IBM Message Broker Interview Question and Answer

7/16/2019 IBM Message Broker Interview Question and Answer

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IBM Message Broker Interview Question

and Answer

Difference between Root and Output Root?

Root is used in the Database content changing and in Filter node.

Output Root is used in the ESQL code for a Compute node that creates a new output message based on the input message

Is it possible to set Properties of node apart from right click and setting the properties?

Windows à Show View à Basic à Properties

3) Which interface we have to implement when we are going to create an input custom node?

MbInputNodeInterface

Difference between RAD and ORDINARY deployment?

Using Resource adapter deployment, we can reuse the deployment till the server is re-

booted

Define BROKER, BAR, EXECUTION GROUP, SCADA, and COMPONENTS OF

BROKER,

WORKBENCH, WORKSPACE, and CMM?

http://tacklemantra.com/2011/09/27/ibm-message-broker-interview-question-and-answer/






BROKER: A broker is a set of execution processes that hosts one or more message flows to

route, transform, and enrich inflight messages.

BAR: Flows and sets that are to be deployed are packed in it and sent to configuration manager

EXECUTION GROUP:An execution group is a named grouping of message flows that have

been assigned to a broker. The broker enforces a degree of isolation between

message flows in distinct execution groups by ensuring that they execute in

separate address spaces, or as unique processes

SCADA: The SCADAInput node is used to receive messages from clients that connect to the

broker across the WebSphere MQ Telemetry Transport. SCADA device clients use the MQIsdp protocol to send messages, which are converted by the SCADAInput node into a format

recognized by WebSphere Message Broker. The node also establishes the processing

environment for these messages.

COMPONENTS OF BROKER: Broker, Configmgr, User name service.

WORKBENCH:

WORKSPACE:

What is PARSER and difference between PARSER and FORMAT?

A Parser is defined as a program that interprets the bit stream of an incoming message and

creates an internal representation of it in a tree structure

Ex: MRM parser

A Format is a physical representation of a message.

Ex: XML wire format



What is ResetContentDescriptor node?

Use the ResetContentDescriptor node to request that the message is reparsed by a different

parser

What is User name Server and where it is defined?

The User Name Server is an optional runtime component that provides authentication of users

and groups performing publish/subscribe operations.

What is SCHEMA of broker?

A broker schema is a symbol space that defines the scope of uniqueness of the names of

resources defined within it. The resources are message flows, ESQL files, and mapping files.

How can we see the error log files in broker?

The Windows Event Viewer is where WebSphere Message Broker writes records to the localsystem.

Default properties of Mqinput node?

Property M C Default Description

Message Domain No No The domain that will be used to parse the

incoming message.

Message Set No No The name or identifier of the message set

in which the incoming message is defined.

Message Type No No The name of the incoming message.

Message Format No No The name of the physical format of the

incoming message.

Topic No Yes The default topic for the input message.



Which node is used to change the message in the flow?

Compute Node, Filter Node and ResetContentDescriptor.

What is the use of commit for connection to Databases?

Any work that has been done using the respective data source in a message flow (including any

actions taken in the node) is committed regardless of the subsequent success or failure of the

message flow

Define Correlation names?

A correlation name is a field reference that identifies a well-defined starting point in the logical

message tree and is used in field references to describe a standard part of the tree format.

Functions of ESQL?

MQInput node and INPUT node differences?

You must use an Input node to provide the in terminal to a subflow.

The Input node provides an in terminal for an embedded message flow (a subflow).

How many Builtin nodes are there? Categories them?

WebSphere Message Broker supplies built-in nodes that you can use to define your messageflows. For information about each of these nodes, follow the appropriate link below. The nodes

listed here are grouped according to the function that they provide.



Input and output

MQInput node

MQOptimizedFlow node

MQOutput node

MQGet node

MQReply node

Publication node

MQeInput node

MQeOutput node

SCADAInput node

SCADAOutput node

HTTPInput node

HTTPReply node

HTTPRequest node

Real-timeInput node

Real-timeOptimizedFlow node

Input node

Output node

JMSInput node

JMSOutput node

Message manipulation and transformation

Compute node

Database node



DataDelete node

Datalnsert node

DataUpdate node

Extract node

JavaCompute node

JMSMQTransform node

MQJMSTransform node

Mapping node

Warehouse node

XMLTransformation node

Collating requests

AggregateControl node

AggregateReply node

AggregateRequest node

Decision making

Check node

Filter node

FlowOrder node

Label node

ResetContentDescriptor node

RouteToLabel node



TimeoutControl node

TimeoutNotification node

Validate node

Subflow identification

Passthrough node

Error handling and reporting

Throw node

Trace node

TryCatch node

What are the perspectives we have?

Administration Perspective

Application Development Perspective

Debugging Perspective.

Java Perspective (MB 6).

In which perspective we deploy the flow?

Administrator perspective

How to create Broker from Command prompt?



Using mqsicreatebroker command.

Use of Configmanager?

To deploy the message flows onto the Broker.

What is the uniqueness of MB over ICS?

Parallel processing

What is EAI? What are those tools?

Enterprise Application Integration refers to the integration of one or more applications and processes together.

Tools: WBI Message Broker, ICS, WebMethods and Tibco

What is the Broker Domain?

Group of brokers that coordinate a single configuration manager constitute a Broker Domain

What error is going to occur when we didn’t specify the queue name in the MQInput node?

The Error message is “Unset mandatory ‘Qname Name’ Property on node ‘MQInput’ “.

How to call the method or function in the coding?

Using the “CALL” keyword.



Performance monitoring tools?

WebSphere Application Server , Java Management Extensions (JMX),

Functional Testing and Unit Testing?

Unità testing with different test cases

Functional à testing with the exact input

How many objects are required for distribution queuing?

QueueManager, SenderChannel, ReceiverChannel, LocalQueue

MQ Objects?

Queue manager , Send queue ,Receive queue ,Administration queue, Administration queue

,Restart queue ,Spill queue

Triggering in MQ?

Distribution queuing?

Unix Commands?

grep, find, sort…etc.

Difference between MCA and MQI channels?

A message channel connects two queue managers via message channel agents (MCAs). Such a

channel is unidirectional. It comprises two message channel agents, a sender and a receiver, and

a communication protocol. An MCA is a program that transfers messages from a transmission



queue to a communication link, and from a communication link into the target queue.For

bidirectional communication you have to define two channel pairs consisting of a sender

and a receiver.

A Message Queue Interface (MQI) channel connects an MQSeries client to a queue manager inits server machine. Clients don’t have a queue manager of their own. An MQI channel is

bidirectional.

How to configure MQ?

By using runmqsc <Qmanager> command.

How will you Test your Flows?

Using Debugging Mode, Trace Node ..etc..

MQ-triggering, queues, initiation q, deadletter q, process definition, etc.?

What workflow will do?

A message Flow is a sequence of processing steps that execute in the broker

when an input message when an input message is received.

MQSI Server, MQSI Client difference? How to connect these two through command

prompt?

MQSeries Client

A client workstation does not have a queue manager of its own. It shares a queue manager in aserver with other clients. All MQSeries objects, such as queues, are in the server.Since the

connection between client and server is synchronous, the application cannot work when the

communication is broken. You could refer to such workstations as “slim” clients.

MQSeries Server



A workstation can be a client and a server. A server is an intermediate node between other nodes.

It serves clients that have no queue manager and manages the message flow between its clients,

itself and other servers. In addition to the server software you may install the client software, too.This configuration is used in an application development environment

Connection: strmqm QMA

start runmqlsr -t tcp -m QMA -p 1414

runmqsc

start channel (QMA.QMB)

end

How will you install and configure CVS & How will you use in MB?

Double-click the Windows cvsnt-2.0.5.exe file to launch the installer.

Displays CVS Setup window appears

Select the option to accept the licence agreement and click Next.

Select Destination Directory screen, the default installation location is

set to Workspace\cvsnt. If you have enough space to install to this

location click Next.

The next screen asks you to choose the components that you wish to install,

Make your selections and click Next.

The Typical installation option already contained all of the components and

protocols that we needed.

The next screen asks where the program should appear on the Start menu.

Accept the default and click Next.

Ensure that both the check boxes to install the CVS services



The Ready to Install screen lists the options you have selected. Click Install

to start the installation. A progress bar appears while the files are copied.

Finally, click Finish when the completion window appears.

Reboot the system. The installation of the CVS server is now complete.

Event Monitoring? (Performance monitoring–> Queue depth event)?

Q Depth High,Q Depth Low,Q Depth Full

How will we use a Cobol copybook in MB?

You can populate your message set with message definitions by importing COBOL copybook

files, using either the New Message Definition File wizard or the mqsicreatemsgdefs commandline utility.

Types of messages?

MRM

XML

XMLNS

XMLNSC

JMSMap

JMSStream

MIME

BLOB

IDOC

Deadletter queue cases?



Destination Q is full

Destination Q doesn’t exist

Msg too large

Sender is not authorized to use the destination Q

How many types of clients in MQ?

Two Types

à Fat Clients

à Slim clients

MQ commands?

CRTMQM

STRMQM

DLTMQM

ENDMQM

To create Queues, listeners, and channels

DEFINE QUEUE / CHANNEL

DISPLY – To display the queue or channel status

Difference between Circular logging and linear logging?

Circular logging gives you restart recovery. Linear logging gives you both restart recovery and

media recovery.



Difference between MQCONN and MQCONNX?

MQCONN ( MQSTATE , qManagerName ) : Connects to a queue manager, which is identified

by qManagerName, a string of up to 48 characters. MQSeries sets the connection

handle (MQSTATE.hconn) for use in subsequent calls.

MQCONNX ( MQSTATE , qManagerName , MQCNO ): Connects to a queue manager with

options that control the way that the call works. The queue manager is identified by

qManagerName, a string of up to 48 characters. MQSeries sets the connection

handle (MQSTATE.hconn) for use in subsequent calls.

Difference between MQPUT and MQPUT1?

MQPUT( MQSTATE , MQMD , MQPMO , BUFFER) : Adds a message to the queue. The buffer

cannot be more that 32767 bytes, but that restriction does not apply if you are

using the EGL add statement.

MQPUT1(MQSTATE, MQOD, MQMD, MQPMO, BUFFER): Opens a queue, writes a single

message, and closes the queue

Can we use MQPUT1 in java?

Yes we can use.

If we want to perform some operation at receiving application when it receives some

message, then what objects are required at the receiving application?

Target QM,



Target Q,

Receiver channel and

Listener

How to get the depth of a queue?

By using MQSC property CURDEPTH

What formats MB support?

XML, TDS, CWF, EDI, SWIFT

Where do you place pass-thru node in message flow?

In the sub flows immediate to the input node.

Features of Message Broker?

Routing,

Transformation and

Integration

What is CVS (Concurrent Version System)?

It is a repository that will store the previous versions.



Difference between compute and mapping node?

In the compute node we can change the headers but in Mapping node we can’t change.

Types of Queues in MQ?

local queue

Remote queue

Transmission queue

Alias queue

Dead letter queue

How do you test your message flows and design test case?

By using debugging perspective.

We can create the Test Case according to the client specification error codes.

If new functionalities (new nodes) are added how will you implement in Interface?

How to configure Adapters?

What are the different ways for giving input without using MQInput node?

Custom input nodes

Why we are migrating from Web Methods to MB?



Advantages of compute node?

To construct one or more new output messages.

To build a new message using a set of assignment statements.

To opy messages between parsers

To convert messages from one code set to another

To transform messages from one format to another

How can you interact with Database using Compute node?

Specify in Data Source the name by which the appropriate database is known on the system on

which this message flow is to execute.

How will you handle errors in Message Flow?

By using Debugging perspective, and Trace node.

Explain about Pub-Sub? How do you implement MQ pub-sub?

Difference between MQ pub-sub and MB pub-sub?

The differences in the publish/subscribe support provided by WebSphere MQ and WebSphereMessage Broker are described in the following topics:

Message formats

Streams

Stream authority

Topics



Wildcard characters

Default topic routing

Retained publications

Metatopics

Subscription points

Content-based filtering

Throughput

Configuration of JDBC Adapter?

Pub/Sub-MQRFH2 Header Settings?

Reference: Question number 125.

Aggregate nodes?

Aggregation nodes are used in fan-out and fan-in process.

Fan-out : The initial request to the message flow , representing a collection of related requested

items, is split into the appropriate number of individual requests to satisfy the subtasks of the

initial request.

Fan-in: Replies from the subtasks are combined and merged into a single reply that is returned

to the original requester (or another target application) to indicate the completion of the

processing.

WebSphere Message Broker provides three message flow nodes that support aggregation:

AggregateControl

AggregateRequest



AggregateReply

Filter node?

To route a message according to message content.

Database node?

To interact with a database in the specified ODBC data source.

You can use specialized forms of this node to:

Update values within a database table (the Data Update node)

Insert rows into a database table (the Data Insert node)

Delete rows from a database table (the Data Delete node)

Store the message, or parts of the message, in a warehouse (the Warehouse node)

Logical Message Tree? Message Tree Structure?

The logical tree structure is the internal (broker) representation of a message.

The message tree is a part of the logical message tree in which the broker stores its internal

representation of the message body

Can we create multiple instances of a message flow?

Yes we can. One way is by adding multiple node. For ex.

A single message flow can handle DATA received across MQ and

Messages that are received across native IP connections.



About Resetcontentdescripter node, Label node?

Resetcontentdescripter Node: To request that the message is reparsed by a different parser.

Label Node: use it in combination with a RouteToLabel node to dynamically determine theroute that a message takes through the message flow, based on its content. The RouteToLabel

node interrogates the Local Environment of the message to determine the identifier of the Label

node to which the message must next be routed.

What are the properties of TRACE Node?

Property M C Default Description

Destination Yes No User

Trace

The destination of the trace record written by the

node. Valid choices are User Trace, File, LocalError Log, and None.

File Path No Yes The fully-qualified file name of the file to which

to write records. Valid only if Destination is set to

File.

Pattern No No The data that is to be included in the trace record.

Message Catalog No No The name of the message catalog from which the

error text for the error number of the exception isextracted. The default value (blank) indicates that

the message is taken from the message catalog

supplied with WebSphere Message Broker.

Message Number No No 3051 The error number of the message that is written.

The Description properties of the Trace node are described in the following table.

Property C Default Description

Short Description No No A brief description of the node.

Long Description No No Text that describes the purpose of the nodein the message flow.

What are the types of TRACES?

User trace



Service trace.

User: used for debugging your applications. It can trace brokers, execution groups, and

Deployed message flows.

Service: More comprehensive Broker tracing. It starts tracing for workbench, configuration

Manager, username server.

What is an Execution Group?

An execution group is a named grouping of message flows that have been assigned to a broker.

The broker enforces a degree of isolation between message flows in distinct execution groups by

ensuring that they execute in separate address spaces, or as unique processes

What are the types of Trees?

Message Tree

Environment Tree

Local Environment Tree

Exception list Tree

What is the difference between Environment and Local Environment?

The Environment tree is a part of the logical message tree in which you can store information

while the message passes through the message flow

What is the Role in your Project?

Explain your role in the project



How to connect Broker in MB?

From Broker domain, using ConfigMgr.

How to connect to database to the remote system?

By doing node catalog and the database catalog.

What is the role of configuration manager?

Connecting to the broker and to deploy the message flows.

How to debug applications in message flow?

Using Debugging perspective, User traces

What is the content of the configuration manager Repository?

It contains the information of the Broker Domain it is related to.

Exception Handling in MB?

By using Compute node, email node and java compute node.

What is the difference between try catch node and throw node?

The message routes out from the out terminal of the Try catch node and if any exception is

thrown (say, by a throw node),then the try catch node catches it and sends the original message

through the catch terminal for error processing



In route to label node where we will gave label name, and syntax of the label name?

SET OutputLocalEnvironment.Destination.RouterList.DestinationData.labelname=’name of the

label to which the message is to be routed ’;

Assignment in processing node?

How does Message Broker handle a 500 MB input message?

What is the difference between hconn and hconnx?

Hconn is a handle used to connect to Queue manager in MQCONN and MQCONNX api calls.

How will you separate (more number) database exceptions into a different queue?

(Mention 2 ways)

How will you accept an incoming message if its length and structure are not

defined?

How do you change a blob to a fixed structure?

Using TDS, what properties will you set in the message set for the following input:

abc,123|a*xyz,k,55 (i.e., an input message with different delimiters between different data

types), input might not be in the same manner every time.



Are there any wire formats that MB support other than xml and cwf?

Which is good based on performance IF or CASE. Why?

CASE

In clustering, which queue manager will contain the default full repository?

We will be setting the properties at the time of creation of the Queue manager.

We are getting 4 different inputs in 4 formats. How will you handle them using

single message set without using cwf format?

In remote queuing, if the queue on the target queues manager is full, then to which

dead letter queue will the message propagate?

Target dead letter queue

What are the different configuration management tools?

Tivoli, Clear case.

Functionality of mapping node?

Mapping node to construct one or more new messages and populate them with new information,

with modified information from the input message, or with information taken from a database.

You can modify elements of the message body data, its associated environment, and itsexception list.



If new functionalities (new nodes) are added how will you implement in Interface?

How will you handle CWF and TDS format?

By developing message sets and using them in the message flow.

How will you trace the errors through command prompt?

Mqsiformatlog, Mqsilist, Mqsichangetrace, mqsireadlog and mqsireporttrace

How can you validate the XML message in the flow?

Using a Message set with the required XML format or by using validate node.

How will you set headers in pub-sub?

By setting the MQRFH2 headers

E.g.:

SET OutputRoot.MQRFH2.(MQRFH2.Field)Version = 2;

SET OutputRoot.MQRFH2.(MQRFH2.Field)Format = ‘MQSTR’;

SET OutputRoot.MQRFH2.(MQRFH2.Field)NameValueCCSID = 1208;

SET OutputRoot.MQRFH2.psc.Command = ‘RegSub’;

SET OutputRoot.MQRFH2.psc.Topic = “InputRoot”.”MRM”.”topel”;

SET OutputRoot.MQRFH2.psc.QMgrName= ‘DebugQM’;



SET OutputRoot.MQRFH2.psc.QName = ‘PUBOUT’;

SET OutputRoot.MQRFH2.psc.RegOpt= ‘PersAsPub’;

Explain about PROPAGATE and LAST MOVE?

The PROPAGATE statement is used to generate multiple output messages in the Compute node.The output messages that you generate can have the same or different content. You can also

direct output messages to any of the four alternate output terminals of the Compute node, or to a

Label node.

The LASTMOVE field function tells you whether the last MOVE function succeeded.

Logical Message Tree? Message Tree Structure?

The logical tree structure is the internal (broker) representation of a message.

The message tree is a part of the logical message tree in which the broker stores its internal

representation of the message body

Can we create multiple instances of a message flow?

Yes by deploying the message flow to different execution groups.

How to import COBOLCOPY BOOK or C format?

By importing the COBOLCOPY BOOK or C file into the existing project and building a

message definition file from this imported structures.

What are the properties MQMD and MQRFH2 Headers?

MQMD are a must headers and are present from starting to end of the message flow but

MQRFH2 are optional and are set according to the business need.



What are the properties of TRACE Node?

Destination, File Path, Pattern, Message Catalog and Message Number

What are the types of TRACES?

User trace, service trace, ODBC trace, WebSphere MQ Java Client trace, and ConfigurationManager Proxy trace.

What are the types of Trees?

The input node creates the logical tree, which consists of four sub trees:

Message tree

Environment tree

Local Environment tree

Exception List tree

What is the difference between Environment and Local Environment?

Environment variable’s scope is defined for the whole flow where as the Local Environmentvariable’s scope is defined for that node and can be passed on to the next node as well.

How to connect Broker in MB?

Using configuration manager.

How to connect to database to the remote system?



By ODBC driver name.

Exception Handling in MB?

By using the following nodes

Throw node

Trace node

Try Catch node

What is the difference between try catch node and throw node?

Throw node throws an exception where as a try catch node is used to handle the error, which is

raised.

Difference between Root and Output Root?

Both are correlation names. Root is used in nodes which do not create a new output where asOutput Root is used in a node which can create a new output node.

In route to label node where we will gave label name, and syntax of the label

name assignment in processing node?

By setting the Local Environment variable

Syntax:

LocalEnvironment.Destination.Routerlist.DestinationData = ‘Label name’;

Define SCADA?



The SCADAInput node is used to receive messages from clients that connect to the broker across

the WebSphere MQ Telemetry Transport. SCADA device clients use the MQIsdp protocol to

send messages, which are converted by the SCADAInput node into a format recognized byWebSphere Message Broker. The node also establishes the processing environment for these

messages.

Will broker run on AIX system or not?

Yes

If the comments for CopyEntireMessage() and CopyMessageHeaders() functions

are not removed, then what will happen?

Functionality of floworder node?

FlowOrder node to control the order in which a message is processed by a message flow. Theinput message is propagated to the first output terminal and the sequence of nodes connected to

this terminal process the message. When that message processing is complete, control returns to

the FlowOrder node. If the message processing completes successfully, the input message is

propagated to the second output terminal and the sequence of nodes connected to this terminal

processes the message.

Is there any alternative for MQ to use along with MB?

No.

How to suspend a queue manager in a cluster?

In the Navigator view (in the Queue Manager Clusters folder), right-click the queue manager, the

click Suspend cluster membership…

What happens if a message is sent to a local queue, which is filled, and a remote



queue, which is filled? Any difference in them?

The message moves to the relevant default deadletter queue

Can we give all the format types in a single message set, If so how?

YES.

How will you declare an array in MB and how will you retrieve the desired value

from an array?

Two types of representations

Dynamic Arrays

Structure-field arrays.

Dynamic Arrays:

Syntax:

myDataItem01 CHAR(30)[] { maxSize=5 };

Structure-field arrays:

record myRecord01Part

10 name[3];

20 firstOne CHAR(20);

20 midOne CHAR(20);

20 lastOne CHAR(20);

end



To retrieve Values:

MyRecord01.name.lastOne[2]

MyRecord01.lastOne [2]

lastOne[2]

What are the properties of .bar file and when they are used?

The unit of deployment to the broker is the broker archive or bar file.The bar file is a zip-format

file which can contain a number of different files:

A .cmf file for each message flow. This is a compiled version of the message flow. You can have

any number of these files within your bar file.

A. dictionary file for each message set dictionary. You can have any number of these files withinyour bar file.

A broker.xml file. This file is called the broker deployment descriptor . You can have only one of

these files within your bar file. This file, in XML format, resides in the META-INF folder of thezip file and can be modified using a text editor or shell script.

Any number of XML files(.xml) and style sheets (.xsl files) for use with the

XMLTransformation node.

Any number of JAR files for use with the Java Compute node.

As a zip-format archive, the broker archive file can also contain any additional files you need.For example, you might want to include Java source files for future reference.

How will you handle an input message with different delimiters between the

fields?

Using MRM domain

What are the advantages of Message broker?



Comprehensive monitoring using predefined workspaces that provide statistical information such

as Current Message Rates, Current Average Message Time, and Sub-flow Statistics.

Comprehensive solution for complex WebSphere MQ environments that enables drill down to problem components

Custom workspaces can be tailored for individual job functions

What happens when the queue name is not specified in the MQOutput node?

Message is backed out.

what is the difference between catch terminal and failure terminal in MQInput

node?

Catch terminal: The output terminal to which the message is routed if an exception

is thrown downstream and caught by this node.

Failure terminal: failure terminal detects an internal error, it propagates the

message to that terminal.

The output terminal to which the message is routed if an error occurs. Even if the Validation

property is set, messages propagated to this terminal are not validated.

What are the differences between MB 5.0 and 6.0?

Some additional nodes are added Like Java Compute node.

Configuration manager can be created with out referring database.

Can be installed and configured on Aix also.

How to specify reference keyword in the esql and what is the use of it?

Declare ptr REFERENCE TO InputRoot.xml.emp.eno;



– Here, ptr refers to a specific field reference

About SAP connector?

What is the need of transaction mode property in the compute node?

The transaction mode for the node. This can beAutomaticor Commit. It is valid only if you

have selected a database table for input

What are the types of data formats that MB will support?

XML,TDS,CWF

What is the difference between TDS and CWF?

The Tagged/Delimited String format (TDS) is the physical representation of a message that has a

number of data elements separated by tags and delimiters.

Custom Wire Format (CWF) is the physical representation of a message that is composed of a

number of fixed format data structures or elements, which are not separated by delimiters

Command used to deploy?

Using mqsideploy

What should you do before creating the broker and the configuration manager?

We have to create the data source name and Queue manager

Types of testing?



Explain about web services nodes?

WebSphere MQ Web Services Transport connects Web services and clients that use the HTTP

protocol for messaging

A WSDL definition for that service can be imported into a message set using the new WSDLimporter.

HTTPInput : node to receive Web service requests for processing by a message

flowUse the HTTPRequest node to interact with a Web service

SET OutputRoot.HTTPResponseHeader = NULL;

HTTPReply :node to return a response from the message flow to the Web service

client.

Select the Ignore Transport Failures check box if you want transport-related failures to be

ignored (for example, if the client is disconnected). If you clear the check box, and a transport-

related error occurs, the input message is propagated to the failure terminal. If you clear thecheck box, you must supply a value for Reply send timeout.

Set the Reply send timeout value if you are not ignoring transport failures. This is the length of

time that the node waits for an acknowledgment that the client has received the reply.

Explain about JMS nodes?

JMS Input Node: to receive messages from JMS destinations.

The JMSInput node receives and propagates messages with a JMS message tree. You can set the

properties of the JMSInput node to control the way that the JMS messages are received.

JMS Output Node: to send messages to JMS destinations

Process of clustering and what are the advantages of clustering?

Grouping up of two or more Queue managers

Advantages : load balancing,reduces network traffic



Working of XML Transformation node?

Used to transform an XML message to another form of XML message, according to the rules

provided by an XSL (eXtensible Stylesheet Language) style sheet.

You can use node properties. This ensures that the transformation defined by this single style

sheet is applied to every message processed by this node.

You can use the content of the XML data within the message itself. This transforms the message

according to a style sheet that the message itself defines.This behavior is only available for XSLand XML files that are located within a Message Flow project.

You can set a value within the LocalEnvironment folder associated with the message. This

provides a dynamic choice of style sheet, because you must set this value (in a Compute node)

within the message flow after receipt of the message. You can therefore use a variety of inputs todetermine which style sheet to use for this message, such as the content of the message data or a

value in a database.

Configuration of HTTP Input Node?

HTTP INPUT Node:

In URL Selector, put the path part of the URL from which this node receives Web service

requests. Do not give the full URL.

Enter the Maximum client wait time timeout interval, as a number of seconds. This is the length

of time that the TCP/IP listener that received the input message from the Web service clientwaits for a response from the HTTPReply node in the message flow. If a response is received

within this time, the listener propagates the response to the client. If a response is not received in

this time, the listener sends a SOAP Fault message to the client that indicates that its timeout hasexpired.

Select the Fault Format as one of SOAP 1.1, SOAP 1.2 or HTML.

If the node is to accept secure HTTP, select the Use HTTPS check box.

Select Default in the properties dialog navigator and set values for the properties describing the

message domain, message set, message type, and message format that the node uses to determinehow to parse the incoming message.



In the Message Domain field, select the name of the parser that you are using from the drop-

down list. You can choose from:

MRM

XML

XMLNS

XMLNSC

JMSMap

JMSStream

IDOC

MIME

BLOB

If you are using the MRM or IDOC parser, select the correct message set from the drop-down listin the Message Set field. This list is populated with available message sets when you select

MRM or IDOC as the domain.

Leave the Message Set field blank for XML, XMLNS, XMLNSC, JMS, MIME, and BLOB parsers.

If you are using the MRM parser, select the correct message from the drop-down list in Message

Type. This list is populated with messages that are defined in the message set that you have

selected.

Leave Message Type blank for XML, XMLNS, XMLNSC, JMS, IDOC, MIME, and BLOB parsers.

If you are using the MRM or IDOC parser, Select the format of the message from the drop-down

list in the Message Format field. This list includes all the physical formats that you have defined

for this message set.

Leave the Message Format field blank for XML, XMLNS, XMLNSC, JMS, MIME, and BLOB

parsers.

Select Validation in the properties dialog navigator if you want the MRM parser to validate the

body of messages against the dictionary generated from the message set. (If a message is propagated to the failure terminal of the node, it is not validated.)



Select General Message Options in the properties dialog navigator. Parse Timing is, by default,

set to On Demand. This causes validation to be delayed until it is parsed by partial parsing. If you change this to Immediate, partial parsing is overridden and everything in the message is

parsed and validated, except those complex types with a Composition of Choice or Message thatcannot be resolved at the time. If you change this to Complete, partial parsing is overridden and

everything in the message is parsed and validated; complex types with a Composition of Choiceor Message that cannot be resolved at the time cause a validation failure.

Select Description in the properties dialog navigator to enter a short description, a long

description, or both.

Click Apply to make the changes to the HTTPInput node without closing the properties dialog.Click OK to apply the changes and close the properties dialog.

Click Cancel to close the dialog and discard all the changes that you have made to the properties.

What is the product called ?

This release of IBM WebSphere® Business Integration Brokers sees the renaming of the broker

offerings. These products are the successors to MQSeries Integrator (MQSI), WebSphere MQ

Integrator (WMQI), WebSphere MQ Integrator Broker (WMQIB) and WebSphere MQ Event

Broker (WMQEB).

Now – at version v5.0 – we have the WebSphere Business Integration Event Broker as a true

subset of WebSphere Business Integration Message Broker. The Event Broker is purely a routing

engine, and includes only input, output and publish/subscribe functionality. The Message Broker

contains all of the function of Event Broker (including the high performance Realtime transport) but also adds sophisticated message modeling and transformation capabilities.

What are the major new features offered by WebSphere Business Integration Brokers, as

compared to the previous version?

The tooling for the WebSphere Business Integration Brokers is now built on the Eclipse

framework. This ensures a common technology and skill set with other WebSphere products. As

such, the design and deployment model is different from previous releases. Use of the Eclipse

platform has allowed for usability enhancements such as a new Mapping Node, improved andextended samples and much easier versioning. WebSphere Business Integration Event Broker

(previously WMQEB) is now a true subset of WebSphere Business Integration Message Broker



(previously WMQIB). This means that the high performance WebSphere MQ Realtime

Transport is now supported by all the brokers. In addition to this protocol, SOAP over HTTP and

multicast publish/subscribe are now supported. Message modeling capabilities have beenupdated in line with XML schema standards – including increased validation and support for

namespaces.

The product architecture has been modified to ease integration with the Eclipse platform. Due to

this, the configuration manager now purely manages deployment from development to theruntime components. The configuration manager is no longer a repository. Support for the Linux

operating system has also been added in this release.

Is the use of WebSphere MQ required with the Brokers, and if so what release?

WebSphere Business Integration Brokers are supplied with WebSphere MQ v5.3. The Brokers

no longer require that message flows be started from WebSphere MQ queues, but we expect thatmost users will still do so. Message flows can also output WebSphere MQ messages on to

queues. WMQ V5.3 is used internally by the Brokers for communicating between the various parts of the product. Most importantly, WebSphere MQ facilities are used by the broker to

provide transactional services. The application programs that are sending the messages to the

queues to be processed by the Brokers can use any release of WebSphere MQ to populate thosequeues.

Can I use non-MQ protocols to send messages out of the Brokers?

You can use WebSphere MQ messages to drive work in and out of the Brokers. Additionally,you can send data both in and out of the Brokers using WebSphere MQ Everyplace, WebSphere

MQ Telemetry Transport (previously known as MQIsdp or SCADA), WebSphere MQ Realtime

Transport (also known as JMS/IP), WebSphere MQ Web Services Transport (SOAP over HTTP)

and (for output only) WebSphere MQ Multicast Transport. Finally, as the Brokers are designedas an extensible framework you can add function to them by writing additional functions which

can be plugged-in as a node. One example of an additional node would be a program to take thedata flowing through the broker and to send it out using other protocols.

Can I use non-MQ protocols to start work in the Brokers?



See the question above for other supported protocols. Additionally, the Brokers allow you to

write your own input nodes. These allow you to start a message flow. For example, you might

write an input node that monitors a database and that uses changes to the database to start amessage flow. The input node will have to ensure transactionality using the Brokers and

WebSphere MQ facilities.

Is there support for WebSphere MQ facilities such as clustering for scaling and failover?

The Brokers are, in effect, WebSphere MQ applications. Therefore, they can automatically benefit from new features provided by WebSphere MQ. For example, the queues that the

Brokers reads messages from can be clustered WebSphere MQ queues. So if WebSphere MQ

clustering were used, it would allow many brokers to be used, each running one or more messageflows, thus permitting high performance throughput. If further growth is required, then more

processors, with more brokers and more message flows, can be added to the overall system.

Furthermore, the ability to run the Brokers on z/OS allows you to take advantage of the power and scalability of that platform. Thus you can scale by upgrading to more powerful processors,

as well as by adding more processors.

How does WebSphere MQ Workflow link up to the Brokers?

WebSphere MQ Workflow is designed to simplify integration across the enterprise byautomating business processes involving both people and applications. It is able to drive

applications by using WebSphere MQ messages, and therefore in this way it can drive work

through the Brokers. Additionally, the Brokers can drive work or responses back throughWebSphere MQ Workflow using either the standard MQOutput Node or by writing a customnode to interactively perform a dialogue with WebSphere MQ Workflow.

When would I use the Brokers and when would I use WebSphere MQ Workflow?

As far as flowing of data is concerned, the Brokers automate message processing and flows

within a single unit of work, whereas WebSphere MQ Workflow automates and tracks processflows across multiple units of work (which could span many months). With the Brokers you need

to keep track of your application state spanning a number of messages flowing through the broker using database nodes. WebSphere MQ Workflow holds information with respect to thestate of the end-to-end process. Both products have rules, but in WebSphere MQ Workflow they

are part of a pre-planned process model, and in the Brokers they are dynamically alterable and

capable of reacting to events as well as data. WebSphere MQ Workflow routes the originalrequest data with flow control data between application functions, whereas the Brokers flow data

between applications, modifying the original data to suit the needs of the target applications.

WebSphere MQ Workflow looks at the function of applications to ensure that the end result of



the application is achieved whereas the Brokers are concerned more with the data that flows

within an application or between applications, so that the applications can produce the required

end result.

How will the WebSphere Business Integration Adapters work with the Brokers ?

The WebSphere BI Adapters provide a set of pre-built adapters, and a framework/toolkit for

developing custom adapters. The offering provides a way to enable applications to produce

WebSphere MQ messages. The data produced by the adapters is a serialised Business Object,represented in XML. It is possible to export a schema definition of these business objects from

the adapters and to import them into the message repository. Messages can then be sent from the

adapter to the Brokers, and vice versa

When would I use the brokers and when would I use WebSphere InterChange Server?

WebSphere Interchange Server is a process integration engine. Its primary purpose is to

choreograph interactions between a number of applications. As such, it needs to retain state

information and handle concepts such as compensating transactions and dynamic crossreferencing. The brokers, on the other hand, purely provide application connectivity services.

They generally act as intermediaries between applications, providing fast routing and

transformation services. The two products will also work seamlessly with each other – within theWebSphere Business Integration Server, for example. A broker can act as an intermediary to

provide application connectivity services between applications and the WebSphere InterChange

Server.

What databases are supported by the Brokers ?

WBIMB uses ODBC to access databases within the message flow. This gives seamless access to

databases such as DB2 UDB, SQL Server, Oracle and Sybase. WebSphere MQ also uses XA

over ODBC to allow database updates to be included in a transactional unit of work. This will

give transactional coordination to databases which support using XA over ODBC. This includesDB2, Oracle, and Sybase. The Brokers are also supplied with a copy of DB2 UDB which is used

internally by the product without any need for intervention by the user. The license which issupplied with this database product is a limited license only allowing the use of this instance of DB2 by the Broker itself.

How can products like CICS and IMS be accessed using the Brokers ?



The brokers access CICS and IMS using the WMQ CICS and IMS bridges. The brokers can be

configured to generate MQ messages, using the built-in support to generate the bridge headers,

which are then sent to the bridges. Responses are dealt with in a separate flow and aggregatenodes can be used to correlate responses with the original requests. Alternatively to access CICS

or IMS from a message flow, one possible way to do this would be to write a node which called

a client program for CICS or IMS and built the appropriate call with the structured data flowingthrough the message flow. The response from the external application could then be passed back

into the message flow. These custom written nodes to meet the need of communicating with

CICS may be available from Vendors, could be written in-house or as a services contract. Thereis a CICS Client SupportPac available from the SupportPac web site (http://www-

4.ibm.com/software/ts/mqseries/txppacs/txpsumm.html).

Can I access my existing applications (e.g. COM/DCOM, WebSphere, IIOP etc.) from the

Brokers ?

The most common way to access any application from the Brokers is to use a message flow as an

intermediary between two WebSphere MQ queues, with connectivity to your existing

applications provided by WebSphere MQ, possibly in conjunction with an adapter or bridge. If

your application is a J2EE application running in an Application Server, then it is common to usethe JMS API to access the messaging function of WebSphere MQ.Alternatively, by using a

custom written node in a message flow you can build a call to access your existing applications,

whether they are COM or DCOM applications or any other architecture. The node can act as acalling interface to the actual program which calls the application, driving the application and

receiving the reply call back. This interfacing application then re-marshals the data to be inserted

back into the message flow via the same custom written node. In this way it would be possible to

drive different application architectures from within the Brokers. If you have externalised your applications using web services technology (for instance, SOAP), you can now use the HTTP

nodes to connect to this framework..

Can the Brokers handle NLS, with messages flowing in varying code pages?

The Brokers are NLS enabled. This means that messages can be converted between different

code pages as required. Also, when customizing the functions in the processing nodes, NLS

characters can be used to set values in the data. The product also supports NLS translated

messages to the user, and supports a translated GUI.

What are the key differences between the new (Eclipse based) tooling and the old Control

Center ?



Version 5.0 of the Brokers uses the industry leading Eclipse framework for tooling. This greatly

increases productivity, ease of use and skill re-use across different parts of the enterprise. It

introduces the concept of common tooling technology across all parts of the WebSphere family. New features in the Edit-Compile-Test cycle include interactive validation of artefacts, rapid

development and test support, improved graphical debugging and the ability to import database

schema directly from DBMS.

For maintenance and team development, the Brokers can now use any Eclipse supportedrepository, as opposed to the central Configuration Manager repository in previous versions. This

allows for greater choice and flexibility in areas such as change control, file locking and security

across the development domain.

Deployment and administration in Eclipse use a file based paradigm, with the concept of an

archive file being key to the packaging and deployment of artefacts. We introduce the ‘broker

archive’ file, or BAR file which contains all the objects (message flows, message sets etc.) to be

deployed to a particular broker. This can be augmented with a deployment descriptor, which

allows you to abstract certain properties (such as queue and database names) out of your flows,allowing for easier movement from development to test to production. Administration of the

Brokers can be performed from the graphical tool or from the command line.

Can I import my WMQIv2.1 definitions into WebSphere BI Brokers v5.0 ?

Yes, you will be able to import the message flow and message set definitions that you have

exported from version 2.1. Obviously, these will not make use of new function, such as the

Mapping Node, but your flows will continue to operate as they did in WMQIv2.1.

Can I still define New Era of Networks Rules and Formats with the Brokers ?

If you have purchased the full ‘WBI Message Broker with Rules and Formatter Extension v5.0′

offering, this includes the New Era of Networks function provided in previous releases. This

includes the tooling associated with that product.

Should I be building new application logic in New Era of Networks nodes, or using thebuilt-in function for data transformation ?

This release has improved the message modeling (MRM) capabilities even further than

WMQIv2.1 to offer increased flexibility in the definition of messages. Where existing New Eraof Networks definitions exist, they can still be used in WBI Message Broker with Rules and

Formatter Extension v5.0. Where new messages need to be defined, then in most cases the MRM

can be used, depending on the skills available to the user, their business requirements, etc. All



defined messages can be used by all nodes and thus the only consideration is to select the nodes

with the functionality which best meets your application logic requirements.

My existing MQSeries Integrator V1 solution uses adapters from New Era of Networks.Will the adapters still work when my solution runs in WBIMB ?

You must implement the full ‘WBI Message Broker with Rules and Formatter Extension v5.0′

offering, then adapters from New Era of Networks that work with existing MQSeries Integrator

V1 processes, will continue to work when that technology is running in the new productenvironment. The adapters can continue to work with the same code, as the V1 code has

remained the same, other than being encapsulated as nodes.

Do the Brokers provide transactional access to databases?

The Brokers are able to connect directly to databases from a message flow by using an ODBCconnection. This transactionality is actually provided by WebSphere MQ. To enable this

database access to be part of a transactional unit of work, the connection to the database must use

XA over ODBC. Currently database products that support XA over ODBC are DB2 UDB fromIBM, Oracle, and Sybase.

Can I use nodes representing both New Era of Networks function and inbuilt

transformation function in the same message flow?

If you have implemented the full ‘WBI Message Broker with Rules and Formatter Extensionv5.0′ offering, then New Era of Networks function is available as a variety of nodes that are used

in the message flow within the broker. If you have defined the message formats to the New Era

of Networks Formatter, as well as the Broker’s Message Repository then you can use both typesof nodes together in the same message flow, ensuring that the format of any data passed to a

node is known to the repository for that node. By connecting the nodes together in this way you

are making good use of all of the functionality available in the product, using the strengths of

both the previous version of the product and the new version of the product. You can also extendthe use of the New Era of Networks nodes by wiring them together in an iterative or recursive

way, which would not have been possible in earlier versions of the product.

I have an existing application that I need to access from the Brokers – can I invoke it

directly from within the message flow, rather than via messaging ?



Yes. The Brokers provide an open and extensible framework for building processing logic.

Generic transformation function is available with the product, and within the message flow

architecture the user is able to plug in additional functions as nodes. Nodes can themselves beadditional function, or can act as a calling interface to external code. In this way additional

function which runs outside of the scope of the Brokers can be called from within the message

flow and be a part of the coordinated unit of work. However, you should be aware of thearchitectural and performance drawbacks of creating a ‘bound’ connection from a broker to an

application. If you wish to invoke your application using web services technology, then you can

use the HTTP Nodes to achieve this.

What facilities are there for testing and debugging message flows in the Brokers ?

The Brokers have a flexible development environment which provides numerous ways whichcan assist the developer in debugging their message flow. The Visual Debugger which allows

breakpoints to be set at any point or points within the message flow has now been enhanced toallow you to debug through lines of ESQL code.

This allows developers to track the flow of data through the message flow, watching the contents

of the data structure and changing it if required. Other features for debugging are available such

as Trace nodes, TryCatch nodes and Throw nodes, all of which can help debug the developmentof a flow. Additionally as parts of message flows can be separated out and defined as separate

nodes, the components making up an end-to-end message flow could be tested individually and

then plugged together only requiring minimal further testing.

There is also comprehensive user and service tracing available on message flows that aredeployed and running.

Is there support in a the Brokers to have multiple messages processed by a single message

flow?

The previous release (WMQIv2.1) introduced nodes that provide the ability to aggregate severalmessages which can then be processed together. This might be used, for example, to collect a

number of replies from different systems, before putting them together as the reply to the originalrequest.



Is there support for a message flow to have multiple input queues? What about output

queues?

The message flows in the Brokers can be defined with any number of WebSphere MQ queues asthe inputs for that message flow. The MQInput nodes are independent of each other and can be

set to read from the same queues or different queues. The system designer must be aware thatmessages flow independently through the broker with no state operating between messages and

no ability using standard message flow supplied nodes to wait for other messages flowingthrough the system. Thus there may be a need to have a number of different inputs all feeding the

same message flow, or the inputs may be connected to different parts of the same message flow.

In addition to the MQSeries input node, WebSphere MQ Integrator includes an MQ Everyplaceinput node, a SCADA input node, an HTTP input node and a Realtime input node. These can be

used as initiators of work in the message flow alongside or instead of MQInput nodes, as can

custom-written input nodes.

Any number of output queues can be defined to the message flow by connecting any number of

nodes (MQOutput, MQReply and also Publication), and thus a single message can output tomany queues. By having a number of different nodes, this also will enable different message

formats or contents to be put to different queues within the same unit of work..

For output, you can also use any of the protocols listed above (for Input nodes) or make use of multicast technology for message distribution. Output nodes might also include nodes that can be

downloaded from the IBM SupportPac site, such as a Sendmail node.

Can the Brokers read f rom both local and remote queues?

In order to read from an WebSphere MQ queue into a message flow, the Brokers use anMQInput node. This node must be configured with the queue name it is to get messages from. At

present this queue must be a queue defined to the local queue manager that is associated with the

broker. This queue will generally be a remote queue for the application that creates the message.

Can the Brokers send a reply to my application when the message flow completes?

Once it has read an WebSphere MQ message from a queue into a message flow, the operations

on the message are defined by the node customizations and the route through the nodes.Typically the message will eventually be placed on another queue using an MQOutput node. Aspecialized version of the MQOutput node is an MQReply node. This allows a message to be

sent to the application which originated the message flowing through the message flow, thus

informing the application of the successful completion of the message flow. The message flowcan have any number of Output nodes and thus it can send construct and send a reply to the

originating application as well as sending the result to the target application.



Why is SQL used to customize nodes in WebSphere Business Integration Message

Broker ?

WBIMB uses nodes within a message flow to perform operations on messages and to generateactions based on the messages. The nodes in a message flow are typically customized within a

message flow to perform particular tasks. With the nodes that are supplied with the Message

Broker, any customization needed in the nodes is done using an extended form of SQL. This wasdone for a variety of reasons.

It is a good language to use when integrating directly with databases.

It is a language that is suitable for evaluation and computation.

There are a lot of SQL skills available.

If users write additional nodes to plug in to the message flow then they are not constrained tousing SQL as the customization language for those plug-in.

In addition to this, there is now a Mapping Node available, which allows you to define

sophisticated customized mappings without the requirement to write ESQL. If you do need to

develop ESQL code, this can now been in a modular way, using an ESQL editor, which is thenassociated with a particular Node.

Why would there be a need to write a custom node in the Brokers ?

IBM will ship a number of supplied nodes, sometimes called Primitives, with the Brokers. These

nodes will provide users with a range of functions and the nodes are designed to be used in aflexible manner so as to be able to build any combination of function required. It is likely that for

particular tasks, it is more efficient to write a specific node to perform the function required,

rather than to spend time and effort putting together a complex combination of customized nodeswhen a simple additional plug-in function would perform the same task. This allows the product

to offer a full range of programming options, giving standard functions with minimal

programming needed, but the ability to extend the functions with programs where required.

Additional nodes are already available from a variety of sources. There are additional IBM nodes(and parsers) available from the SupportPac web site (http://www-

4.ibm.com/software/ts/mqseries/txppacs/txpsumm.html) and there are nodes available from

partners, which can be found on our partner plug ins page (http://www-4.ibm.com/software/ts/mqseries/directory/mqsinode.html).



Can a custom written node be written in any programming language?

If a plug-in custom written node is to be used in the Brokers it is an extension of the broker andimplemented as a DLL on Windows NT, and as a shared library on UNIX platforms. These

nodes can be written in C or Java. Any plug-in nodes being written must provide implementation

functions which are invoked by the message broker, but also the node must have an XML

representation of itself to be graphically displayed on the palette alongside the other nodes. Thereis a node development wizard to assist in the creation of these aspects of the node.

Can a node be programmed in an object style or a procedural style?

The node itself in the Brokers is simply a DLL which at design time is a graphical representationon the palette, along with the customization, which determines how the node is invoked from the

broker. It is this program which must be called as the implementation function from the C

interface. The node itself can be a complex program and can be procedural or object based.Alternatively the node can simply be the calling interface for another program which can be any

architecture required. Note that calls out from a node will keep the thread busy inside that

instance of the node. Thus architecturally it would be best if the total time a message spends in amessage flow is as small as possible. Therefore some guidance would be to try to ensure that

calls out from a node are synchronous calls which return control to the node quickly.

How can I use Web Services technology with the Brokers ?

Web Services support extends the benefits of the broker to operate on Web Services messages,especially SOAP formatted messages. All the standard broker services are enabled. In particular,

transformations between Web Services formats and other formats permit wrapping heritage

services as Web Services, or give heritage code access to Web Services.

The support includes helper SOAP nodes. These can separate the main payload of the messagefrom the various header fields, or synthesize SOAP messages from basic payload information

and associated header information. The support also permits HTTP or WMQ input and output of

messages.



Thus a simple flow will take an incoming SOAP/HTTP request message, log the request in an

audit database and pass the request on to a back end server in the form a COBOL structured

WMQ message. A complementary response flow will accept the WMQ response message, logthe response in the database while picking up the appropriate return address, compose the

response as a SOAP response and deliver it to the original requester as SOAP/HTTP.

Is there any guidance on what functions can be used for transformation and mapping

within the Brokers ?

Transformation function is only available within WBIMB and WBIMB with Rules and

Formatter Extension v5.0. A key component of this product is the Message Repository Manager

(MRM) where message formats are defined and the wire format of the message is mapped to a

logical message structure. All elements (fields in a message) are defined within the MRM andthese are assembled into message definitions. These message definitions must represent all the

data structures passed throughout the message flow. The message flow in WBIMB provides anopen framework with a set of supplied nodes and the ability to add additional nodes to perform

any transformation needed. The way in which messages are mapped in the MRM to a logical

data structure will make it possible to do transposition and mapping of fields very easily withinthe message flow configuration. Also the way in which the mapping and compute nodes can be

customized with extended SQL or it can pass-through to stored procedures will allow

computation transformation to be performed efficiently. There is also an XSLT Node available totransform XML messages by applying stylesheets.

However if these methods are not suitable for the particular transformation required, then the New Era of Networks Formatter or New Era of Networks Rules nodes could be used (if you are

using the full WBIMB with Rules and Formatter Extension v5.0 product), but also customwritten nodes could be created to do the specific transformation most effectively. An alternative

approach would be to use function available from additional plug-in nodes, either vendor

supplied or supplied by IBM as a SupportPac, some of which supply specialized transformation

function.

In the WBIMB v5.0 Message Repository, is there support for tagged and delimited

messages?

The MRM offered with WBIMB supports tagged and delimited messages, such as those used by

EDIFACT and S.W.I.F.T. This is in addition to the comprehensive XML and fixed record (C andCOBOL) format support.



In the WBIMB v5.0 Message Repository, is there support for messages with repeating

elements or groups of elements?

By using the MRM, WBIMB v5.0 can map the wire format of a message into the logical datastructure. This allows certain common message structures to be defined as logical structures. If a

message contains repeating fields, then the MRM can be set to include this information whether

that field repeats a fixed or variable number of times. Groups of elements can be establishedwithin the MRM as a type and thus single elements can actually map out to become compound

elements with a number of other elements making up a group to represent the required element

structure.

What size of WebSphere MQ messages does the Brokers support?

On distributed platforms (e.g. NT and Unix platforms) WebSphere MQ supports messages with

an individual size of 100MB. These messages can also be chained together as segmented

messages, so that any size of message can be passed as a logically single message. Also if the product receives a segmented WebSphere MQ message, it can, if required, reassemble all

message segments before processing the message. However, large messages can become

extremely slow to parse. For example, a 100MB XML message could take a long time to

process, this is not a limitation of the broker, the same would be true of any XML parser.

WebSphere MQ provides features such as segmented messages and groups of messages. Do theBrokers support messages using these features?

As described above, the Brokers have full support for processing segmented messages if selected

by customizing the MQInput node in the relevant message flow. There is also a setting for supporting WebSphere MQ message groups whereby processing of a message that is part of a

group can be delayed until all messages in that group are available and then processing of the

messages can take place in sequence.



When defining messages to WBIMB v5.0, what simple types are supported?

Messages defined to the MRM in WBIMB are broken down into elements. Each element is

assigned a type, which can be a simple type or a compound type. The logical simple types thatare part of the product are listed below. Each of these logical types can map onto several

different physical types – for example an Integer can be represented in many different ways inthe context of a bitstream defined by a COBOL copybook. For a detailed discussion of the

various physical types supported please see the ‘Working with Messages’ manual supplied withthe product.

Integer

String

Datetime

Decimal

Float

Binary

Boolean

What is the most effective way of defining message formats to the Message Repository in

WBIMB ?

The MRM in WBIMB stores the mapping between the wire format of the messages and the

logical data structure used within the message flow. The MRM can be populated by using the

Solution Studio tool. Additionally the MRM can be populated by importing definitions from Cstructures or COBOL Copybooks. The MRM has import routines that will scan through the

supplied structures or copybooks and build matching data structures in the MRM without the

need to define them by hand. WBIMB also contains importers for XML DTDs and schemas. Inthe latest release, we offer comprehensive schema support, including namespaces. Some

predefined message sets (such as S.W.I.F.T.) are available as part of services offerings.

Can I process both XML self-defining messages and non-XML messages (defined in the

Message Repository) with the same message flow in WBIMB ?



If XML messages are to be processed in a message flow in WBIMB v5.0 then there is no need

for them to be defined to the MRM. This is because they are self-defining tagged messages. The

message flow nodes can access a parser specifically designed to process XML which will enablethe message structure to be parsed without being defined in the MRM. If messages are defined in

the MRM, then whether they were originally XML or non-XML then they are interpreted

according to their MRM definition, processed and validated accordingly.

When customizing nodes in the message flow, if a message structure is defined to the MRM thenthe node customizer will have access to the message structure from the MRM. This is not the

case for XML messages which have not been defined to the MRM, so the customization of the

nodes has to be done manually to enter the XML message field names and the XML parser must be selected. Otherwise there should be no difference in handling XML and non-XML messages

in a message flow.

What support is there for handling S.W.I.F.T. messages or messages in SAP IDOC

format?

Tagged and delimited messages such as these can be defined directly to the MRM. If you are

already using New Era of Networks adapters and nodes, then these can continue to be used (only

if you are using the WBIMB with Rules and Formatter Extension v5.0 product).

Predefined message sets for certain formats (such as S.W.I.F.T.) are available as part of servicesofferings. For connectivity to SAP, the WebSphere Business Integration Adapter for

MySAP.com can be used. Another option would be to write a custom parser to handle these

message formats directly within the broker, and an IDOC parser can be found on theSupportPacs page. (http://www-4.ibm.com/software/ts/mqseries/txppacs/txpsumm.html).

How will the Brokers scale for large numbers of applications and messages?

Clearly a product designed to operate in a mission-critical environment like WebSphere Business

Integration Brokers needs to be able to scale in a flexible manner to meet demand. This productcan scale in a number of different ways depending on configuration and need. The message

flows are multithreaded. and are deployed to an execution group on a broker. A broker runs on a

single machine and can be partitioned using execution groups, which can aid in scaling and also

aids failover. Different applications can be partitioned across different execution groups, with theapplication message flows scaling through multithreading. Also you could scale by defining the

same message flows to different execution groups. As different execution groups run in different

processes, this will allow more scaling. In addition message flows could be replicated acrossmultiple brokers allowing applications to scale across multiple machines.

http://www-4.ibm.com/software/ts/mqseries/txppacs/txpsumm.html

http://www-4.ibm.com/software/ts/mqseries/txppacs/txpsumm.html



Applications are driven by receiving messages. If a large number of messages are being received

it may be wise to use WebSphere MQ clustering to enable WebSphere MQ to scale, and the

message flows which read messages off the queues to handle very large volumes of messages.

An example of using this scaling could be a message flow which is designed to read messages

from a Web front-end and to reformat and distribute the various messages to the differing back-ends. Initially the number of threads allocated to the message flow could be allocated to meet the

expected workload. this could be then adjusted as the workload increased. An additionalexecution group could be added to the broker and the identical message flow could be replicated

to this new group, which would double the throughput and also keep the resource available

should the process running the execution group fail. To give additional failover reassurance anadditional broker could be defined on another system. The message flow could also be replicated

to this broker, also improving the overall system throughput. Eventually additional regional

brokers may be added, and again the message flow can simply be replicated.

Are we able to deploy changes to the configuration without shutting down the system?

The Brokers are made up of various components. These components communicate using

WebSphere MQ messages. This allows the configuration manager to act as the central

deployment manager, sending configuration data, as required, out to the various brokers whichcan be anywhere in the domain. The brokers listen for these configuration messages replace

deployed older versions with more recent versions of message set definitions or message flows.This is possible to do without interruption to the service, but it is also possible to quiesce

processes down to individual message flows in order for a smooth and well-defined transition

between old and new versions to take place. This gives us “24 by 7″ operation if required butwith the ability to manage the changes by stopping resources if preferred.

The Broker Toolkit administration tools provide a “live” view of the Broker domain, monitoring

for changes and updating dynamically. For example, when a deploy completes, all connected

administration tool users with “view” Access Control permissions for the deployed artifacts are

automatically updated with the deploy results.

Can there be multiple brokers running on a single machine?

Yes. The component based architecture of the Brokers, being based on WebSphere MQ for

communication between components, relies on there being an available and unique WebSphere



MQ Queue Manager for each broker. For each broker there must be a defined and active

WebSphere MQ Queue Manager that is not used as the Queue Manager by any other broker.

Other than this restriction then there is no reason not to have more than one broker defined andactive on a single machine, other than the impact it will have on performance, due to the

additional overhead.

What kind of support do WebSphere Business Integration Brokers offer for multiple users

using the product to change definitions at the same time?

WebSphere Business Integration Brokers V5.0 is composed of 2 parts: the Broker domain, which

is all the runtime components controlled by a single Configuration Manager, and the Broker

Toolkit, which includes the administration and development tools.

Multiple concurrent users are able configure and deploy content to a WebSphere Business

Integration Brokers domain. Domain Access Control Lists (ACLs) provide configurable securityand control over which Broker domain entities each user or group can view, modify, create, or

delete. For example, a Broker domain can contain a development test broker and a production broker; the developers are given access to a single execution group on the test broker, and the

production administrator has sole control over the production broker. Multiple lines of business

can be consolidated in a single Broker domain, with each line of business administrator havingsole control over their part of the domain.

The Eclipse-based WebSphere MQ Brokers Toolkit Broker Administration tools and associated

administration console programs are used to concurrently configure and control multiple

WebSphere MQ Integrator V5.0 Broker domains. They can be used by any number of users

concurrently, subject to the ACL security mentioned above. The console programs provide themechanism for complex deploys to be scripted in a repeatable, consistent manner without error-

prone human interaction.

The Eclipse-based WebSphere MQ Brokers Toolkit Broker Development tools are compatiblewith all Eclipse-based source control repositories. Multiple developers can concurrently work

with the Broker Toolkit to develop message flows and message sets, and share their work

through an Eclipse compatible source control repository. Text based compare and merge toolsfacilitate the development process.

IBM Rational ClearCase is an Eclipse compatible source control repository that supports parallel

development, development process control, and file concurrency control (locking).

What kind of support do the Brokers offer for failover and high availability Systems?



The Brokers initially exploit the facilities provided by WebSphere MQ. There are a number of

SupportPacs provided in order to allow users to implement failover on the AIX, HP, Solaris and

NT platforms. Once the base WebSphere MQ has been taken over, then the applications runningon that WebSphere MQ server can be restarted, including the Brokers. There are a number of

SupportPacs which assist you in the necessary set up and operational procedures required.

Is there any way to look at or modify configuration information held by the Brokers other

than by using the workbench?

In addition to the Eclipse-based Broker Toolkit (which provides almost all configuration

functions), command line utilities that push configuration data to the domain are provided in

WebSphere MQ Brokers V5.0. For example, it is possible to write a script that builds the tooling

definitions for multiple message flows and message sets, performs validation on thosedefinitions, then customizes the message flow configurable properties (such as database DSN

names) per-broker, deploys to the broker Domain, and returns success or a failure code. Pullinginformation from the Broker domain is generally not supported.

Can I restrict the availability of the tool functions to just specified users?

Access Control Lists (ACLs) support view, modify, create, and delete permissions to be assignedto principles for individual Broker domain artifacts. For example, ACL entries can be configured

to assign the production broker administrator complete control of some brokers, while absolutely

preventing members of the development team access to the same brokers, and visa versa. ACL

entries can be configured to provide the role based access provided in WebSphere MQ Integrator V2.1 and previous.

How do the Brokers scale for improving performance?



The Brokers scale for performance in a number of ways. Each message flow can be configured

for a number of instances defined by the number of concurrent threads assigned to the flow.

These message flows can be run in a single broker on a number of different execution groups.The number of execution groups, which may vary depending on the number of processors in the

physical machine where the broker is running, is also a factor in the scaling of the solution.

Additionally multiple brokers can be defined in an WebSphere MQ clustering environment tofurther provide scaling. Furthermore, the addition of the z/OS platform considerably extends the

scalability options available to users.

What factors in message flow design have a big impact in performance?

There are some key things that can be done when designing and planning your message flow toensure good performance is achieved. The key things to know are that as all communication

between nodes in the message flow is done in memory, there should be good performance

through a message flow, depending on the size of the machine being used and the amount of memory available. Other determining factors are whether any of the nodes are interacting with

external systems such as databases. If external systems are involved, unless WebSphere MQ

connections are used asynchronously, then the performance through the message flow can be

affected by the performance of the external system. Another factor in the performance of themessage flow will be the size of the messages being passed through the flow, and also the

amount of processing being done on the messages in the flow. All these things should be taken

into consideration when designing the message flow for performance

Are there any differences between the Publish/Subscribe function that is available with the baseMQSeries product and the Publish/Subscribe function that is available with the Brokers ?

MQSeries Publish/Subscribe was first available as part of CSD05 for MQSeries V5.0, and was

supplied as part of the MQSeries V5.1 product, and also the MQSeries V5.2 product. TheBrokers extend the functions available with the base product Publish/Subscribe, while remaining

compatible with it. The new features are:

Subscription is topic based with additional content based filtering

Security ACLs based on topics rather than queues

Brokers can be organized into collectives

There is a choice of protocols, not only WMQ, but also WMQe, WMQTT (Scada) and the high

performance Realtime and multicast protocols.



How is the security defined for the Publish/Subscribe function available with the Brokers ?

When using the Brokers, the publisher will publish with a particular topic, which can be built up

as a hierarchy. The security for this hierarchy is assigned as ACLs for specific users and groupsfrom the top level of the hierarchy downwards, using inheritance for the lower levels, but also

allowing specific allocation of ACLs at each hierarchical level. The ACLs can specify whether

particular users can Publish, Subscribe or Publish a Persistent Message. The permission allowthe ACLs to be set to allow or deny the access to these functions. All of these permissions are

administered from the Workbench.

Why is topic and content based subscription, available with the Brokers, an advantage over

just topic based subscription?

The key benefit of content based subscription is the improvement in the granularity for the

receiving application. When designing applications to meet a business purpose it is necessary to

cater for all different scenarios. Therefore if subscribing to a particular published topic wheredifferent values in different fields can generate differing scenarios the subscribing application

can get very complex. Without content based subscription, the only way to reduce the granularity

of the published messages, and thus simplify the receiving messages would be to increase thenumber of topics which adds overhead and it can be difficult to specify these additional topics.

With content based subscription a simple application can be built to handle each identified

scenario with all applications subscribing to the same topic. The application will only receive the

published message if it matches the published topic and also the content of the message meetsthe filter used on the subscription. In this way each simple application which caters for the

occurrence of a particular scenario only gets executed when that particular scenario occurs. The

only logic needed to build this subscription is to identify the fields within a message to analyze



for particular value or values. Then the Publish/Subscribe network itself routes the message to

the application without the need for additional logic.

It should be noted that content based routing is not available in WBIEB. This product is purely arouting engine, operating point-to-point and publish/subscribe distribution. It does not contain

the sophisticated data modeling and parsing capabilities of the Message Broker, so it is unable tounderstand the content of the message and, therefore, is unable to route based on that content

Documents

IBM Message Broker Interview Question and Answer