Creating Launch Configurations for Debugging Flow Services

You can use the same launch configuration to run and debug flow services. When using a launch configuration to debug a service, Designer stops at the first flow step (the default) or executes the service until it encounters a breakpoint.

Designer requires launch configurations to debug flow services. However, if a flow service does not have an associated launch configuration and you bypass the Debug Configurations dialog boxes when debugging the service, Designer creates one on the fly and saves it locally. You can use this configuration from one session to the next. In fact, Designer reuses this configuration every time you debug the service without creating a launch configuration.

By default, Designer saves launch configurations in an unexposed location of your workspace. However, you might want to share launch configurations with other developers. You can specify that Designer save a launch configuration to a shared file. On the Common tab in the Debug Configurations dialog box, select the Shared file option and provide a workspace location in which to save the file.

You might consider creating a launch configuration for each set of data that you routinely use to debug your service. This will provide you with a ready-made set of test cases against which to verify the service when it is modified by you or other developers in the future. Many sites establish a workspace project directory just for holding sets of test data that they generate in this manner.

Use the following procedure to create a launch configuration for use in debugging a flow service.

2. In the Debug Configuration dialog box, select IS Service and click

to add a new launch configuration.

4. On the Service tab, in the Integration Server list, select the Integration Server on which the service for which you are creating a launch configuration resides.

5. In the Service field, enter the name of the service for which you are creating a launch configuration of click Browse to select the service.

6. If you want Designer to stop at the first flow step when using the launch configuration, select the Stop at first flow step check box.

If you clear the Stop at first flow step check box, Designer executes the service until the service ends or hits a breakpoint. If you want to debug the service by stepping through one flow step at a time, select the Stop at first flow step check box.

7. If you want Designer to pass the service an IData that contains input values for each input variable in the service signature, do the following:

b. Specify the input values to save with the launch configuration by doing one of the following:

Type the input value for each service input parameter. For more information about providing input values, see Entering Input for a Service.

To load the input values from a file, click Load to locate and select the file containing the input values. If Designer cannot parse the input data, it displays an error message indicating why it cannot load the data. For more information about loading input values from a file, see Loading Input Values

To load input values from a file and replace the service input signature with the structure and data types in a file, click Load and Replace.

c. If you want to pass empty variables (variables that have no value) to the service, select the Include empty values for String Type check box. When you select this option, empty strings are passed with a zero-length value. If you do not select this option, Designer excludes empty value from the IData it passes to the service as input.

8. If you want Designer to send the flow service an XML document a input, do the following:

b. In the Location field, enter the path and file name of the XML document to use as input or click Browse to locate and select the XML file.

9. If you selected the Use IData option and you want to save the input values that you have entered, click Save. Input values that you save can be recalled and reused in later tests.