- New graphical development environment based on
Eclipse
- The Message Brokers Toolkit is an integrated
development environment and graphical user interface based on the
Eclipse platform. The Message Brokers Toolkit consists
of the Eclipse platform and a set of Java™ plug-ins
that enable the creation, maintenance, and deployment of WebSphere Message
Broker message flows (including publish/subscribe applications) and
message models. See the Message Brokers Toolkit topic,
and the Eclipse web
site.
The
Message Brokers Toolkit includes,
among other things, the following new features:
- You can control multiple broker domains using a single Message Brokers Toolkit. See Message Brokers Toolkit.
- You can use the Message Brokers Toolkit with
external source repositories, for example with repositories that permit
version control of message flow and
message set source data. See Development repository.
- Improved editors, such as Message Flow Mapping
editor, Message Set editor, and ESQL editor, make it easier for
you to build your solution. See Editors in the Message Brokers Toolkit.
- The Mapping node
allows you to create message transformations using a drag-and-drop
method, without the need to write ESQL code. See Mapping node.
- You can now reuse ESQL subroutines and functions.
See Broker schemas.
- The flow debugger allows you to add breakpoints to
the connections of a message flow,
and step through ESQL code statement by statement. See Flow debugger overview.
- You can configure some message flow properties
at deployment time rather than at development time. See Configurable properties of a broker archive.
- Enhanced initial user experience
-
The pre-install LaunchPad is launched from the Windows® CD prior to installation.
It guides you through the process of checking for, and installing,
any prerequisite software before launching the product installation.
The installation is now implemented using InstallShield for Multi-Platforms.
The Welcome page
for the Message Brokers Toolkit, which appears
after you launch the Message Brokers Toolkit,
provides links to a number of basic tasks, enabling you to configure
and exercise a working system as quickly as possible. Supported tasks
include:
You can view samples only when you use the information
center that is integrated with the Message Brokers Toolkit.
- Web Services support
-
Several enhancements provide support for Web Services:
- Enhanced message modeling
- The following enhancements have been made to the message model:
- XSLT transformation enhancements
-
The XMLTransformation node
allows you to integrate existing XSLT transformations into the broker
environment. The style sheet used to define the transformation can
be specified as an attribute of the node instance, or can be determined
within the context of the flow and specified using a defined area
of the Local Environment. This capability is delivered through repackaging
and enhancement of the XALAN-based XSLT style sheet transformation
engine derived from the WebSphere Transcoding
Publisher product.
For more information, see XMLTransformation node.
- Extended database user ID and password support
-
External database access from Compute, Database and Warehouse nodes has been extended
so that you can associate a specific user ID and password with a given
ODBC DSN in the broker run time. This user ID and password combination
is then used for all connections made by the broker to the particular
DSN, overriding the default use of the broker's user ID and password.
This
addresses a key requirement to be able to specify different user ID
and password combinations for different databases and to be able to
set this on a broker-by-broker basis. The mqsisetdbparms command
is provided for setting this information in the broker.
For
more information, see Accessing databases from message flows.
- Message
flow accounting
and statistics
- You can now collect statistics on the behavior of message flows. For example, you can collect
data about how many messages are processed and how large those messages
are, or about CPU usage and elapsed processing times. For more information,
see Message flow accounting and statistics data, and the developerWorks® article
on message flow performance.
- Publish/subscribe enhancements
- The following publish/subscribe changes
have been made:
- The set of protocols and distribution patterns supported by the
broker has been extended to provide reliable, real-time IP multicast
distribution of subscriptions over a Local Area Network. This is provided
as an extension to the existing JMS IP support in WebSphere Event Broker. For more information, see WebSphere MQ Multicast Transport and Multicast publish/subscribe,
and WebSphere MQ Real-time Transport.
- Publish/subscribe capabilities have
been consolidated within WebSphere Message Brokers.
This rationalizes the product offerings and provides a clear upgrade
path from WebSphere Event Broker to WebSphere Message Broker.
- SSL authentication, QoS, and HTTP tunneling
- The following Internet-related items have been added:
- New object level security model
- You can now control access to runtime resources by object as opposed
to by group. See Security for runtime resources: Access control lists.
- Increased platform support
- Supported operating environments now include Linux® on x86, Linux on System z®, and Windows XP, giving you a wider choice of
platforms on which to deploy your solution. For more information,
see Operating system requirements.