformation logic in Java. A standard J2SE 1.4.2 environment is provided with the standard Eclipse Java editor with color highlighting and code assist to create the transformations. XPath helper methods are provided, in addition to the full plug-in methods, to give easy access to message fields. No ESQL skill or experience is required.

You can deploy Java jars to the broker using the standard deployment facilities.

For more information about the JavaCompute node, see JavaCompute node.

ESQL enhancements
Transforming and routing messages using ESQL has been made easier by the following enhancements:
  • In-memory cache to reduce access to databases for read only routing or validation data.
  • Improved support for creating DATETIME variables.
  • Access to multiple databases from the same Compute, JavaCompute, Database, or Filter node.
  • Dynamic database schemas.
  • New-user defined properties that can pass parameters to ESQL to modify standard behavior.
  • Access to environment information, for example message flow name and broker name.
  • Improved support for result sets returned by database stored procedures.
  • Improved error recovery using SQL handlers.
  • Multiple out terminals to combine the function of Compute and Filter nodes.

For more information, see ESQL overview.

XSLT enhancements
Performance of XSLT transformations is improved by the support of compiled style sheets. The style sheets can also be deployed using the standard deployment facilities.

For more information on XSLT transformations, see XMLTransformation node.

Improved performance and scalability
Performance of the broker runtime has been significantly improved by the following enhancements:
  • The path lengths of the major broker functions have been shortened.
  • The cost of parsing and streaming messages has been reduced.
  • ESQL and publish/subscribe functions have been improved.
  • The aggregation nodes now use WebSphere MQ queues to store state information instead of a database. This improves the throughput of all requests, with the greatest improvement being gained with non-persistent requests.
  • A new in-memory cache allows more efficient message flows to be developed.
  • The storage requirements of the MRM and XML parsers have been reduced so that larger messages can be accommodated.
Coexistence
WebSphere Message Broker Version 6.0 can coexist with either a Version 2.1 or a Version 5.0 product on the same computer. You can install WebSphere Message Broker Version 6.0 in a different location on the same computer, migrate your components and resources to WebSphere Message Broker Version 6.0, and uninstall the Version 2.1 or Version 5.0 product later when you are sure that you no longer need it.
With some restrictions, all Version 5.0 components can participate in a Version 6.0 broker domain, and all Version 6.0 components can participate in a Version 5.0 broker domain. A Version 2.1 broker is the only Version 2.1 component that can take part in a Version 6.0 broker domain.

For more information about coexistence, see Coexistence with previous versions and other products.

Enhanced support for Web services
Web services support has been extended in the following ways:
Driving message flows
Message flows can be driven by JMS transports. Supported JMS providers include the embedded JMS provider in WebSphere Application Server Version 6.0, see WebSphere Broker JMS Transport.

New TimeoutControl and TimeoutNotification nodes allow message flows to be driven periodically rather than by an external event, see TimeoutControl node and TimeoutNotification node.

A new MQGET node allows messages to be retrieved midway through a message flow, in addition to the beginning of the message flow. This allows groups of messages to be dealt with together, or queues to be used to save temporary state information, see MQGet node.

Enhanced message parsing
The performance of both parsing and writing messages has been significantly improved to allow greater throughput, especially of large messages.

A new WSDL importer is provided to create message models from WSDL files, simplifying the integration of Web Services.

A new MIME parser is provided to allow the parsing of multipart MIME messages such as SOAP with Attachments and RosettaNet, see MIME parser and domain.

Message models for industry standard message definitions such as SOAP envelope, MIME headers and SAP IDoc segments are supplied for inclusion in your own message sets.

There is now support for XML Schema list and union simple types, xsi:type attributes, and XML version 1.1.

Unbounded repeats supported for all kinds of message including binary and formatted text.

Enhanced support for COBOL messages that use OCCURS DEPENDING ON.

The following runtime validation improvements:
  • Validation options available on more nodes.
  • A new Validate node to validate a message in the middle of a message flow.
  • The ability to detect all validation failures in a message before throwing an exception.
  • The ability to force a complete parse of a message independently of runtime validation.
Improved management
Runtime versioning
The enhanced versioning capabilities introduced to the development environment in the last release have been extended to the runtime environment. All resources deployed can be tagged with version, author, and other useful information in addition to the standard compiled time and deployment time attributes. The new information is displayed in the administration interface making it easy to see which resources have been deployed to production systems. For more information on runtime versioning , see Message flow version and keywords.
More automation
New and extended command line utilities are provided to allow full automation of deployment of new resources to production environments.

The Configuration Manager Proxy (CMP) Java API is a new systems management application interface which is provided to allow WebSphere Message Broker to be fully managed by products and utilities besides the Message Brokers Toolkit and the command-line interface. For more information on the CMP, see Developing applications that use the Configuration Manager Proxy Java API.

Improved security
The HTTP transport has been extended to provide HTTPS support, which provides added privacy and security.

Communication between the Message Brokers Toolkit and a Configuration Manager has been extended to allow the use of SSL for added security.

License management
WebSphere Message Broker supports a new form of license management using IBM Tivoli License Manager (ITLM), Version 2.1, across all the WebSphere Message Broker platforms, with the exception of z/OS. Implementing ITLM allows sub-capacity pricing for eBusiness On Demand.

For more information on ITLM, see Installing Tivoli License Manager.

Code page conversion
The set of code page converters used by WebSphere Message Broker has been updated and is now comprised of code page converters from the International Components for Unicode (ICU) libraries for Unicode, Version 3.2. For the list of code page converters included in the set, see Supported code pages.

For information on how to add additional code page converters to the set, see Generating a new code page converter.

WebSphere MQ as a transaction manager
When using WebSphere MQ Version 6.0 as a transaction manager, data sources in coordinated message flows cannot connect to 32-bit DB2 instances. If data sources in your coordinated message flows connect to DB2, ensure that they only connect to 64-bit DB2 instances.
Related concepts
New in Version 5.0