Prerequisite

This tutorial assumes that you have some basic knowledge of, or programming experience with, SOA technologies and the NetBeans IDE.

System Requirements

This tutorial assumes that your system meets the requirements specified in the System Requirements topic of the NetBeans Enterprise Pack 5.5 Release Notes.

Software Needed for the Tutorial

Before you begin, you must install the following software on your computer:

• NetBeans IDE 5.5 (download) with NetBeans Enterprise Pack 5.5 (download)

Contents

• Configuring the Tutorial Environment
• Creating the SynchronousSample Project
• Exploring the BPEL Mapper Window
• Editing the Synchronous BPEL Project using the BPEL Mapper
  • Adding a Variable
  • Modifying XML Schema
  • Editing the BPEL Process
  • Adding Conditions to the If Element
  • Adding Expressions to the Assign Element
• Deploying the Project to the Application Server
• Creating Test Cases
• Testing the Application
• Summary

Adding a Variable

In this procedure, you add the todayIs variable of the string type to the business process. This variable is used to store the returned value of the current-date function.

1. If the SynchronousSample.bpel file is not open in the IDE, open it now.
2. In the Design view, right-click the SynchronousSample process element and select Add > Variable.
3. In the Name field, enter todayIs.
4. Expand the Built-in Types node and select the string type.
5. Click OK.
   Select the Assign1 element on the diagram. The todayIs variable is now shown in both tree panes of the BPEL Mapper window.

Modifying XML Schema

In this procedure, you modify the properties of an existing XML schema element and add a new nTest element. The nTest element is used to define which of the If branches will be executed. Later, you will use the nTest element in test cases.

1.  In the Projects window, expand the SynchronousSample project node and the ProcessFiles node.
2. Double-click the SynchronousSample.xsd node.
   The IDE opens the Schema view for the XML schema file.
3. In the columns of the Schema view, select Complex Types > simpleProcess > sequence > paramA.
   You can click the column button to make sure you are in the column mode of the view.
4. In the Properties window, set the Max Occurs parameter to unbounded to allow using the values that are greater or equal to 1.
   If the Properties window is not open, select Window > Properties or press Ctrl-Shift-7.

   
   Click to enlarge

5. In the third column of the Schema view, right-click the sequence element and select Add > Element from the pop-up menu.
6. In the Element dialog box, enter nTest in the Name field and select the Use Existing Type option.
7. Expand the Built-in Types node and select the int type.
8. Click OK.

   
   Click to enlarge

9. Choose File > Save All.

Editing the BPEL Process

In this procedure, you will add the If and Assign activities to the business process.

1. If the SynchronousSample.bpel file is not open in the IDE, open it now.
2. In the Design view, select the If icon on the Palette, drag selection to the design area, and drop it onto the diagram between the start and Assign1 element.
3. Move the Assign1 element into the If1 element and drop it on the main branch (without a stroke).
4. On the Palette, select the Assign icon and drop it onto the diagram after the Assign1 element inside the If element.
   This element is labeled Assign2.
5. Right-click the If element and choose Add Else If from the pop-up menu.
6. On the Palette, select the Assign icon and drop it onto the diagram inside the ElseIf branch.
   This element is labeled Assign3.
   See the picture below to verify that your business process diagram looks like the one in the picture below.

Click to enlarge

Adding Conditions to the If Element

You can specify the conditions for executing the If activity by following the procedures below. The nTest parameter defines which of the If branches holds true. For the If branch, nTest is equal to 1 and for the ElseIf branch, nTest is equal to 2.

To specify conditions for the If1 element:

1. Select the If1 element on the diagram.
2. In the BPEL Mapper window, on the menu bar, select Number > Number Literal and Operator > EQUAL.
   Two function boxes appear on the mapping pane. For your convenience, drag the function boxes to place the Number Literal box on the left and the EQUAL function box on the right.
3. In the left tree pane of the BPEL Mapper window, expand the inputVar and inputType nodes.
4. Select the nTest node in the left tree pane and drag the pointer to the any1 parameter of the EQUAL function box.
5. In the Number Literal function box, double-click the input field and enter 1.
6. Select the Number Literal function box and drag the pointer to the any2 parameter of the EQUAL function box.
7. In the EQUAL function box, select the return boolean parameter and drag the pointer to the Result node in the right tree pane of the BPEL Mapper window.
8. Select File > Save.

Click to enlarge

To specify conditions for the ElseIf element:

1. Select the ElseIf element on the diagram.
2. Follow the steps as in the previous procedure for If, but enter 2 as the value of Number Literal.

Click to enlarge

Adding Expressions to the Assign Element

In this procedure, you will add expressions to the Assign1, Assign2, and Assign3 elements using the Source editor and the BPEL Mapper.

To add expressions to the Assign1 element:

1. Select the Assign1 element on the diagram.
2. In the BPEL Mapper window, on the menu bar, select Datetime > Current Date.
   The Current Date function box appears on the mapping pane.
3. In the Current Date function box, select the return string parameter and drag the pointer to the todayIs node in the right tree pane of the BPEL Mapper window.
4. Select File > Save.

   
   Click to enlarge

5. Right-click the Assign1 element on the diagram and select Go to Source from the pop-up menu.

   In the Source view, the copy operator of the Assign1 element copies the value of the return string parameter to the todayIs variable as follows:

  <assign name="Assign1">
    <copy>            
      <from>current-date()</from>
      <to variable="todayIs"/>         
    </copy>     
  </assign>  

To add expressions to the Assign2 element:

The Assign2 element will form the following output string: Hello! Today is 2006-11-17. Time zone is 03:00.

You will work with the todayIs variable that contains the current date in the following format: YYYY-MM-DD ZZ:ZZ, where YYYY is the current year, MM is the month, DD is the date, and ZZ:ZZ is the time zone.

1. Select the Assign2 element on the diagram.
2. In the BPEL Mapper window, on the menu bar, select String > Concat and select twice String > Substring.
   Three function boxes appear on the mapping pane. For your convenience, drag the two Substring boxes to the left and the Concat box to the right.
3. To form a string from the todayIs variable that will contain only a date without a time zone, complete the following steps:
   
   1. Select the todayIs node in the left tree pane and drag the pointer to the string parameter of the first Substring function box.
   2. Double-click number inside the function box and type 1.
      This is a starting position for the todayIs string to be copied.
   3. Double-click number? inside the function box and type 10.
      This is the number of symbols to be copied.
4. To form a string from the todayIs variable that will contain only a time zone without a date, complete the following steps:
   
   1. Select the todayIs node in the left tree pane and drag the pointer to the string parameter of the second Substring function box.
   2. Double-click number inside the function box and type 11.
      This is a starting position for the todayIs string to be copied.

   Note: number? is not a required parameter for the Substring function here: with no parameter specified, the Substring function copies the string from the starting position to the end.

5. To form an output Concat string cited at the beginning of this section, complete the following steps:
   
   1. In the left tree pane of the BPEL Mapper window, expand the inputVar and inputType nodes.
   2. Select the paramA node in the left tree pane and drag the pointer to the string1 parameter of the Concat function box.
      This copies the string that is contained in the input parameter.
   3. Double-click string2 inside the Concat function box and type Today is.
      This is to form a string for an output, which will be added to the output string.
   4. In the first Substring function box, select the return string parameter and drag the pointer to string3 of the Concat function box.
      This copies a current date without a time zone.
   5. Double-click string4 inside the Concat function box and type . Time zone is.
      This string will follow the current date.
   6. In the second Substring function box, select the return string parameter and drag the pointer to the string5 of the Concat function box.
      This copies a time zone without a current date.
   7. Double-click string6 inside the Concat function box and type . .
      This string is added after a time zone.
   8. In the right tree pane of the BPEL Mapper window, expand the outputVar and resultType nodes.
   9. In the Concat function box, select the return string parameter and drag the pointer to the paramA node in the right tree pane of the BPEL Mapper window.
      This copies the result of the Concat function to the output.
6. Select File > Save.

   
   Click to enlarge

7. Right-click the Assign2 element on the diagram and select Go to Source from the pop-up menu.
   

   In the Source view, the copy operator of the Assign2 element forms a string that contains a current date and time zone as follows:

   <assign name="Assign2">    
     <copy>
       <from>concat($inputVar.inputType/ns0:paramA, ' Today is ', substring($todayIs, 1, 10), '. Time zone is ', substring($todayIs, 11), '.')</from>
       <to>$outputVar.resultType/ns0:paramA</to>
     </copy>
   </assign>

To add expressions to the Assign3 element:

You will use Source Editor to add expressions to the Assign3 element.

Note: You can edit the element in the BPEL Mapper if necessary after you add an expression using the Source Editor.

1. Right-click the Assign3 element on the BPEL diagram and select Go to Source from the pop-up menu.
2. Replace the <assign name="Assign3"/> string with the following:

   <assign name="Assign3">    
     <copy>
       <from>concat('There are/is ', count($inputVar.inputType/ns0:paramA, ' element(s) in nodeset.', 'Sum of element(s) is ', sum($inputVar.inputType/ns0:paramA), '. Last element is ', $inputVar.inputType/ns0:paramA[last()], '.')</from>
       <to>$outputVar.resultType/ns0:paramA</to>
     </copy>
   </assign>

3. Select File > Save.
4. Click the Design button on the Editor toolbar to switch to the Design view and view the results in the BPEL Mapper window.
5. Select the Assign3 element on the BPEL diagram.

   
   Click to enlarge

   The expressions for the Assign3 element show the number of nodes copied to paramA, calculate the sum of all nodes, and provide the value of the last node. The output is the following sample string: There are/is 3 element(s) in nodeset. Sum of element(s) is 6. Last element is 3.

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