Configuring Conversations

 

When trading partners join other trading partners to form an e-community with a specific business purpose, they participate in a conversation. In WebLogic Collaborate, a conversation:

• Is a series of business messages exchanged between trading partners

• May be complex and long-running, or short-lived

• Has a unique conversation name

For more information, see Introducing BEA WebLogic Collaborate.

This topic includes the following sections:

• Creating a Conversation Definition

• Modifying a Conversation Definition

• Removing a Conversation Definition

 

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Creating a Conversation Definition

A conversation is a series of message exchanges between trading partners. A conversation is defined by a collaboration agreement. The choreography of the message exchanges is determined by the conversation definition, which is part of the collaboration agreement.

If you create a conversation definition using WebLogic Process Integrator, you can define a workflow based on a WebLogic Process Integrator template. You can choose from conversation definitions and associated roles available in the WebLogic Collaborate repository. The WebLogic Collaborate and WebLogic Process Integrator repositories reference each other. As a result, once you define a workflow in WebLogic Process Integrator, then the WebLogic Collaborate repository is updated with the information.

When you return to the WebLogic Collaborate Administration Console, the Conversation Definition tab includes a read-only field indicating which WebLogic Process Integrator template is being referenced (if any) for a given conversation definition.

To create a conversation definition:

1. Click Conversations in the navigation tree to display the Conversation Definition page.

2. Select the link Create a new Conversation Definition at the top of the right pane. The General configuration tab is displayed.

3. Enter data as required in the available fields shown in the table below.

   Table 4-1 Conversation Definition Fields

   Field		Description
   Name		Name of the conversation definition. (Once the instance is created, this field is read-only.)
   Version		Version for the conversation definition.
   Business Protocol		Business protocol used in this conversation definition. Valid business protocols that WebLogic Collaborate supports are XOCP 1.1, RosettaNet 1.1, RosettaNet 2.0, and cXML 1.1 and 1.2.
   Default Timeout		Enter the amount of time a transaction remains valid (in days, hours, minutes and seconds). After the specified amount of time, WebLogic Collaborate terminates the transaction even if there are outstanding messages. (Optional)
   Roles		Lists the roles available for the selected conversation definitions. Use the Set and Remove buttons to modify the roles.
   	Name	Name for the new role you want to define.
   	Description	Description for the role.
   	WLPI Template Name	If you are using a collaborative (or public) workflow that was created by WebLogic Process Integrator Studio with the WebLogic Collaborate plug-in, enter the case-sensitive name of the workflow's template definition in this field. Alternatively, if at the time you define the template or the template definition for the workflow, you specified the workflow conversation definition name, version, and role, then the workflow's name is displayed in this field.
   	WLPI Organization	Enter the case-sensitive WebLogic Process Integrator template organization.
   	Available Roles	List of available roles for the selected conversation definitions.

   
    

4. Click Create. The new conversation definition is added to the list of available conversation definitions.

Modifying a Conversation Definition

To modify an existing conversation definition:

1. Do one of the following:

   • Click Conversations in the navigation tree to display the Conversation Definition page, then locate and click the appropriate conversation definition desired.

   • Click a conversation definition listed in the navigation tree. (This option is only available if the option Display entities on the navigation tree is checked on the WebLogic Collaborate Preferences tab as described in Displaying Items in the Navigation Tree.)

     The Conversation Definition General tab is displayed, showing the values for the conversation definition you selected.

2. Modify the values on the General tab to those desired. For more information, see Creating a Conversation Definition.

3. When you complete your changes, click Apply.

Removing a Conversation Definition

If a conversation definition is no longer valid, you can remove it from WebLogic Collaborate Administration Console and the repository.

To remove a conversation definition:

1. Click Conversations in the navigation tree to display the Conversation Definition page.

2. Select the check box next to the conversation definition(s) you want to delete.

3. At the bottom of the window, click Remove.