App Connect

 View Only
  • 1.  IBM TCP/IP Workflow

    Posted Tue July 06, 2021 09:44 AM
    Hi Guys,
       I am new to IBM App Connect. I have done some sample exercise on Rest and Soap applications. I have not find any videos or reference material on working through TCP/IP node. I need any reference articles or videos for doing some exercise on TCP/IP node. Any help will be greatly appreciated!!!

    ------------------------------
    SELVAKUMAR ANANTHARAJ
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: IBM TCP/IP Workflow

    IBM TechXchange Speaker
    Posted Tue July 06, 2021 11:38 AM
    In the ACE Toolkit Tutorial Gallery (Help menu > Tutorials Gallery) there is a tutorial named "Using the TCP/IP nodes to integrate with TCP/IP sockets" which provides the import of annotated message flows and step-by-step instructions. The overview is as follows:


    IBM App Connect Enterprise enables you to integrate with external applications by using TCP/IP sockets. Two sets of TCP/IP message flow nodes exist in IBM App Connect Enterprise: TCPIPServer nodes and TCPIPClient nodes. Both sets have identical function in terms of accessing the data streams; however, one set uses client connections and the other set uses server connections. This tutorial also uses policies as a convenient way to manage the TCP/IP connections.

    This tutorial includes an application called 'TCPIPServer' that simulates a TCP/IP server that is configured to send the data over TCP/IP sockets. The main message flow in the server application is driven by an XML message arriving on the HTTPInput node. When the message flow with the TCPIPServer node is deployed, the TCP/IP server is started automatically.

    This tutorial also demonstrates how a message flow can be driven by the TCPIPClient node. By default, this node does not open a client connection. The way to configure it properly is to use a TCPClient policy to enable at least one client connection to be opened when the flow is deployed. The same policy also defines the server host name and port number to connect to.

    An important part of TCP/IP input node configuration is setting up the proper record detection algorithm. This tutorial demonstrates the use of 'Parsed Record Sequence' record detection in XML messages.

    The message flows used in this tutorial also utilise other message flow nodes such as Trace, FileOutput, Mapping, HTTPInput and HTTPReply nodes.



    ------------------------------
    Ben Thompson
    IBM UK
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: IBM TCP/IP Workflow

    Posted Sun July 11, 2021 12:36 PM
    Thanks Ben Thompson. It really helped me a lot!!!

    ------------------------------
    SELVAKUMAR ANANTHARAJ
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: IBM TCP/IP Workflow

    Posted Thu September 14, 2023 12:53 AM

    Hello Ben. 

    We did the steps you have said. unfortunately, there are no tutorials nor documentation for an external TCP/IP Server. The goal is to make a two-way "bridge" or "connector" that passes an ISO5853 format. The problem is we cannot connect to the external 3rd party server. And based on the documentation the only way a tcpip output and input node connects is it should be deployed in the same integration server.

    Feel free to correct anything I said because it's our first time trying TCPIP Nodes. Your response is highly appreciated. Thank you



    ------------------------------
    Nathaniel Santiago
    ------------------------------



  • 5.  RE: IBM TCP/IP Workflow

    Posted Fri March 01, 2024 03:41 PM

    Hi Nathaniel,

    Did did you get a work around on connecting to an external TCP/IP server and creating a bridge that passes ISO5853 format? If so, kindly let me know as I am also stuck on the same issue you were facing,

    Shem Muchemi.



    ------------------------------
    Philip Muchemi
    ------------------------------



  • 6.  RE: IBM TCP/IP Workflow

    IBM TechXchange Speaker
    Posted Mon March 04, 2024 04:09 AM

    Hi,

    ACE provides 6 different TCPIP message flow nodes:-

    • 3 of them involve ACE acting as the client side of a TCP client-server relationship: TCPIPClientInput, TCPIPClientReceive and TCPIPClientOutput
    • 3 of them involve ACE acting as the server side of a TCP client-server relationship: TCPIPServerInput, TCPIPServerReceive and TCPIPServerOutput

    In each of these categories, the Inputs start the processing of a fow, the Receive nodes can be used mid-flow to either enrich data, or be used in conjunction with a TCP conversation which started the flow (eg going back to an open socket and expecting o receive more data from it), and the output nodes can send data back to a socket (outbound direction from the point of view of ACE). 

    The tutorial mentioned further up the thread showcases how ISO8583 messages can be modelled. You could use the DFDL ISO8583 model in conjunction with data inbound or outbound and when ACE is behaving as a client or a server.

    So - I think the functionality of the product should be rich enough to cope with the generalised usecases being presented here but I could have missed some subtlety ... Can you expand on what you're meaning by a "bridge" in this context ... For example, is the flow of data only from ACE to the third-party TCPIP server or is it also back the other way too? What kind of data and acknowledgements are being sent and in what order? Is the interaction triggered by some other kind of ACE protocol input, or is the idea to receive TCPIP data on one connection and then send it on via a separate connection? Do you want ACE to behave as the TCPIP Client part of the connection, or to open up a port such as the TCPIP Server ... maybe you want different aspects depending on whether the data is coming inbound to ACE or going outbound to ACE?

    Perhaps you could expand on the problem being faced, so we might be able to guide you further on an appropriate design.

    Cheers,

    Ben



    ------------------------------
    Ben Thompson
    IBM UK
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: IBM TCP/IP Workflow

    IBM TechXchange Speaker
    Posted Mon March 04, 2024 11:20 AM

    Small addition ... the tutorial mentioned in the thread was actually named "Using the TCP/IP nodes to integrate with TCP/IP sockets" and doesn't involve ISO8583 messages explicitly, although the concepts carry over. We also have a separate tutorial for ISO8583 named "Modeling ISO8583 data by using DFDL". Both of these tutorials are available in the ACE Toolkit Tutorial Gallery (Help menu > Tutorials Gallery).



    ------------------------------
    Ben Thompson
    IBM UK
    ------------------------------