A new huge step towards the final release of Bonita Open Solution 5 is now completed: we’ve reached Milestone 5. This M5 version comes with a lot of excellent features not found in the Preview version. If you’ve already read “Behind the Scenes with Bonita,” you know that we’ve added 3 great tools in Bonita Studio:
- the connector wizard - the forms editor - the groovy editor
In this post I’ll focus on the first. Watch for the following posts on the other features.
The connector wizard
Bonita Open Solution 5 comes with a set of connectors that provides a number of ways to connect processes implemented in Bonita to your legacy information systems. What if there isn't a predefined connector there for your specific needs?The classic answer is: “easy, just write your connector in Java.” The second part is true – you can just write your connector in Java. But is it really easy? Well, personally I found writing the Java interface of the connector pretty straightforward.
However, there is always the problem of configuring the connector. What do you have to do to configure a custom connector? Well, there is an xml file to write, some methods to add in Java code… No longer so easy for me. I’m sure that you, like me, would appreciate an easy way to do this.
So to simplify the creation of a custom connector, we added a wizard to generate files. The configuration wizards are pretty cool tools to simplify your work. Basically, you only need to add your business code in one method of the Java class of your connector. Pretty sexy, isn’t it?
What you need to do in the connector wizard...
First open it by creating a new connector by using "New connector...". This wizard is focused on the configuration capability of your custom connector. So you will describe your connector, and add minimal technical information (the class name and the package). Then, define the input parameters and the output data of your connector. When you specify the input parameters, you will define them grouped in pages corresponding to the configuration page of the configuration wizard. Completing the connector wizard will take a few minutes. (How about a video: “what you can do in one minute with the connector wizard?”)
What you need to do after the completing connector wizard to get your connector up and ready...
Once you have finished the connector wizard, the skeleton of your connector is generated. Next, put your business code in the Java-executable method. If you need external jars, add them by using the "add jars" function located under Edit in the menu bar of Bonita Studio. If your code is ok (no red cross in the Java class), your connector is finished. You are now able to use it in your process. Enjoy!To sum up the benefits of the connector wizard...
The extensivity of Bonita Open Solution is key to its adaptability your needs. Generally, when you want to extend software, you need technical savvy and also often need to know some specific technology (java api, xml specific language, etc). We decided to reduce the complexity of extension in Bonita Open Solution by providing a tool that does 80% of the job for you. That lets you focus on your business process instead of the technology behind it.You are now able to start your own connectors with Bonita Open Solution 5! Share them with the open source BPM community.