Creating and Modifying C-Hubs

 

The following sections provide key concepts and procedures for configuring and working with c-hubs on the C-Hub Administration Console:

• What Is a C-Hub?

• Creating a New C-Hub

• Modifying an Existing C-Hub

• Shutting Down a Running C-Hub

• Removing an Existing C-Hub

• Loading Data Into the C-Hub or Exporting C-Hub Data to a File

• Monitoring a C-Hub

 

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What Is a C-Hub?

E-market is the generic term for an environment or container through which businesses can conduct B2B e-commerce. The c-hub, as the centerpiece of WebLogic Collaborate, provides an e-market environment. As such, the c-hub is responsible for routing messages between various WebLogic Collaborate c-enabler components and for managing the lifecycle of the conversations between the participating trading partners. The c-hub offers a set of services to conduct, manage, and orchestrate conversations (collaborations) between trading partners. These conversations are defined by message vocabularies, business models, process classifications, roles, and other metadata. The WebLogic Collaborate e-market environment consists of one or more collaboration spaces, and a central c-hub.

A collaboration space (also known as a c-space) is an abstract entity in which trading partners conduct and coordinate conversations for a specific business purpose.

A c-hub is a point of control and exchange that represents an e-market owner. The c-hub enables an e-market owner to create and host a c-space. The e-market owner, through the c-hub, can host any number of c-spaces concurrently, with each c-space supporting any number of trading partners. Trading partners can participate in any number of conversations. Each trading partner uses a c-enabler to communicate with other trading partners, with all communication going through the c-hub.

Collaborators can communicate with each other by means of the c-hub. The c-hub provides shared services to BEA participant (c-enabler) nodes such as conversation and subscription management, security, administration, routing, local logging, and XML services.

For a complete explanation of the c-hub, trading partners, conversations, c-spaces, and other related concepts, see BEA WebLogic Collaborate Getting Started, particularly the Overview.

 

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Creating a New C-Hub

You must first create a c-hub before you can do any other configuration tasks, such as configuring trading partners, documents, conversations and so on. There are two ways to create a new c-hub:

• You can create a new c-hub with the Administration Console user interface (See Creating a New C-Hub Through the Administration Console.)

• You can create a new c-hub by bulk-loading the data from a c-hub XML file via the Import/Export button on the Hub tab. (See Creating a New C-Hub by Importing an XML File.)

Creating a New C-Hub Through the Administration Console

To create a new c-hub:

1. Click Configuration in the left navigation bar.

2. Click the Hub tab to display the C-Hub configuration screen (if it is not already displayed).

   Figure 9-1 C-Hub Configuration

   

    

3. Fill in the fields as described in the following table.

   Note: For this release, WebLogic Collaborate supports only one c-hub per repository, so the Administration Console allows only one c-hub to be created.)

   Table 9-1 C-Hub Fields

   Field	Description
   Hub Name	Enter a name for the c-hub—this can be any meaningful name. (Limit is 256 characters.)
   Description	Provide a brief description of the c-hub. (Limit is 256 characters.) (optional)
   Proxy	Host - Enter the address of the proxy server used for the c-hub, if any. (For example, myproxy.mycompany.com.) Port - Enter the port number for the proxy server.
   Large Message Support	Use Large Message Support - Check this box if you want to use large message support. When this box is checkmarked, it indicates that large message support functionality is enabled. (By default, large message support is off.) Location - If you are using large message support, indicate the directory for the large message support system working files here. Minimum Size - If you are using large message support, indicate the minimum size for a message before the large message support functionality is enabled. (Minimum 3K)
   Retry	Interval - Indicate the amount of time you want the c-hub to wait before trying to send the same message again if unsuccessful the previous time. The default is 1000 milliseconds. Count - Indicate the number of times you want the c-hub to try to send a message.
   Certificate Field Name	Select the certificate field you want to use for mapping trading partner certificates to WLS users. The default is none. If none is chosen, the WLC system defaults to "email" field.
   Certificate Location	Enter the full path name of the server certificate field (optional, required only if SSL is used).
   Server Certificate Field Name	Select the certificate field you want to use for authenticating remote SSL host. The default is none. If none is chosen, the WebLogic Collaborate system defaults to "email" field.
   Private Key Location	Enter the full path name of the private key (optional, required only if SSL is used).

    

4. Click Create to create a new c-hub.

   You can also click Reset to discard your current changes and start again.

Creating a New C-Hub by Importing an XML File

As an alternative to creating a new c-hub through the user interface fields, you can import into the c-hub repository any properly formatted c-hub XML data file that describes the c-hub you want to create. C-hub XML data files for all WebLogic Collaborate examples are available for import. For more information on using both the import and export features, see Loading Data Into the C-Hub or Exporting C-Hub Data to a File.

 

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Modifying an Existing C-Hub

You can modify the definition for an existing c-hub. (Note that modifying the name of an existing c-hub is not allowed.)

To modify the definition for an existing c-hub:

1. Click Configuration in the left navigation bar.

2. Click the Hub tab to display the c-hub configuration screen (if it is not already displayed).

   Figure 9-2 Modifying a C-Hub Configuration

   

    

3. Edit the description or URL as needed.

4. Click Update to update the c-hub.

   You can also click Reset to discard your current changes and start again.

 

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Shutting Down a Running C-Hub

You can shut down or stop a c-hub that is currently running from either the c-hub Configuration tab or the c-hub Monitoring tab:

1. Click on Monitoring in the left navigation bar, then click on the Hub tab (if not already displayed).

   or

   Click on Configuration in the left navigation bar, then click on the Hub tab (if not already displayed).

    

2. Click the Shutdown Hub button.

   A confirmation dialog asks if you want to continue with the shutdown.

   

    

3. Click OK to confirm and shut down the c-hub, or click Cancel if you decide not to perform the shutdown.

 

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Removing an Existing C-Hub

You can remove an existing c-hub. This operation can be performed on a running c-hub; however, we recommend that you shut down the c-hub first.

To remove an existing c-hub:

1. Click Configuration in the left navigation bar.

2. Click the Hub tab to display the c-hub configuration screen (if it is not already displayed).

3. Click Remove.

   A confirmation dialog is displayed. If you click OK, the current c-hub is removed from the database.

Note: When you remove a c-hub, you are removing all objects that it contains (document definitions, message definitions, logic plug-ins, trading partners, and so on.) If you want to save the current c-hub configuration data, be sure to export the data to a c-hub XML data file before you remove the c-hub. (See Exporting Data for a C-Hub to an XML File.) See also Table 8-2 for details on relationships and dependencies that can exist among configured c-hub objects.

 

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Loading Data Into the C-Hub or Exporting C-Hub Data to a File

You can use the WebLogic Collaborate C-Hub Administration Console to import and export c-hub data. (The Administration Console automatically accesses the Bulk Loader to accomplish this.) As an alternative to creating a new c-hub through the user interface fields described in Creating a New C-Hub Through the Administration Console, you can import into the Administration Console any properly formatted c-hub XML data file that describes the c-hub you want to create. You can also export data you have input through the Administration Console from the current c-hub repository to an XML file for later use.

A typical scenario is one in which you create a first c-hub by means of the Administration Console Hub tab, then export that new c-hub description to a c-hub XML data file. As you create new c-hubs through the Administration Console, you export them to c-hub XML data files for safekeeping. Once you have established a collection of c-hub XML data files, you can import them as needed.

You can also begin by importing a default c-hub XML data file to use as a template for creating new c-hubs.

You can also use the bulk loading utility by working directly with the Bulk Loader configuration files and DOS or UNIX commands on the command line.

For more information on this, see Working with the Bulk Loader.

Importing a C-Hub XML File

To import a c-hub XML file into the c-hub repository:

1. Make sure you are on the Hub configuration or monitoring tab.

2. Click Import to display the Import screen.

   Figure 9-3 Import Screen

   

    

3. Indicate the full pathname of the c-hub XML file you want to import as described in the following table.

   Table 9-2 C-Hub XML File Import Fields

   Field	Description
   Filename	Enter the full pathname of the c-hub XML file you want to import. You can type the pathname directly into the field or click Browse and use the file browser to navigate to the appropriate file.
   Initialize Database	Select Yes to clear the existing c-hub data from the database during the import. In this case, the imported data will replace the existing data. Select No to retain the existing c-hub data in the database during import. In this case, the imported data will be added to the existing data.
   Transaction Level	Indicate the transaction level you want to use when importing this file. The transaction level you specify determines what actions to take if an error is detected during the import. The options are: Select All to perform the import process as a single transaction. (We suggest using this option with small repositories.) If invalid data is detected in any of the c-hub entities as represented in the data file, the bulk loader utility rolls back the entire transaction and stops. The repository is left in exactly the same condition as it was before you started the import, with no data removed or added. Select Default to perform the import with multiple transactions. (We suggest using this default setting for large repositories.) If you choose this option, the import initiates a transaction for each of the following entities: c-space, collaborator (a trading partner in a c-space), conversation definition, trading partner, document definition, transport protocol, module, business protocol definition, extended property set, message definition. If invalid data is detected during any one of these transactions, the bulk loader rolls back the current transaction only and continues processing for the next transaction.

    

4. Click Import to load the data from the c-hub XML file into the c-hub repository. This causes a new c-hub to be created from the c-hub XML file you imported. The data you import displays in the Administration Console.

   (You can also click Reset to discard your current changes and start again.)

Exporting Data for a C-Hub to an XML File

To export data for an existing c-hub from a repository created with the Administration Console to an XML file:

1. Make sure you are on the Hub configuration or monitoring tab.

2. Click Export to display the Export screen.

   Figure 9-4 Export Screen

   

    

3. Indicate the full pathname of the c-hub XML file you want to export as described in the following table.

   Table 9-3 C-Hub XML File Export Fields

   Field	Description
   Filename	Enter the full pathname of the c-hub XML file you want to create or overwrite. You can type the pathname directly into the field or click Browse and use the file browser to navigate to an appropriate location and file.
   Format	Indicate the format by clicking on either Extensive or Standard. (Use the Extensive format if you plan to migrate the data to another system or environment.)

    

4. Click Export to export the data from the C-Hub Administration Console into the c-hub XML file indicated. This causes the XML file to be created (or overwritten).

   (You can also click Reset to discard your current changes and start again.)

 

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Monitoring a C-Hub

You can monitor the trading activity on a running c-hub by viewing reports on c-spaces, trading partners, conversations, statistics, and error logs. For information on how to monitor a c-hub, see Monitoring the C-Hub.