Connector
A connector connects two different endpoints. For example a SFTP endpoint with a REST endpoint. As these two use different protocols the connector acts as a protocol bridge.
The default way to create a new flow is to use the gui.
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On the Flows page click the Actions button and choose "Create connector".
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Give the flow a name.
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From endpoint: For the source you need to choose component and URI. Use the question mark to get help and suggestions. The service is only available for some endpoints, for example to create a connection. Headers are always available. Maximum number of from endpoint is 3.
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To endpoint: Configuration works the same as for the from endpoint.
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Response endpoint: Configuration works the same as for the from endpoint. Resonse Endpoint is attached to a specific To endpoint.
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Error endpoint: This works the same as for the from and to endpoint. The error endpoint is the destination if something goes wrong.
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Save the flow.
An endpoint is a source or destination of a flow. An Assimbly endpoint consists of multiple parts:
With a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) an endpoint can be configured. The URI is set up the same way as in Camel:
scheme://path?options
- scheme: To identify the component
- path: To set the source or destination
- options: Options for the component
For example in Camel you can have to following URI:
file:/pathToDirectory?directoryMustExist=true
In Assimbly you select the scheme "file" then set the path "/pathToDirectory". Below the path you choose options if needed.
Mostly the path is fixed, but you can also set it dynamically with a header ${header.MyHeader}.
When you need more information about the components and its options you can click on the Camel button. This links to the latest Camel Component Reference. The Assimbly buttons links to the components information on this wiki. The Assimbly wiki enhances the Camel documentation with explanation, examples and screenshots.
Message headers are properties messages. Each property consist of key/value. Values can be set as a constant or with a scripting language (jsonpath, xpath, groovy and simple).
A route controls the integration flow. In a connector you transform or filter messages. When a lot of steps (integration logic) is needed it's better to make a specific route flow for it.
Connections can be used by specific componet for example to set up connection to a remote database or broker. For these endoints the connection is required, otherwise this field is disabled.
A flow have 5 basic actions:
- Start
- Stop
- Pause
- Resume
- Restart
From the main page the actions which are available have active buttons. When you start a flow you can see the status of flow change from inactive to active. In case of an error the status button gets red. You can hover the status button to get more info.
There are various other ways to create a flow
1) Editor
Use a text editor to a text editor (like Notepad++ or Visual Studio Code) and create an XML file. The XML file can be either in Assimbly format or in Camel XML format.
On the deployment page (administration --> deployment) there is an import button where a XML configuration can be imported.
2) Clone
When clicking on the name of flow in the main page you get a view of the flow configuration. When clicking on the "Clone" button the wizard opens with this configuration. There you can change every part of the configuration (for example giving the flow a new name) and save the configuration.
There are various other ways of running flows like using the API or the deploy directory.