Chapter 2 Working with the Component Builder

Defining AI connections

An Application Integrator connection is a named set of properties that specifies how to connect to a target system (similar to an ODBC data source or a JDBC URL). At design time, the AI connection definition tells the Component Builder how to retrieve metadata about target stored procedures. At runtime, the AI connection can be used by the component to obtain a connection to the target by default; alternatively, you can configure AI components to use the EAServer connection cache to acquire a connection. See "Defining connection caches in Jaguar Manager" and the EAServer documentation for more information.

Use the Component Builder to define connections, associate them with components, and deploy them to EAServer. Every component is associated with exactly one connection.

All connectivity in AI for Stored Procedures uses JDBC. The Component Builder uses JDBC to test connections and to browse databases when creating component methods. At runtime, Application Integrator components running in EAServer use JDBC to invoke stored procedures. The connections you build in the Component Builder are JDBC connections.

Defining connection properties

When you create a connection, you must supply the following information in the Component Builder:

• The type of connection you want to create.
  
  The following connection types are supported in the Component Builder:

  Table 2-1: Connection types supported in the Component Builder

  Connection type	Description
  Sybase ASA	Connection to a Sybase Adaptive Server Anywhere database
  Sybase ASE	Connection to a Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise database
  Sybase DirectConnect	Connection to a Sybase DirectConnect gateway
  Oracle OCI	Connection to Oracle using the Oracle OCI JDBC driver
  Oracle Thin	Connection to Oracle using the Oracle thin JDBC driver
  JDBC-ODBC Bridge	Connection to any database accessible through ODBC using the Sun JDBC-ODBC bridge
  Generic	Connection to a database accessible using JDBC

• Properties needed to connect to the database containing the target stored procedure.
  
  These properties differ for each target but often include a host name and port number. When you create a connection, the Component Builder derives a JDBC URL for the connection from these properties. The Component Builder provides a simple interface for entering properties and does not require you to know the URL format for supported JDBC drivers.
  
  See Appendix A, "Target Types" for detailed information about the properties required for each supported connection type.
• User name and password for the database containing the target stored procedure.

Registering JDBC drivers

Application Integrator and EAServer include the Sybase jConnect driver, which you can use to create connections to Sybase servers. For other connection types, such as Oracle, you must provide additional JDBC drivers.

You also must register each non-Sybase JDBC driver with the Component Builder before you create connections that use it. To register a driver, add it to the JDBC Driver Class Path that appears in the Component Builder Options dialog box.

The JDBC Driver Class Path is a Java class path that the Component Builder uses to locate JDBC drivers. It can include JAR files, zip files, or directories that contain JDBC drivers you are using with the Component Builder. Entries in the class path are separated by semicolons.

After you register a driver, you can test connections in the Component Builder and browse accessible databases to create component methods.

You must also install each non-Sybase JDBC driver on EAServer where Application Integrator components are deployed; this allows components to use the JDBC driver at runtime to invoke stored procedures.

Testing connections

The Component Builder allows you to test a connection to the database where the target stored procedure resides. This makes it easy to verify that the database is running, and that you have defined the connection correctly.

Common reasons that connection tests fail include:

• The network or database is down.
• Invalid values, such as host name, port number, user name, or password, were specified for the connection.
• The JDBC driver for the connection was not registered with the Component Builder, or it is not installed correctly.

See Appendix A, "Target Types" for information on properties needed for each connection type.

Connection caching

By default, Application Integrator components do not use EAServer's connection caching feature at runtime; however, you can configure components to use the connection caching feature in EAServer. See Chapter 3, "EAServer and Application Issues" for details.

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