Setting bidirectional attributes for messages

For terminal and interface messages, you can specify bidirectional attributes for each SFMXSD file that is created in a service flow project.

Set Bidirectional attributes window

Important: To access bidirectional functionality, you must enable bidirectional support before you create an service flow project.
You can specify bidirectional attributes from the Set Bidirectional Attributes window. You can access this window from the following wizards:
  • New Project wizard (when the service interface is based on imported COBOL, PL/I, or WSDL files)
  • New Project wizard (when COBOL and PL/I structures are imported for aggregating, channeling, or queuing applications)
  • New Project wizard (when creating terminal applications)
  • Import WSDL wizard
  • Import COBOL wizard
  • Import PL/I wizard

For projects for which bidirectional support is enabled, these wizards open the Update Bidirectional Attributes window. You can modify the bidirectional attributes for the messages that you selected previously in the wizard.

You also can modify bidirectional attributes for messages by using the Project Explorer pop-up menu. For a bidirectionally-enabled service flow project, right-click on an SFMXSD file and click Bidirectional attributes.

Set Bidirectional Attributes window

From the Set Bidirectional Attributes window, you can modify the bidirectional attributes for existing messages. This window contains the following fields:
Terminal
Specifies whether the message is for a terminal application.
Type
You can select one of the following options:
Static
Select this value to specify the receive and reply attributes for the message. Once selected, you can modify the values in the Text Type, Orientation, Sym.Swap, and Num.Swap fields.
Receive
For dynamic messages, some fields in an imported structure contain directional attributes. Select this option to set the bidirectional attributes for receive messages and pass them to mapping. Once selected, you cannot modify the values in the Text Type, Orientation, Sym.Swap, and Num.Swap fields.
Reply
For dynamic messages, some fields in an imported structure contain directional attributes. Select this option to set the bidirectional attributes for reply messages and pass them to mapping. Once selected, you cannot modify the values in the Text Type, Orientation, Sym.Swap, and Num.Swap fields.
Text type
The text type that is displayed. You can choose Logical or Visual.
Orientation
The direction in which text is displayed. You can choose Left-to-Right or Right-to-Left.
Sym.Swap
Whether symmetric swapping is enabled. You can choose True or False.
Num.Swap
Whether numeric swapping is enabled. You can choose True or False.

The Create a New Message Element window

This subtopic relates to the Default (optional) input field of the Create a New Message Element window, which opens when you begin the process of adding a message element to an existing message in a message file from the EST Project Explorer (see Adding a message element to an existing message in the EST Project Explorer).

If the bidirectional setting is enabled for service flow projects then visual editing is supported for the Default (optional) input field and the value in it is saved in smart logical format in the message definition source file.