Rational Developer for System z

Associating an operation with a plain Invoke node

This topic describes how to associate an existing nonterminal operation, outbound Web service operation, or screen operation with a plain Invoke node.
Note: This functionality is similar to adding an operation directly to the flow editor canvas (see Creating an Invoke node directly from an existing operation), except that here you add an operation to a plain Invoke node that already exists on the flow editor canvas.

General information

The Select Operation menu selection or, alternatively, the corresponding drag feature, allows you to associate a nonterminal operation, or an invoke outbound Web service operation, or a screen operation with a plain Invoke node, thereby creating an Invoke nonterminal node, or an Invoke outbound Web service node, or an Invoke screen operation node (see Table 1).
Table 1. Select Operation
An operation of a particular type: + A plain Invoke node: Converts the plain Invoke node to:
Nonterminal operation:
Nonterminal operation
Invoke node
Invoke nonterminal node:
Invoke nonterminal node
Outbound Web service operation:
Outbound web service operation
Invoke node
Invoke outbound Web service node:
Invoke outbound web service node
Screen operation:
Screen operation
Invoke node
Invoke screen operation node:
Invoke screen operation node

A plain Invoke node looks like this:

Invoke node

  • When you associate a nonterminal operation with a plain Invoke node, the flow editor:
    1. Configures the Invoke node so that it will invoke the nonterminal operation.
    2. Associates the input and output messages of the nonterminal operation with the input and output terminals of the node.
    3. Renames the node to the name of the nonterminal operation.
    4. Adds to the lower right corner of the node icon a gear symbol to indicate that the node is now an Invoke nonterminal node:
      Invoke nonterminal node
  • When you associate an outbound Web service operation with a plain Invoke node, the flow editor:
    1. Configures the Invoke node so that it will invoke the outbound Web service.
    2. Associates the input, output, and fault messages of the outbound Web service operation with the the input terminal and the output terminals of the node.
    3. Renames the node to the name of the outbound Web service operation.
    4. Adds to the lower right corner of the node icon a gear-with-service-bell symbol to indicate that the node is now an Invoke outbound Web service node:
      Invoke outbound web service node
  • When you associate a screen operation with a plain Invoke node, the flow editor performs the following steps:
    1. Configures the Invoke node so that it will invoke the screen operation.
    2. Associates the input terminal of the node with the screen message corresponding to the screen operation.
    3. Associates the output terminal with an unrecognized screen.
    4. Renames the node to the name of the screen operation.
    5. Adds to the lower right corner of the node icon a gear-with-screen symbol to indicate that the node is now an Invoke screen operation node:
      Invoke screen operation node
      CAUTION:
      If you want to create an Invoke screen operation node, then instead of using the manual method described in this topic, you should consider using the Record Flow feature to automatically create a sequence of Invoke screen operation nodes (see Recording a flow in the host editor). If you create an Invoke screen operation node manually as described in this topic, then you will have to manually create the mappings for the node.
To associate an operation with a plain Invoke node, you can either:
  • Use the Select Operation menu selection; or
  • Drag the operation from the EST Project Explorer to the plain Invoke node on the flow editor canvas.

Using the Select Operation menu selection

To use the Select Operation menu selection:
  1. In the flow editor, right-click the Invoke node, then click Select Operation.
    Note: Alternatively, you can select Flow > Select Operation from the main menu of the workbench.
  2. The Select Operation window opens. This window displays a filtered version of the EST Project Explorer that includes the following artifacts:
    Type of artifact: From which types of subfolder: From which service flow projects:
    • All operations
    Operations subfolders in:
    • Terminal applications subproject
    • Nonterminal applications subproject
    • Outbound Web services subproject
    • The service flow project to which the flow belongs.
  3. In the Select Operation window:
    1. Expand a terminal applications subproject, or a nonterminal applications subproject, or an outbound Web services subproject.
    2. Expand the Operations subfolder of the subproject.
    3. Expand the operations file containing the operation that you want to add to the flow.
    4. Select the operation that you want to add to the flow.
    5. Click OK to close the Select Operation window.
  4. The flow editor converts the plain Invoke node to an Invoke nonterminal node, or to an Invoke outbound Web service node, or to an Invoke screen operation node.

Using the drag feature

To drag an operation:
  1. In the EST Project Explorer:
    1. Expand the service flow project containing the flow that you have opened in the flow editor.
    2. Expand a nonterminal applications subproject, an outbound Web services subproject, or a terminal applications subproject.
    3. Expand the Operations subfolder of the subproject.
    4. Expand the operations file containing the operation that you want to add to the flow.
    5. Select the operation that you want to add to the flow.
  2. Drag the operation to the plain Invoke node on the flow editor canvas.
  3. The flow editor converts the plain Invoke node to an Invoke nonterminal node, or to an outbound Web service node, or to an Invoke screen operation node.

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