Virtual Boxes

A Virtual Box is used to classify and tag files in Data Mover. It enables grouping files into sets for operational or automation purposes. Virtual Box tagging plays a key role in event-driven processing.

Virtual Boxes can be used both as a classification mechanism (pure tagging) and as a trigger source for automation (automation tagging).

Virtual Boxes must have a name and a description. They can be created manually via the user interface or automatically within workflows using specific service tasks.

Pure tagging vs tagging for automation

The first reason to use a Virtual Box is for pure tagging. In this case, the virtual box will group files for specific operations. By tagging files, actions can be defined based on whether a file has a particular tag or not.

Example: Files can be tagged with their jobID. When a mediation contract starts, a new jobID is created in the Job Manager. By using this jobID as Virtual Box to tag all files processed in that job, it is possible to know the set of files processed with a specific jobID and a specific contract execution. This allows you to track and group files based on the execution context.

A second reason to use Virtual Box is tagging for automation. With the COA (Contract Oriented Architecture), actions can be automated through two triggers:

• The Virtual Box Bind trigger initiates an action when a Virtual Box is attached to a file.

• The Virtual Box Unbind trigger initiates an action when a Virtual Box is removed from a file.

Examples: A mediation contract can define that when a file with a specific Virtual Box tag arrives in a virtual path, it must be zipped.

An output contract can define that when the virtual box is unbound, the file must be sent to a virtual path.

When a Virtual Box is bound to a file or unbound from a file, Data Mover emits an event that can trigger automation via COA (Contract Oriented Architecture).

For example, a mediation contract can define that when a file with a specific Virtual Box tag arrives, it must be renamed. Or an output contract can define that when the virtual box is unbound, the file must be sent to a virtual path.

Contracts listening to events can automatically execute actions based on the Virtual Box tagging state.

Service tasks for Virtual Box operations

There are 3 service tasks that can be used with Virtual Boxes:

1. Bind Virtual Box: given a filesetID, it links an existing Virtual Box to a file. If the Virtual Box does not exist, it is created and no event is emitted (pure tagging). If it exists, the event is emitted.

2. Unbind Virtual Box: given a filesetID of a file already associated with a Virtual Box, it removes the association between the file and the Virtual Box. The Virtual Box must exist and an event is emitted upon unbinding. Note that a Virtual Box can be removed from a file only with this service task.

3. List Files Virtual Box: given a Virtual Box name, it returns the list of all files tagged with that Virtual Box.

How to use a Virtual Box

Using a Virtual Box means performing bind and unbind operations, which can be executed:

1. With the Bind/Unbind Virtual Box service task in a workflow template. The bind or the unbind operation is executed only if the Virtual Box variable is valued. The Bind Virtual Box service task creates a Virtual Box that may not yet exist, while with the Unbind Virtual Box service task the Virtual Box must already exist. If the Virtual Box does not exist, it is created dynamically during the bind operation and no event is emitted, it is pure tagging. Specific input and output system workflow templates enable users to perform bind Virtual Box or unbind Virtual Box operations within the contract actions.

2. With the File Processing Rule in a Connection Contract. This case applies when Data Mover acts as a server. In addition to setting a filter on the files and applying a file resource, File Processing Rules allow one or more Virtual Boxes to be specified. Workflows are not used in this case. Note that the unbind can be performed only with the Unbind Virtual Box service task in a workflow template (see point 1).

With the Bind Virtual Box service task, the name of the Virtual Box can be specified in the workflow or created dynamically during the bind operation.

For example, by using the correlationID metadata, the system attaches a Virtual Box whose name is the correlationID of the incoming file. If it already exists, it is used; if it does not exist, it is created and used. When binding a Virtual Box that does not exist, the event is not emitted, just pure tagging occurs.