Creating a block in Software AG Designer consists of two main steps. In the first step you create the block metadata and specify its interface. In the second step you add the EPL code that implements the block's behavior.

When you create a new block, you should place it in the project's default blocks directory. This directory is found in the project's catalogs directory. The block directory has a name in the form project_name\blocks. So, for example, the default block directory of a project named My_Project will be catalogs\My_Project blocks. If you place the block in the default block directory, scenarios created in the project will automatically find them and make them available in Event Modeler when you are displaying the scenario.

You add a new block to a project by right-clicking the project and selecting New > Block from the pop-up context menu. Software AG Designer displays the New Block wizard where you specify whether you want to create a block from scratch or base it on an existing event type. You also specify any other information that will make up the block's metadata.

When you finish adding information in the New Block wizard, the block is added to the project and the block's metadata appears in the Builder tab of the block editor.

For specific steps on how to add a new block to an Apama project, see: