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Completing the Parameters tab

 About Service CORBA rules

Use the Parameters tab to define the IDL (Interface Definition Language) file and specify the mappings between external data values and internal clipboard values. This includes a repeating group of input and output parameter mappings, and a return value mapping.

Specify data types to provide a mapping from the external IDL type onto the internal Process Commander type. Values can also be mapped from or to the parameter page.

Specify a value in the Return Value fields to have the interface return data to the client after the service activity executes. If the Return fields are blank, the CORBA response contains no clipboard data.

Parameters List

Field

Description
In/Out

zzzSelect whether the parameter passes data from the client application to Process Commander, from Process Commander back to the client application, or both:

  • In — The parameter passes data to Process Commander in the request message sent by the client application. Process Commander then maps the data to the clipboard using the Map To and Map To Key values. When selected, the Map From and Map From Key values are ignored.
  • Out — The parameter passes data to the client application in the response message sent by Process Commander. Process Commander then maps the data from the clipboard using the Map From and Map From Key values. When selected, the Map To and Map To Key values are ignored.
  • In/Out — The parameter passes data to Process Commander in the request message sent by the client application, then passes data back to the client application in the response message sent by Process Commander. Process Commander maps the data to the clipboard using the Map To and Map To Key values, and then maps the data from the clipboard using the Map From and Map From Key values.
Data Type

Select the external data type of this parameter value.
Name

Enter the external name of the parameter.
Map To

Use only when In/Out is In or is both In and Out. Select how the system creates the input parameter values. The choice you make for this field depends on what you select for Data Type:

  • Clipboard — The system maps the data value to the scalar property specified by the Map To key.
  • Username — The system authenticates the user name using the value provided.
  • Password — The system authenticates the password using the value provided.
  • XML ParseRule — Indicates that the incoming data value from the sending application is a stream of XML that can be parsed using the data mappings specified in a Parse XML rule.
  • HTML PostData — Indicates that the incoming data value is a stream of data posted from an HTML form that contains property key/value pairs in HTTP POST format.

If more choices appear, they identify a custom function rule in a MapTo library. Review the function rule to determine what it does.
Map To Key

Identify a destination for the Map To choice:

  • If the Map To value is Clipboard, enter the property name to which the data is to be mapped. Use the form Param.name parameter name to set a parameter value on the parameter page of the service activity.
  • If the Map To value is HTML PostData, Password, or Username, leave this field blank.
  • If the Map To value is XML ParseRule, enter the Namespace key part of the Parse XML rule that the system uses to parse the data in the Map To Key field. The system uses the Page Class entered on the Service tab as the second key part, the Applies To of the parse rule. The system determines the Element Name part of the parse rule key at runtime from the name of the root element of the arriving XML document.
  • If the Map To value is HTML PostData, leave this field blank. The name/value pairs in the string will be mapped to the parameter page of the service activity rather than the primary page.
  • If the Map To value is a Rule-Utility-Function from a MapTo library, enter or select the property to hold the results of the custom function.
Map From

If In/Out is Out or both In / Out, select how the output data maps from the clipboard data:

  • Clipboard — The system maps the data value from the property specified by the Map From Key.
  • Constant — The system returns a fixed value.
  • XML Stream — The system composes a stream of XML text formatted by an XML Stream rule.
  • HTML Stream — The system composes a stream of HTML text formatted by an HTML rule.
  • HTML Frame — The system returns a stream of HTML text generated by the service activity.

If more choices appear, they identify a custom function rule in a MapFrom library. Review the function rule to determine what it does.
Map From Key

Identify a specific source for the Map From selection:

  • If the Map From value is Clipboard, enter a property reference from which the data is to be mapped.
  • If the Map From value is Constant, enter a literal string. To include leading or trailing spaces in your text string, surround the string with double quotes.
  • If the Map From value is XML Stream, enter the Stream Name key part of the XML Stream rule that is to generate the data. The system uses the Primary Page Class of the service as the Applies To key part.

  • If the Map From value is HTML Stream, enter the Stream Name key part of the HTML rule that is to generate the data stream. The system uses the Primary Page Class of the service as the Applies To key part of the HTML rule.

  • If the Map From value is HTML Frame, enter the name of the Frame specified in the Show-HTML step of the service activity. Use to return data from activities that were originally written for interactive browser clients and use the Show-HTML method.
  • If the Map From value is a Rule-Utility-Function from a MapFrom library, enter or select property that holds the value to be passed to the custom function.

Return Value

Field

Description
Data Type

zzzSelect the external data type of the return value.
Map From

Select how the system maps the output data from the clipboard data. If this field is blank, the generated IDL method is assigned an external type of 'void'. The choice you make for this field depends on what you select for Data Type:

  • Clipboard — The system maps the data value from the property specified by the Map From Key.
  • Constant — The system returns a fixed value.
  • XML Stream — The system composes a stream of XML text formatted by an XML Stream rule.
  • HTML Stream — The system composes a stream of HTML text formatted by an HTML rule.
  • HTML Frame — The system returns a stream of HTML text generated by the service activity.

If more choices appear, they identify a custom function rule in a MapFrom library. Review the function rule to determine what it does.
Map From Key

Identify a specific source for the Map From selection:

  • If the Map From value is Clipboard, enter the property name to which the data is to be mapped.
  • If the Map From value is Constant, enter a literal string. To include leading or trailing blank spaces in your text string, surround the string with double quotes.
  • If the Map From value is XML Stream, enter the Stream Name key part of the XML Stream rule that is to generate the data. The system uses the Primary Page Class of the service as the Applies To key part.
  • If the Map From value is HTML Stream, enter the Stream Name key part of the HTML rule that is to generate the data stream. The system uses the Primary Page Class of the service as the Applies To key part.
  • If the Map From value is HTML Frame, enter the name of the Frame specified in the Show-HTML step of the service activity. Use this to return data from activities that were originally written for interactive browser clients and contain calls to the Show-HTML method.
  • If the Map From value is a Rule-Utility-Function from a MapFrom library, enter or select the property that holds the value to be passed to the custom function.

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