CDInput node

Use the CDInput node to preview files when using IBM® Sterling Connect:Direct® in conjunction with IBM Integration Bus.

The CDInput node is available in the following operation modes:

Developer
Application Integration Suite
Standard
Advanced
Adapter

For more information, see Operation modes.

Information about file transfers is held on storage queues that are controlled by WebSphere® MQ, so you must install WebSphere MQ on the same computer as your integration node if you want to use the capabilities provided by the CDInput node. The storage queues that hold the transfer information are owned by the queue manager that is specified on the integration node, and you specify this queue manager by using the -q property of the mqsicreatebroker command. For more information about specifying a queue manager on the integration node, see Creating an integration node and mqsicreatebroker command. You must also create the system queues required by the CDInput node; see Creating the default IBM Integration Bus queues on a WebSphere MQ queue manager.

This topic contains the following sections:

For information about configuring the CDInput node, see Configuring the CDInput node.

Purpose

You can use the CDInput node to extend IBM Integration Bus support for file processing through its integration with IBM Sterling Connect:Direct.

On z/OS®, when the CDInput node receives notification of the arrival of a dataset that it needs to process, the node copies that dataset into Unix System Services temporarily, before processing.

The CDInput node is contained in the File drawer of the palette, and is represented in the IBM Integration Toolkit by the following icon:

CDnput node icon

Using this node in a message flow

You can use the CDInput node in any flow that is designed to accept files from an IBM Sterling Connect:Direct network.

Terminals and properties

The CDInput node terminals are described in the following table.

Terminal	Description
Failure	The output terminal to which a message is routed if an error occurs before a message is propagated to the Out terminal. Messages propagated to this terminal are not validated, even if you have specified, using the Validate property, that validation is to take place.
Out	The output terminal to which a message is routed if it has been successfully extracted from the input file. If no errors occur within the input node, a message received from an external resource is always sent to the Out terminal first.
End of Data	The output terminal to which the End of Data message is routed after all the messages in a file have been processed. The End of Data message flow transaction is initiated only if this terminal is attached. The end of data structure consists of an empty message body, and the Local Environment information propagated from the out terminal.
Catch	The output terminal to which the message is routed if an exception is thrown downstream and caught by this node. Exceptions are caught only if this terminal is attached.

The following tables describe the node properties that you can set on a specified tab. The column headed M indicates whether the property is mandatory (marked in the IBM Integration Toolkit with an asterisk if you must enter a value when no default is defined). The column headed C indicates whether the property is configurable (you can change the value when you add the message flow to the BAR file to deploy it).

When the CDInput node propagates a message, it stores information about it in the LocalEnvironment.CD and LocalEnvironment.CD.Transfer message trees. If the input file is empty, an empty message is propagated (assuming that it is valid). If you specify a file name pattern that contains wildcard characters in the File name filter property, the CDInput node copies the characters in the file name matched by wildcard characters, together with any intermediate characters, to the LocalEnvironment.Wildcard.WildcardMatch message tree. See Using local environment variables with file nodes for more information.

Description properties

Property	M	C	Default	Description
Node name	No	No	CDInput	The name of the node.
Short Description	No	No	None	A brief description of the node.
Long Description	No	No	None	Text that describes the purpose of the node in the message flow.

Basic properties

Property	M	C	Default	Description
Directory filter	No	Yes	None	Specify the directory from which the node can process files. If this property is left blank, the node can process files from all directories. If multiple CDInput nodes are deployed to the same integration server, files are distributed randomly between the nodes unless filtering is defined. The directory must exist. If the IBM Integration Bus and IBM Sterling Connect:Direct server are on different machines, this is the path to the directory on the integration node machine. For information on various configurations when using IBM Sterling Connect:Direct, see Advanced configuration properties when using IBM Sterling Connect:Direct nodes and refer to the Input sections. If the `brokerPathToInputDir` field in the configurable service is set, the directory filter can be a path relative to that value; otherwise it must be an absolute path. On z/OS, if the file is a sequential dataset, partitioned dataset, or partitioned dataset member, leave the Directory filter field blank.
File name filter	Yes	Yes	None	Specify either a file name, or a character sequence that matches a file name. Either the file name or the character sequence can contain at least one of the following wildcard characters: * (any sequence of zero or more characters) ? (any single character) By default the node processes all files. If multiple CDInput nodes are deployed to the same integration server, files are distributed randomly between the nodes unless filtering is defined. The CDInput node can process z/OS sequential datasets, entire partitioned datasets or partitioned dataset members. The syntax to address a dataset is based on the full name for the dataset, for example, `MBUSER.TEST1`. Wildcard characters can be used anywhere within a dataset file name filter, this works in the same way as for normal file name filter patterns. For a member within a partitioned dataset, use brackets to specify the member name, for example, `MBUSER.TEST(MEME01)`. When receiving an entire partitioned dataset, each member in the received dataset is processed as an individual message.
Connect:Direct server configurable service	No	Yes	Default	The name of the configurable service being used to connect to the Connect:Direct server, in order to collect transfer information. If this value is not set, the default configurable service (named "Default") is used. The default configurable service connects to a Connect:Direct server located on the same machine as the integration node, and using default port configurations. The default configurable service also uses the "default" security identity, which must be created using the mqsisetdbparms command; for example: `mqsisetdbparms IBNODE -n cd::default -u mqbroker -p xxxxxxx` For information on various configurations when using IBM Sterling Connect:Direct, see Advanced configuration properties when using IBM Sterling Connect:Direct nodes and refer to the Input sections.
Action on successful processing	Yes	No	No Action	Select the action to take once the node has successfully processed the file. You can choose to leave the file in the input directory if other processes also need access to the file. In this case the notification from IBM Sterling Connect:Direct is deleted, and the file is left in place. Deleting files prevents the build up of processed files. Use the timestamp option if an archive of the file is required to record all transfers made. Note that on z/OS the Add Time Stamp option is not supported when using datasets.

Input Message Parsing properties

Property	M	C	Default	Description	mqsiapplybaroverride command property
Message domain	No	No	None	The domain that is used to parse the incoming message.
Message model	No	No	None	The name or identifier of the message set in which the incoming message is defined. If you set this property, and then update the project dependencies to remove this message set reference, a warning is issued. Either update the Message model property, or restore the reference to this message set project.
Message	No	No	None	The name of the incoming message.
Physical format	No	No	None	The name of the physical format of the incoming message.
Message coded character set ID	Yes	Yes	Broker System Default	The ID of the coded character set used to interpret bytes of the file being read.	messageCodedCharSetIdProperty
Message encoding	Yes	Yes	Broker System Determined	The encoding scheme for numbers used to interpret bytes of the file being read. Valid values are Broker System Determined or a numeric encoding value. For more information about encoding, see Data conversion.	messageEncodingProperty

Parser Options properties

Property	M	C	Default	Description
Parse timing	No	No	On Demand	Specifies when an input message is parsed. Valid values are: On Demand Immediate Complete For a full description of this property, see Parsing on demand.
Build tree using XML schema data types	No	No	Cleared	Specifies whether the syntax elements in the message tree have data types taken from the XML schema.
Use XMLNSC compact parser for XMLNS domain	No	No	Cleared	Specifies whether the XMLNSC Compact Parser is used for messages in the XMLNS Domain. If you set this property, the message data appears under XMLNSC in nodes that are connected to the output terminal when either of the following items is XMLNS: The input MQRFH2 header. The Input Message Parsing property, Message Domain.
Retain mixed content	No	No	Cleared	Specifies whether the XMLNSC parser creates elements in the message tree for mixed text in an input message. If you select the check box, elements are created for mixed text. If you clear the check box, mixed text is ignored and no elements are created.
Retain comments	No	No	Cleared	Specifies whether the XMLNSC parser creates elements in the message tree for comments in an input message. If you select the check box, elements are created for comments. If you clear the check box, comments are ignored and no elements are created.
Retain processing instructions	No	No	Cleared	Specifies whether the XMLNSC parser creates elements in the message tree for processing instructions in an input message. If you select the check box, elements are created for processing instructions. If you clear the check box, processing instructions are ignored and no elements are created.
Opaque elements	No	No	Blank	Specifies a list of elements in the input message that are to be opaquely parsed by the XMLNSC parser. Opaque parsing is performed only if validation is not enabled (that is, if Validate is None); entries that are specified in Opaque Elements are ignored if validation is enabled.

Retry properties

Property	M	C	Default	Description	mqsiapplybaroverride command property
Retry mechanism	Yes	No	Failure	How the node handles a flow failure. Valid options are: Failure Short retry Short and long retry
Retry threshold	Yes	Yes	0	The number of times to try the flow transaction again when the Retry mechanism property value is Short retry.	retryThreshold
Short retry interval (seconds)	No	Yes	0	The interval, in seconds, between each retry if the Retry threshold property is not zero.	shortRetryInterval
Long retry interval (seconds)	No	Yes	300	The interval between retries, if the Retry mechanism property is Short and long retry and the retry threshold has been exhausted.	longRetryInterval
Action on failing file	Yes	Yes	No Action	The action that the node takes with the input file if all attempts to process the contents of the input file fail. Valid options are: No Action Delete Add Time Stamp This option is not available on z/OS

Records and Elements properties

Property	M	C	Default	Description
Record detection	Yes	No	Whole File	The mechanism used to identify records in the input file. Valid options are: Whole File Fixed Length Delimited Parsed Record Sequence Note: If you select the Parsed Record Sequence option, the parser specified in Message domain must be DFDL, XMLNSC or MRM.
Length	Yes	No	80	The length of each record, in bytes, when Fixed Length record detection is selected.
Delimiter	Yes	Yes	DOS or UNIX Line End	The type of delimiter bytes that separate, or end, each record when Delimited record detection is selected. Valid options are: DOS or UNIX Line End Custom Delimiter
Custom delimiter	No	Yes	None	The delimiter bytes, expressed in hexadecimal, when Delimited record detection and Custom Delimiter are selected. This property is mandatory only if the Delimiter property is set to Custom Delimiter.
Delimiter type	Yes	No	Postfix	The position of the delimiter when Delimited record detection is selected. Valid options are: Postfix Infix This property is ignored unless the Delimiter property is set to Custom Delimiter.

Validation properties

For a full description of these properties, see Validation properties.

Property	M	C	Default	Description	mqsiapplybaroverride command property
Validate	No	Yes	None	This property controls whether validation takes place. Valid values are: None Content and Value Content	validateMaster
Failure action	No	No	Exception	This property controls what happens if validation fails. Valid values are: User Trace Local Error Log Exception Exception List

Transactions properties

Property	M	C	Default	Description
Transaction mode	No	No	No	The transaction mode on this input node determines whether the rest of the nodes in the flow are processed under sync point. Valid options are: Yes No

Instances properties.

For a full description of these properties, see Configurable properties in a BAR file.

Property	M	C	Default	Description	mqsiapplybaroverride command property
Additional instances pool	No	Yes	Use Pool Associated with Message Flow	The pool from which additional instances are obtained. If you select Use Pool Associated with Message Flow, additional instances are obtained from the message flow pool. If you select Use Pool Associated with Node, additional instances are allocated from the additional instances of the node based on the number specified in the Additional instances property.	componentLevel
Additional instances	No	Yes	0	The number of additional instances that the node can start if the Additional instances pool property is set to Use Pool Associated with Node.	additionalInstances

The Monitoring properties of the node are described in the following table.

Property	M	C	Default	Description
Events	No	No	None	Events that you have defined for the node are displayed on this tab. By default, no monitoring events are defined on any node in a message flow. Use Add, Edit, and Delete to create, change or delete monitoring events for the node; see Configuring monitoring event sources by using monitoring properties for details. You can enable and disable events that are shown here by selecting or clearing the Enabled check box.