Working with Different Object Types
EJB home and remote methods can take and return objects of practically any arbitrary type. The only real restriction is that the objects must implement the java.io.Serializable interface. How you work with these objects in your integrations depends on what it is that you need to do with the objects.
For example, if you need to pass an object generated by one adapter service call into a subsequent service in the same flow, you create the appropriate links in the flow service editor. Designer supports the java.lang.Object type natively. Any object that appears in the pipeline that is not recognized is treated as an Object. This is what happens when passing EJB objects themselves.
However, you may, at some point in your flow, need to interact directly with these objects. Suppose you need to assign a value to an object during the flow's execution, but have no service available for that purpose. Additionally, you want to create a document from such an object. How you provide this functionality depends on what type of object you are dealing with:
Designer and
Integration Server provide some degree of support for the basic Java types: java.lang.String, java.lang.Float, float, etc. If you only need to do transformations on these types of objects, the support typically already exists either natively within
Designer or is provided in one of the WmPublic services.
If you need to operate on a third-party, user-defined object type, you can create a utility as a Java service or a coded service using C/C++. The utility gets or creates the object you need, manipulates its properties, and then puts it on the pipeline.
Note:
You can create a coded service from within Designer or by using an outside Integrated Development Environment (IDE). For more information about building coded services, see the webMethods Service Development Help for your release.