Reference data

Use reference data to store and manage frequently used values that support flow service logic.

Reference data is data that defines the set of permissible values to be used by other data fields. It is a collection of key-value pairs, which can be used to determine the value of a data field based on the value of another data field. For example, the value of a status field in an application can be Canceled and that needs to be interpreted as CN in another application.

IBM® webMethods Integration allows you to upload reference data from a text file containing tabular data separated by a character, for example, a comma, semicolon, and so on. The uploaded file should not have an empty column heading or space in the first row, and the first row cannot be empty.

Reference data appears under Services in the flow services workspace. You can access the uploaded reference data in flow services as a list of documents by using the reference data service and providing an appropriate name. You can filter the documents returned into the pipeline by the reference data service.

You can Delete, Download, or Edit a reference data entry. If the reference data is used in a flow service, you cannot delete it. First, remove the reference data from the flow service, then delete it. The Download option lets you download the previously uploaded file, edit it, and upload the updated version.

Reference data signature

The reference data signature is derived from the column names of the uploaded text file. You can filter the reference data by providing an appropriate matchCriteria. The output of reference data is a list of documents that match the specified matchCriteria.

Input parameters

matchCriteria. Document. Criteria on which documents from the reference data are matched. Parameters for matchCriteria are:

• path: Column names of the reference data.
• compareValueAs. Optional. Allowed values are string, numeric and datetime. The default value is a string.
• datePattern. Optional. Pattern is considered whether compareValueAs is of type datetime. The default value is MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss
• joins. List of join criteria. Each join criteria consist of:
  • operator. Allowed values are equals, doesNotEqual, greaterThan, greaterThanEqual, lessThan, lessThanEqual, equalsIgnoreCase, contains, doesNotContain, beginsWith, doesNotBeginWith, endsWith, doesNotEndWith.
  • value. Allowed values are string, numeric and datetime. The default value is a string.
  • joinType. Specifies the way two joins can be linked. Values are “and” or “or”. The default value is “and”.

Output parameters

Reference Data Name: Document List. List of documents that match the retrieved criteria.