Adding a Connector step

The Connector step dialog contains the following tabs:

General

General

Set the connector, connector action, Connection component, and Operation component for a Connector step in the General tab of the Connector step.

1. Enter the display name to describe the step. If you do not specify the name, the name of the connector that you select will appear on the step.

2. Select the type of connector, this is used to select the type of data source or destination, depending on where the data is coming from or going to. When used in the Start step, this is used to select the application or server you would like to connect to, or a listen web server that you would like to enable, to bring documents into the process.

3. Select the type of connection to select, edit or create a Connection component for your specific application or server. The list of connections is filtered by the type of connector that you select. Connection components are reusable in other processes and process steps.

4. Select the action from the list of actions such as Get, Send, Create, Query, Delete, Update etc. When used in the Start step, this is used to select the inbound action for your documents.

   • Get — Retrieves documents from the application or server.
   • Listen — Enables process listening for certain connector scenarios (for example, AS2, Web Services Server). You need to deploy the process to enable the web server for listening.

5. Select the operation component for your specific application or server.
   The list of operations is filtered by the type of connector and action that you select. Operation components are reusable in other processes and process steps. During the configuration of connector operation components, the Import Operation wizard defaults to the selected connection component. This behavior occurs when making a connector call from the Start step, a Connector step, a parameter value, or a map function.

6. Select Allow dynamic connection properties for any Dynamic Process Connection properties that are defined in the Set Properties step override connector settings and extension values within subsequent Connector steps. When cleared, the values set in connection settings and extension values take precedence, even if Dynamic Process Connection properties are defined within the Set Properties step. If the same connection is used multiple times within a process, the option needs to be enabled on each of the Connector steps. If this is not set, the same connections are executed with varying values at different points in the process.

Parameters

Parameters tab

Some connectors enable you to define parameters in their operations to dynamically set certain criteria. The Connector step dialog's Parameters tab allows you to provide dynamic or static values for those parameters.

• You can add, edit, delete, and put the parameters into a particular order.

Error indicators are also shown on this tab if multiple values are given for the same parameter name, a value is set without an associated name, or if not all parameters are defined.

Dynamic Operation Properties

Dynamic Operation Properties

Some connectors enable you to define dynamic operation properties, which are document-level overrides that you define values for, and pass them into the Connector step to override the operation component's default value. The Connector step dialog's Dynamic Operation Properties tab allows you to provide static values or document-level values (Document Property) for the parameters. You can add, edit, and delete the parameters.

The dynamic operation property values defined only affect the specific step's operation that is selected on the General tab in this dialog.

Important

If the Dynamic Operation Properties tab does not appear in the Connector step that means the developer has not enabled the feature that enables the tab to display. To learn more, see the topic Connector descriptor file. Other connectors, for example, Hadoop and Google Sheets, have the feature enabled and the Dynamic Operation Properties tab automatically appears.

1. Click Add Dynamic Operation Property to display the Parameter Value dialog and specify one of the following:

• Type

  • Select Static in the drop-down list and provide a static value in the Static Value field. It is used to dynamically override the operation value with a static value. Upon process execution, the static value provided takes precedence and is used instead of the value set in the operation.

  • Select Document Property in the drop-down list and browse for the document property in the Document Property field. It is used to dynamically override the operation value with a document-level value (Document Property). Upon process execution, the selected property takes precedence and is used instead of the value set in the operation.

Example: Dynamically passing a File Name to the Hadoop connector

You want to dynamically pass the File Name from the Disk V2 connector's output documents to the corresponding field in Hadoop. Select File Name in the Input drop-down list, choose Document Property for Type, and browse for the Disk V2 connector's File Name document property.