Version 23.4.8839

• Overview
• Connector Configuration
  • Settings Tab
    • Configuration
    • Message
    • Logging
    • Miscellaneous
  • Automation Tab
    • Automation Settings
    • Performance
  • Alerts Tab
    • Connector Email Settings
    • Service Level Agreement (SLA) Settings
• XPath Usage Example
• Macros
  • Examples

Overview

In CData Arc, data travels through flows as Messages that consist of a body and metadata headers. For example, if one connector passes a file to another, the file is transmitted as a Message that contains the file in the body and metadata about the file and associated connectors as headers. Messages can be grouped together in Batch Groups, which allow multiple messages to travel together as a single unit. Some uses for Batch Groups include moving data between systems and processing multiple purchase orders at once. When a Message is part of a Batch Group, it is referred to as a Batch Message.

The Batch Merge connector accepts a Batch Group that arrives in the Send folder (the Input tab of the connector settings pane) and merges the Batch Messages in the Batch Group into a single Message. The output Message passes down the flow through the Output tab, and it can be processed by other connectors as needed.

Note: The Batch Merge connector can only accept Batch Groups as inputs. If the connector receives an individual message as an input, it throws an error message.

Connector Configuration

This section contains all of the configurable connector properties.

Settings Tab

Configuration

Settings that determine how the connector can be accessed.

• Connector Id The static, unique identifier for the connector.
• Connector Type Displays the connector name and a description of what it does.
• Connector Description An optional field to provide a free-form description of the connector and its role in the flow.
• XPath Which repeated XML element to use when merging Batch Messages. See XPath Usage Example for more details.
• Local File Scheme A scheme for assigning filenames to messages that are output by the connector. You can use macros in your filenames dynamically to include information such as identifiers and timestamps. For more information, see Macros.

Message

• Save to Sent Folder Check this to copy files processed by the connector to the Sent folder for the connector.
• Sent Folder Scheme Instructs the connector to group messages in the Sent folder according to the selected interval. For example, the Weekly option instructs the connector to create a new subfolder each week and store all messages for the week in that folder. The blank setting tells the connector to save all messages directly in the Sent folder. For connectors that process many messages, using subfolders helps keep messsages organized and improves performance.

Logging

• Log Level The verbosity of logs generated by the connector. When you request support, set this to Debug.
• Log Subfolder Scheme Instructs the connector to group files in the Logs folder according to the selected interval. For example, the Weekly option instructs the connector to create a new subfolder each week and store all logs for the week in that folder. The blank setting tells the connector to save all logs directly in the Logs folder. For connectors that process many transactions, using subfolders helps keep logs organized and improves performance.
• Log Messages Check this to have the log entry for a processed file include a copy of the file itself. If you disable this, you might not be able to download a copy of the file from the Input or Output tabs.

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous settings are for specific use cases.

• Other Settings Enables you to configure hidden connector settings in a semicolon-separated list (for example, setting1=value1;setting2=value2). Normal connector use cases and functionality should not require the use of these settings.

Automation Tab

Automation Settings

• Send When checked, the connector automatically merges Batch Groups as soon as they arrive in the Send folder (Input tab). If you uncheck this, you must manually instruct the connector to merge Batch Groups.

Performance

Settings related to the allocation of resources to the connector.

• Max Workers The maximum number of worker threads consumed from the threadpool to process files on this connector. If set, this overrides the default setting on the Settings > Automation page.
• Max Files The maximum number of files sent by each thread assigned to the connector. If set, this overrides the default setting on the Settings > Automation page.

Alerts Tab

Settings related to configuring alerts and Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

Connector Email Settings

Before you can execute SLAs, you need to set up email alerts for notifications. Clicking Configure Alerts opens a new browser window to the Settings page where you can set up system-wide alerts. See Alerts for more information.

Service Level Agreement (SLA) Settings

SLAs enable you to configure the volume you expect connectors in your flow to send or receive, and to set the time frame in which you expect that volume to be met. CData Arc sends emails to warn the user when an SLA is not met, and marks the SLA as At Risk, which means that if the SLA is not met soon, it will be marked as Violated. This gives the user an opportunity to step in and determine the reasons the SLA is not being met, and to take appropriate actions. If the SLA is still not met at the end of the at-risk time period, the SLA is marked as violated, and the user is notified again.

To define an SLA, click Add Expected Volume Criteria.

• If your connector has separate send and receive actions, use the radio buttons to specify which direction the SLA pertains to.
• Set Expect at least to the minimum number of transactions (the volume) you expect to be processed, then use the Every fields to specify the time frame.
• By default, the SLA is in effect every day. To change that, uncheck Everyday then check the boxes for the days of the week you want.
• Use And set status to ‘At Risk’ to indicate when the SLA should be marked as at risk.
• By default, notifications are not sent until an SLA is in violation. To change that, check Send an ‘At Risk’ notification.

The following example shows an SLA configured for a connector that expects to receive 1000 files every day Monday-Friday. An at-risk notification is sent 1 hour before the end of the time period if the 1000 files have not been received.

XPath Usage Example

The example below shows a simple XML tree of a Batch Message:

<Orders>
    <Shipping>
        <Item>Paper</Item>
        <Quantity>100</Quantity>
        <Recurring>Yes</Recurring>
    </Shipping>
    <Shipping>
        <Item>Eraser Bulk</Item>
        <Quantity>20</Quantity>
        <Recurring>No</Recurring>
    </Shipping>
</Orders>

The example below shows a similar, separate Batch Message in the same Batch Group:

<Orders>
    <Shipping>
        <Item>Pencil, Box 100</Item>
        <Quantity>10</Quantity>
        <Recurring>Yes</Recurring>
    </Shipping>
</Orders>

If you set the value for XPath to /Orders/Shipping, the output message would merge like this:

<Orders>
    <Shipping>
        <Item>Paper</Item>
        <Quantity>100</Quantity>
        <Recurring>Yes</Recurring>
    </Shipping>
    <Shipping>
        <Item>Eraser Bulk</Item>
        <Quantity>20</Quantity>
        <Recurring>No</Recurring>
    </Shipping>
    <Shipping>
        <Item>Pencil, Box 100</Item>
        <Quantity>10</Quantity>
        <Recurring>Yes</Recurring>
    </Shipping>
</Orders>

Macros

Using macros in file naming strategies can enhance organizational efficiency and contextual understanding of data. By incorporating macros into filenames, you can dynamically include relevant information such as identifiers, timestamps, and header information, providing valuable context to each file. This helps ensure that filenames reflect details important to your organization.

CData Arc supports these macros, which all use the following syntax: %Macro%.

Examples

Some macros, such as %Ext% and %ShortDate%, do not require an argument, but others do. All macros that take an argument use the following syntax: %Macro:argument%

Here are some examples of the macros that take an argument:

• %Header:headername%: Where headername is the name of a header on a message.
• %Header:mycustomheader% resolves to the value of the mycustomheader header set on the input message.
• %Header:ponum% resolves to the value of the ponum header set on the input message.
• %RegexFilename:pattern%: Where pattern is a regex pattern. For example, %RegexFilename:^([\w][A-Za-z]+)% matches and resolves to the first word in the filename and is case insensitive (test_file.xml resolves to test).
• %Vault:vaultitem%: Where vaultitem is the name of an item in the vault. For example, %Vault:companyname% resolves to the value of the companyname item stored in the vault.
• %DateFormat:format%: Where format is an accepted date format (see Sample Date Formats for details). For example, %DateFormat:yyyy-MM-dd-HH-mm-ss-fff% resolves to the date and timestamp on the file.

You can also create more sophisticated macros, as shown in the following examples:

• Combining multiple macros in one filename: %DateFormat:yyyy-MM-dd-HH-mm-ss-fff%%EXT%
• Including text outside of the macro: MyFile_%DateFormat:yyyy-MM-dd-HH-mm-ss-fff%
• Including text within the macro: %DateFormat:'DateProcessed-'yyyy-MM-dd_'TimeProcessed-'HH-mm-ss%