User-defined parsers

A user-defined parser is a program that interprets the bit stream of an incoming message and creates an internal representation of the message in a tree structure. A user-defined parser can also regenerate a bit stream for an outgoing message from the internal message tree representation

Create a user-defined parser when the IBM® Integration Bus parsers are not sufficient to parse user-defined messages.

Do not use user-defined parsers to provide connectivity or transformation functions. In most cases, the MRM or other IBM supplied parsers are capable of passing most standard type of format. You can also parse a message and construct a message tree in a user-defined node without the need to write a parser. For example, a user-defined node that reads emails from a POP3 server can parse the email and construct a message tree without the need to write a user-defined parser.

If the parser is going to be used only in a user-defined node, you do not need to use a user-defined parser. However, consider a user-defined parser if the parser will be called from other message flow nodes.