HTTPHeader node

Use the HTTPHeader node to add, modify, or delete HTTP headers such as HTTPInput, HTTPResponse, HTTPRequest and HTTPReply.

The HTTPHeader node is available in the following operation modes:
  • Developer
  • Application Integration Suite
  • Standard
  • Advanced
  • Express
  • Scale
For more information, see Operation modes.

This topic contains the following sections:

Purpose

The HTTPHeader node provides an IBM® Integration Toolkit interface to manipulate HTTP headers without any need for coding; it does not modify the message body. You can add or remove a whole header, or selected header properties. You can set the properties to a fixed value, or to a value specified by an XPath expression that accesses a value in one of the message trees. XPath is used to provide a valid location from which a value for a property can be copied. For example, the location can be the body of the message, the local environment tree or exception list.

HTTPInput and HTTPResponse headers can only be deleted or carried forward from the incoming message; their header properties cannot be modified or added to.

The HTTPHeader node is contained in the HTTP drawer of the palette, and is represented in the IBM Integration Toolkit by the following icon:

Timeout Control node icon

Terminals and properties

When you have put an instance of the node into a message flow, you can configure it; see Configuring a message flow node. This node has no mandatory properties.

HTTPHeader node terminals are described in the following table:
Terminal Description
In The input terminal that accepts a message for processing by the node.
Failure The output terminal to which the input message is routed if a failure is detected during extraction.
Out The output terminal to which the transformed message is routed if the input message is processed successfully.

The following tables describe the node properties. The column headed M indicates whether the property is mandatory (marked with an asterisk if you must enter a value when no default is defined); the column headed C indicates whether the property is configurable (you can change the value when you add the message flow to the BAR file to deploy it).

The HTTPHeader node Description properties are described in the following table:

Property M C Default Description
Node name No No HTTPHeader The name of the node.
Short description No No   A brief description of the node.
Long description No No   Text that describes the purpose of the node in the message flow.
HTTPInput Header properties are described in the following table:
Property M C Default Description
HTTPInput Header Options No Yes Carry forward header Options to control the HTTPInputHeader as a whole.

Select Carry forward the header to carry forward values from incoming message if present.

Select Delete header to delete the header if present.

HTTPResponse Header properties are described in the following table:
Property M C Default Description
HTTPResponse Header Options No Yes Carry forward header Options to control the HTTPResponseHeader as a whole.

Select Carry forward the header to carry forward values from incoming message if present.

Select Delete header to delete the header if present.

HTTPRequest Header properties are described in the following table:
Property M C Default Description
HTTPRequest Header Options No Yes Carry forward header Configure the HTTPRequest header. These options are available.  
Carry forward header
Select this option to carry forward values from an incoming message.
Add header
Select this option to add new properties to the header, or to modify or delete existing properties.
Modify header
Select this option to add properties, or modify and delete existing properties.
Delete header
Select this option to remove the HTTPRequest header and all associated properties from the incoming message.
Clear incoming values No Yes Cleared This option, which is enabled only if you choose Modify header, removes all property names and associated values from the incoming message if present.
HTTPRequest Header No Yes No default value This field is enabled only if you chose Add header or Modify header for the HTTPRequest Header Options. The screen has no predefined properties; you use it to create custom properties and values. Use the property table to add new properties, or modify or delete existing properties, for the header. There is no limit to the number of properties. Each property must have a name and a type qualifier. The type qualifier can be Value, XPath, or Delete.
Value
Enter a new valid value for the selected property. A null value or empty string is also considered as a valid value.
XPath
Specify a valid XPath expression. IBM Integration Bus supports XPath definitions that start with an XPath variable such as $Root or $LocalEnvironment. Only the first occurrence is returned if there are multiple values for the XPath expression. (Examples of valid XPath expressions are: $LocalEnvironment/Host, and $Root/HTTPRequest/Content-Type).
Delete
Specify the property to be deleted from the incoming message. The value associated with the selected property is also deleted.

HTTPReply Header properties are described in the following table:

Property M C Default Description
HTTPReply Header Options No Yes Carry forward header Configure the HTTPReply header. These options are available.  
Carry forward header
Select this option to carry forward values from an incoming message.
Add header
Select this option to add new properties to the header, or to modify or delete existing properties.
Modify header
Select this option to add properties, or modify and delete existing properties.
Delete header
Select this option to remove the HTTPReply header and all associated properties from the incoming message.
Clear incoming values No Yes Cleared This option, which is is enabled only if you choose Modify header, removes all property names and associated values from the incoming message if present.
HTTPReply Header No Yes No default value This field is enabled only if you chose Add header or Modify header for HTTPRequest Header Options. The screen has no predefined properties; you use it to create custom properties and values. Use the property table to add new properties, or modify or delete existing properties, for the header. There is no limit to the number of properties. Each property must have a name and a type qualifier. The type qualifier can be Value, XPath, or Delete.
Value
Enter a new valid value for the selected property. A null value or empty string is also considered as a valid value.
XPath
Specify a valid XPath expression. IBM Integration Bus supports XPath definitions that start with an XPath variable such as $Root or $LocalEnvironment. Only the first occurrence is returned if there are multiple values for the XPath expression. (Examples of valid XPath expressions are: $LocalEnvironment/Host, and $Root/HTTPRequest/Content-Type).
Delete
Specify the property to be deleted from the incoming message. The value associated with the selected property is also deleted.
The Monitoring properties of the node are described in the following table.
Property M C Default Description
Events No No None Events that you have defined for the node are displayed on this tab. By default, no monitoring events are defined on any node in a message flow. Use Add, Edit, and Delete to create, change or delete monitoring events for the node; see Configuring monitoring event sources by using monitoring properties for details.

You can enable and disable events that are shown here by selecting or clearing the Enabled check box.