The previous topic describes the History Browser. This topic describes the other Browsers, Wizards and tools that you can use to accelerate your work.
Axway Composer supplies an extensive "toolbox" of options, functions, features, tools and techniques. All of them can accelerate and refine the series of processes involved in defining individual objects. Some of them are more appropriate for IT users. Others are more appropriate for business users.
The set of tools listed and described is not exhaustive. It is provided only as a sample of the possibilities available with Axway Composer, and to give some direction in your reading of the documentation.
Axway Composer provides a number of Wizards and Templates for accelerating object definition.
Use the Axway Composer Templates to apply a set of predefined attributes to your object definitions. Define object parameters once and apply to multiple object definitions throughout the repository. For example, use the CommAdapterTemplate to apply a set of predefined protocol parameters to your CommAdapter definitions.
In addition, certain Axway Servers supply Templates for their specific objects. For example, Transfer CFT provides a CFTSEND and a CFTRECV Template or an end-of-transfer Script Template.
Use the List objects to group a set of objects of the same type and make mass modifications to all objects in the List.
Axway Composer provides a set of Browsers that make it easier to locate and manage the possibly vast number of objects that you have defined and that may be stored in a number of different Folders.
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Use the Entity Browser to search the entire database for objects. The Entity Browser provides advanced search filters to refine the search. In addition, the Entity Browser provides a replace function that you can use to make mass updates to object definitions. |
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When you modify an object, there is an impact on all objects that use the modified object. Use the Object Dependencies Browser to display the relationship between objects: which objects use and are used by the selected object. |
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Use the Server Browser to view the objects on a given Axway Server. |
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Use the History Browser to view the history of an object that was sent to Server. |
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Use the Broadcast Browser to track the progress of broadcast operations, to create new broadcasts, and to restart, cancel or force broadcasts on Axway Servers in error. |
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Use the Connected User Browser to view which users are connected, send them messages and disconnect them when necessary. |
It is easier to modify an existing object than to create a new object. Once defined, an existing object can often serve as a basis for accelerating the process of modifying a similar object.
Axway Composer enables you to copy existing objects, such as Tables or Applications, and in addition to retain the links between the copied object and the other objects that it uses or that use it. This enables you to perform mass modifications not only on the original object that you select to copy, but on all the objects to which it is linked.
Throughout the software, Axway Composer supplies spaces for you to add comment information. In the case of individual objects, an entire screen (the Description tab) is available for entering information about the purpose and goal of an object. Similarly, in individual cases, a comment column allows you to add information to the processing. This comment space allows business users to describe their requirements for any portion of any object.
For example, as a business user conceiving and designing an object, you could know exactly what you want a particular object to do, or what incoming data should be processed, or even how a single processing instruction on a single incoming node in a Business-Document should process that data. In short, you know the nature of the changes necessary to go from input to output. At the same time, you may - or may not - have completely mastered the technical, more "programmatic" aspects required to define the processing necessary to specify every detail.
However, this is precisely the kind of action that an IT user knows exactly how to perform. The comment space included with almost every field in Composer allows you, the business user, to describe what you want. When you then pass this object to an IT user for completion, that user can bring their expertise to the question.
A number of Axway Composer objects provide a graphical design tool for defining, modifying and visualizing the organization and layout of objects. Composer provides two types of graphical tool:
The type of user you are determines to a large extent the approach you will take when defining your infrastructure of objects.
The next topic summarizes the global procedure for using Axway Composer, from User definition to infrastructure definition, to the design and deployment of your integration.