WebSphere Message Brokers
File: ac02410_
Writer: Karen Cameron

Task topic

This build: July 31, 2007 21:17:19

Converging multiple properties

You can promote properties from several nodes in a message flow to define a single promoted property, which applies to all those nodes.

Before you start:

One example for the use of promoting properties is for database access. If a message flow contains two Database nodes that each refer to the same physical database, you can define the physical database just once on the message flow by promoting the Data Source property of each Database node to the message flow, and setting the property at the message flow (promoted) level.

To converge multiple node properties to a single promoted property:

  1. Switch to the Broker Application Development perspective.
  2. Open the message flow in the Message Flow editor.
  3. Right-click the node whose properties you want to promote, then click Promote Property.

    The Promote Property dialog box is displayed.

    The Promote Property dialog box
  4. 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 box and select another node from the Message Flow editor 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 that 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 pane is grayed out.

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

    The Target Selection dialog box opens:

    The Target Selection dialog box

    The Target Selection dialog box 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.

  6. 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 the group or property.
  7. Click OK to confirm your selections.
    Note: If you create a new group or property using the Target Selection dialog box, the changes persist even if you select Cancel in the dialog box. When the dialog box closes, groups or properties that you have created using the Target Selection dialog box appear in the Promote properties dialog box.
  8. Expand the property trees for all the nodes for which you want to promote properties.
  9. Drag the first instance of the property that you want to converge from the list on the left, and drop it onto 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. You can rename the new property 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, drag the property into an empty space below the existing groups to create a new group. Alternatively:
      1. Select the property that you want to promote, and click Promote. The Target Selection dialog box opens.
      2. Click New Group, and enter the name of the new group.
      3. 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 converge only like properties (string with string, Boolean with Boolean).

    If you are using user-defined nodes, you must check the compatibility of the property editors for the properties that you want to converge. If you have written compiler classes for a node, you must also ensure that converged properties have the same compiler class.

  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 box. Click OK to complete your updates and close the dialog box.
    You can also converge properties from the Promote property dialog box by dragging the selected property or properties from the left pane of the Promote Property dialog box to the right pane:
    1. Select the property that 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 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.

You have promoted properties from several nodes to define a single promoted property, which is used for all those nodes.

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
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Copyright IBM Corporation 1999, 2007Copyright IBM Corporation 1999, 2007. All Rights Reserved.
This build: July 31, 2007 21:17:19

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