Message Category editor

The Message Category editor is the default editor provided by the Broker Application Development perspective for working with message category (.category) files in a message set.

The editor is launched in the editor area when you open an existing message category file using the Resource Navigator or when you create a new message category file using the New Message Category File wizard.

Message Category editor views

The Message Category editor has the following views:

Resource Navigator view
The Resource Navigator shows a hierarchical view of all the resources that are currently in your workspace. By expanding the folder for a message set project, you can see the resources, including the message category file or files, that this message set project contains.
Editor view
You edit the properties of message category in the editor area of the Message Category editor, which has a single tab, the Properties tab. This tab provides:
  • The Properties Hierarchy, which shows the hierarchy for a message category file and the messages that have been added to it.
  • The Details view, which when you select a message category file, shows the properties of the message category, or of an individual message in the category, depending on what you have selected in the Properties Hierarchy.

There are tabs across the top of the editor area for each file that you have open, so that you can quickly switch between them.

Tasks view
Each time you save a change within a message set project, the content is validated to ensure that the message model follows certain rules. Any informational, warning or error messages relating to the validation appear in the task list.

Properties Hierarchy functions

Right-click in the Properties Hierarchy to display the following menu items:

  • Add Messages (available at the Message Category level only) adds a new message to a message category file.
  • Undo and Redo allow you to undo and redo changes to message category files. These two menu items apply to adding new messages, and also to changes that you make in the Details view. To undo a change that you have made to a message category file but not yet saved, click Undo. If you undo a change, you can reinstate it by clicking Redo.
  • Delete (available at the individual Message level only) deletes the selected message from the message category file.

Details view functions

In the Details view, you use the Message Category Kind field to specify whether the message category will be used to generate WSDL (Web Services Description Language) files.

If the Message Category Kind is WSDL, you must provide definitions in the Role Name and Role Type fields for each message that you add to the message category file. These two fields appear when you select a message in the Properties Hierarchy.

You create any required documentation for a message set in the Documentation field. Right-click in this field to display a menu of standard text editing menu items that apply specifically to this field and allow you to undo changes, cut, copy, paste and delete text, and select all the text in the field.

Related concepts
Message categories