RESTAsyncRequest node

You can use a RESTAsyncRequest node in a message flow to issue a REST request to an external REST API, and return control to the flow without waiting for a response. The response is received by a RESTAsyncResponse node, which can be in a separate message flow but must be in the same integration server. The nodes are used as a pair, and correlate responses against the original requests by using a unique identifier, which is specified on both nodes.

The RESTAsyncRequest node uses an imported Swagger document in either JSON or YAML format, which you can import from the toolkit workspace, the file system, or from a URL.

If you have created a REST API from scratch in the IBM® Integration Toolkit, a Swagger document was created for you, which you can import and use with the RESTAsyncRequest node. For more information about creating REST APIs, see Creating a REST API.

The RESTAsyncRequest node handles messages in the following message domains:

• DFDL
• XMLNSC
• JSON
• BLOB
• MIME
• XMLNS
• MRM

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

The RESTAsyncRequest node can be used in a message flow to invoke a REST API. Use this node together with a RESTAsyncResponse node, which handles the response to the request asynchronously. For more information about how to use these nodes, see Interacting asynchronously with REST APIs by using the RESTAsyncRequest and RESTAsyncResponse nodes.

SET OutputLocalEnvironment.Destination.REST.Request.UserContext = 'Some important information';
SET OutputLocalEnvironment.Destination.REST.Request.UserContext.Name.FirstName = 'Fred';
SET OutputLocalEnvironment.Destination.REST.Request.UserContext.Name.Surname = 'Bloggs';
SET OutputLocalEnvironment.Destination.REST.Request.UserContext.MyData.Binary = CAST('A piece of data' AS BLOB CCSID 1208);

You can use a Mapping node to set a value, by mapping to the mixed child element OutputLocalEnvironment.Destination.REST.Request.UserContext.mixed. To use a Mapping node to create sub-elements, use user-defined elements or cast xsd:any and map to them. For example:

To access the user context data after a RESTAsyncResponse node, read the value or children of the LocalEnvironment.REST.Response.UserContext environment variable.

The RESTAsyncRequest node terminals are described in the following table.

The following tables describe the node properties. The column headed M indicates whether the property is mandatory (marked with an asterisk on the panel 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 RESTAsyncRequest node Description properties are described in the following table.

The RESTAsyncRequest node Basic properties are described in the following table.

The RESTAsyncRequest node HTTP Settings properties are described in the following table.

The RESTAsyncRequest node SSL properties are described in the following table.

The RESTAsyncRequest node Request properties are described in the following table.

The RESTAsyncRequest node Response properties are described in the following table.

You can dynamically override set values in the local environment in the same way as setting values in other elements of a message. For more information, see Using local environment variables with REST nodes.