Context

This scenario explains how you can use subflows to reuse common logic in an integration solution; how a subflow behaves at run time based on its design and implementation; and how you convert a legacy subflow into an IBM® Integration Bus subflow.

When wanting to reuse common functionality in new integration solutions, there are a number of different points you might be starting from. This scenario covers the following situations:
  • You might be a new user of IBM Integration Bus who needs to develop an integration solution for the first time. You want to learn how to design and implement common logic that you know can be reused by future solutions in your organization.
  • You might be an existing user of IBM Integration Bus who has recently migrated to version 8. You are in the process of developing a new integration solution that reuses legacy subflows.
  • You might be an existing user of IBM Integration Bus who needs to develop common functionality that will be used by future integration solutions.
Regardless of your starting point, this scenario has been divided into sub-scenarios to help you understand how to use subflows in IBM Integration Bus:
  • Sub-scenario 1: Creating a new subflow as a .subflow file
  • Sub-scenario 2: Creating a new subflow as a .msgflow file
  • Sub-scenario 3: Converting a legacy subflow

Creating a new subflow as a .subflow file

This is the recommended approach for creating subflows.

  • You are a new user of IBM Integration Bus, or you are an existing user that needs to create new subflows.
  • Your company may have multiple applications, such as SAP or Siebel, as well as numerous web services that use IBM Integration Bus as the integration backbone through which all data transformation takes place.
  • Your company might also have a corporate requirement that stipulates that all systems that handle sensitive client information must comply fully with audit requirements.

To comply with the corporate requirement, you can design and implement an audit subflow that can be used by any message flow. You can create a subflow as a .subflow file or as a .msgflow file. However, you are recommended to create the subflow as a .subflow file. The subflow defines new functionality that will be reused by other solutions.

Creating a new subflow as a .msgflow file

This option is maintained for subflow compatibility with previous releases.

  • You are an existing user of IBM Integration Bus.
  • You have migrated your legacy subflows, that is subflows created as .msgflow files, to IBM Integration Bus.
  • Due to resource constraints, you cannot convert your subflows into .subflow files.
  • The existing subflows are widely used across multiple solutions.

You continue to create subflows as .msgflow files whenever these subflows include existing subflows. In any other cases, you create your new subflows as .subflow files.

Converting a legacy subflow

  • You are an existing user of IBM Integration Bus.
  • You have migrated your legacy subflows to IBM Integration Bus.
  • You want to convert your legacy subflows into .subflow files.

You convert your subflows created as .msgflow files into .subflow files by using the conversion function provided by IBM Integration Bus.