FlowOrder node

The FlowOrder node propagates the input message to the first output terminal, and the sequence of nodes that is connected to this terminal processes the message. When that message processing is complete, control returns to the FlowOrder node. If the message processing completes successfully, the FlowOrder node propagates the input message to the second output terminal, and the sequence of nodes that is connected to this terminal processes the message.

The message that is propagated through the second output terminal is the input message. It is not modified in any way by the FlowOrder node. If a compute node that is connected to the first terminal modifies the InputRoot, for example by using references, these modifications are made visible in the message that is propagated to the Second terminal.

You can include this node in a message flow at any point where the order of execution of subsequent nodes is important.

If you connect multiple nodes to the first output terminal, the second output terminal, or both, the order in which the multiple connections on each terminal are processed is random and unpredictable. However, the message is propagated to all target nodes that are connected to the first output terminal, which must all complete successfully, before the message is propagated to any node that is connected to the second output terminal.

Your message flow performance can benefit from including the FlowOrder node in a situation where one sequence of processing that is required for a message is significantly shorter than another sequence of processing. If you connect the shorter sequence to the first terminal, any failure is identified quickly and prevents execution of the second longer sequence of processing.

The FlowOrder node is contained in the Construction drawer of the palette, and is represented in the IBM® Integration Toolkit by the following icon:

For an example of using this node, assume that your company receives orders from customers using the Internet. When the order is received, it is processed by nodes that are connected to the first terminal of a FlowOrder node to debit the stock level in your database and raise an invoice. A check is made to see whether the customer has indicated that his details can be sent to other suppliers. If the customer has indicated that he does not want this information to be divulged, this check fails and no further processing occurs. If the customer is happy for you to share his details with other companies (that is, the test is successful), the input message is propagated to the second terminal so that the customer's details can be added to the mailing list.

The FlowOrder node has no configurable properties that affects its operation. You determine how it operates by connecting the first and second output terminals to subsequent nodes in your message flow.

1. Connect the First terminal to the first node in the sequence of nodes that provide the first phase of processing this message. This sequence can contain one or more nodes that perform any valid processing. The sequence of nodes can optionally conclude with an output node.
2. Connect the Second terminal to the first node in the sequence of nodes that provide the second phase of processing this message. This sequence can contain one or more nodes that perform any valid processing. The sequence of nodes can optionally conclude with an output node.

   The message that is propagated through the Second terminal is identical to that propagated through the First terminal. Any changes that you have introduced as a result of the first phase of processing are ignored by this node.

   If the first phase of processing fails, the FlowOrder node does not regain control and does not propagate the message through the Second terminal.

When you have put an instance of the FlowOrder node into a message flow, you can configure it. For more information, see Configuring a message flow node. The properties of the node are displayed in the Properties view.

The FlowOrder node terminals are described in the following table.

The following table describes 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 FlowOrder node Description properties are described in the following table.