Using the Assign Element

The Assign activity assigns values to variables. You use the Assign element to copy data from one variable to another, construct and calculate the values of expressions, and store new data in variables. Expressions are required to perform simple computation or operate message selections, properties, and literal constants to produce a new value for variables. The Assign activity can contain one or more elementary assignments.

Usage

Use the BPEL Mapper to define the copy rules for the Assign activity or add expressions. For more information, refer to the Assign Activity Scenario section of the guide.

Double-click the Assign activity on the diagram to open Mapper view of the activity. If this window is not visible, you can invoke it manually, by choosing Window -> Other -> BPEL Mapper from the main menu.

Assign Element Properties

The Properties window of the Assign element, invoked by right-clicking the element and choosing Properties, contains two properties:

• Name: The name of the element.

• Assignments Count:The number of assignment rules specified for the element.

• Validate: Specifies whether the Assign activity validates variables modified by the activity. When the value is “yes” , the Assign activity will validate all of the variables it modifies. If the validation fails because one of the variables is invalid to its corresponding XML definition, then a standard fault bpel:invalidVariables is thrown. The default value is N/A.

• Documentation: User documentation attached to the element. This documentation is included with the source code of the BPEL process and can be extracted and included in a report.