Server-Side Implementation for Outgoing Communication

HTTPSOut Class

An HTTPSOut class must be written to enable EC Communication Plug-In to send outgoing messages. The outgoing communication class must implement the com.intentia.ec.shared.IMessageSender interface.

This interface contains the following method:

public void send(InputStream messageStream, Manifest manifest, Properties props)

The method declaration has the following arguments:

• messageStream – stream from where the message to be send can be read from

• manifest – the delivery note containing metadata about the message

• props – a container holding the properties for the send module

For example, a sample class named HTTPSOut is created. The following code shows the HTTPSOut class implement the IMessageSender class.

public class HTTPSOut implements IMessageSender {
// Class fields goes here
}

For a complete code listing of HTTPSOut, see Sample outgoing channel.

IMessageSender.send Method

To implement the send method, make sure the path and password are dynamically configured through the system properties, and the property values are extracted from the props argument. The properties also show the host, port, and the path that is used to create an URL. From the URL, get an HttpsURLConnection (UC), which should be configured to send data but not to receive data.

Since the EC HTTP server uses basic authentication, use Base64-encoding to encode the user and password. To set the message as an HTTP parameter, use the ClientHttpRequest helper class. Finally, post the created request. If everything is properly set up and if you choose this channel, a message is sent using HTTPS.

Partner Administration Tool

Before adding the new channel to the system, write a Java class that can present a dialog in the Partner Administration Tool. The Partner Administration Tool allows you to set the properties for the channel. When you select a send communication protocol in the Partner Administration Tool, different dialogs appear depending on the chosen protocol.

Properties Dialog UI

To be able to set the corresponding properties for the outgoing communication channel that you are about to create, you must create a class displaying an equivalent dialog for the properties used in the HTTPSOut class. You will not create the dialog itself, just the buttons, fields, and other for the widgets inside the dialog.

A widget is a part of the Java SWT framework. The widget class is the abstract super class of all user interface objects. Widgets are created, disposed, and issue notifications to listeners when events occur which affect them.

The class containing the UI code must implement the interface com.intentia.ec.shared.IRoutingUI. It must contain the following methods:

• createContent – creates the content for this dialog

• setProperties – sets the properties to be displayed

• getProperties – returns the properties For this example, the sample class is named HTTPSOutPanel.

For a complete code listing of HTTPSOutPanel , see Sample outgoing channel.

IRouting.createContent Method

The createContent method contains code for creating all the widgets needed. The argument is a composite widget with a FlowLayout added to it.

IRouting.setProperties Method

The setProperties method contains code for extracting the values of the given properties object and writing those values to the correct text widget when you open the dialog in edit mode. The following code shows how the value of the property HTTPSOut.HOST is written to the host text widget:

txtHost.setText(props.getProperty(HTTPSOut.HOST, ""));

IRouting.getProperties Method

This method reads the values from the widgets and puts them into a Properties object and returns that object.