Testing a subflow user-defined node project

Test how the user-defined node is displayed, and how it behaves in your environment.

About this task

You can test how the user-defined node is displayed, and how it behaves in your environment by simulating the node. The user-defined node is displayed in the palette in the Message Flow editor, and any change to the plug-in during the simulation is effective immediately; you are not required to restart the simulation.

To start the simulation of a user-defined node:
1. Right-click the user-defined node project, click Start Simulation. This action adds all the user-defined nodes that are in the project to the palette in the Message Flow editor under the category that you defined for the project.
2. You can drag these nodes from the palette onto the Message Flow editor canvas in the same way as the built-in nodes.

To stop the simulation of a user-defined node:

Right-click the user-defined node project, click Stop Simulation.

If any message flows are using the user-defined node, an error is generated because the node is no longer available, and the following message is displayed:

User-defined nodes that are contributed by the user-defined node 
project Varname will be removed from the Message Flow editor palette. 
If a copy of these nodes is not available from the plug-in space, 
any message flows that use these nodes might get unresolved node 
errors.

If you are using custom editors, compilers, or Java™ code, these resources cannot be tested in simulation mode. To test and debug these projects and resources you must launch a second IBM® Integration Toolkit by using the following steps:
1. Right-click the user-defined node project. The menu opens.
2. Click Run in New Workbench.
  - If the project contains errors, you receive an error message that gives you the option to continue, or to cancel the action.
  - If the project is error-free, the Workspace Launcher window opens.
    1. You can choose to use a new or an existing workspace. To choose an existing workspace, click Browse. The second workspace opens.
    2. You can now test and debug by using the user-defined nodes in all error-free user-defined node projects in your first workbench.
In previous versions of the IBM Integration Toolkit, you were able to use launch configurations to test custom editors, compilers, or Java code. However, launch configurations are not supported with user-defined nodes that are created from a subflow. To test custom editors, compilers, and Java code with user-defined nodes that are created from a subflow, right-click the user-defined node project and click Run in New Workbench.