A workflow containing a TCP/IP collection agent can be set up to send responses back to the source from which the incoming data was received. This requires an APL agent (Analysis or Aggregation) to be part of the workflow.

A TCP/IP workflow can be configured to send responses to the source

To illustrate how such a workflow is defined, an example is given where an incoming UDR is validated, resulting in either the field anum or a sequence number being sent back as a reply message to the source. Depending on if one or several TCP/IP connections are allowed, the format of the reply message sent from the Analysis agent differs:

Disabling the Allow Multiple Connections option in the TCP/IP Collection agent, will allow only one TCP/IP session at a time. If another attempt to create a connection is made while a connection already exists, the new connection will be rejected.

The TCP/IP Collection Agent

 In order to be able to send reply messages,  Send Response  must be enabled in the configuration window of the agent. Drop an Analysis agent in the workflow and connect it to the TCP/IP agent. Drag and release in the opposite direction to create a response route in the workflow.

Also, an Ultra format for decoding of incoming data must be defined. Note, no format has to be defined for the response - it will be sent as a bytearray from the Analysis agent.

TCP/IP agent configuration

The Analysis Agent

The Analysis agent handles both the validation of the incoming records, as well as sending the response. If the field duration is less than or equal to zero, the UDR is discarded and the field anum, in form of a bytearray, is sent back as response. All other UDRs are routed to the next agent in turn, and instead a sequence number is sent as response.

Note the use of the synchronized keyword. Updating a global variable within a real-time workflow must be done within a synchronized function. This to assure consistency between threads. By default, a real-time workflow utilizes several threads.

int seqNum;
synchronized int createSeqNum() {
  seqNum = seqNum + 1;
  return seqNum;
}

consume { 
    bytearray reply; 


    if ( input.duration <= 0 ) {
      strToBA( reply, input.anum );
      udrRoute( reply, "response" ); 
    } else { 
      strToBA( reply, (string)createSeqNum() );
      udrRoute( reply, "response" ); 
      udrRoute( input, "UDRs" ); 
    }
}

Multiple TCP/IP Connections

Enabling the Allow Multiple Connections option in the TCP/IP Collection agent, will allow several simultaneous TCP/IP sessions at a time. If an attempt to open a new connection is made when the maximum number of connections are already open, the new connection will be refused.

The TCP/IP Collection Agent

In order to be able to send reply messages,  Send Response must be enabled in the configuration window of the agent. An additional connection point will appear on the agent, to which an Analysis agent is to be linked. Also, an Ultra format for the decoding of the incoming data must be defined. This format must contain the built-in TCPIP format. See the section below.

TCP/IP agent configuration

The Format Definition

The incoming external format must be extended with the TCPIPUDR format. 

external asciiSEQ_ext sequential { 
    ascii callId: terminated_by(":"); 
    int seqNum: terminated_by(","); 
    ascii anum: terminated_by(","); 
    ascii bnum: terminated_by(","); 
    ascii causeForOutput: terminated_by(","); 
    int duration: terminated_by(0xA); 
};


internal TCP_Int : 
    extends_class( "com.digitalroute.wfc.tcpipcoll.TCPIPUDR" ) {
};


in_map TCP_InMap : 
    external( asciiSEQ_ext ), 
    internal( TCP_Int ), 
    target_internal( ascii_TCP_TI ) { 
    automatic;
};


out_map ascii_TCP_outMap : external( asciiSEQ_ext ), 
                           internal( ascii_TCP_TI ) { 
                              automatic; 
};


decoder TCPData : in_map( TCP_InMap );


encoder TCPData : out_map( ascii_TCP_outMap );

The Analysis Agent

The Analysis agent handles both the validation of the incoming records, as well as sending the response. If the field duration is less than or equal to zero, the UDR is discarded and the field anum is inserted into the response field, and the complete UDR is sent back as response. All other UDRs are routed to the next agent in turn and a sequence number is inserted into the response field before any routing.

Note the use of the synchronized keyword. Updating a global variable within a real-time workflow must be done within a synchronized function. This to assure consistency between threads. By default, a real-time workflow utilizes several threads.

int seqNum;
synchronized int createSeqNum() {
  seqNum = seqNum + 1; 
  return seqNum; 
}


consume { 
    bytearray reply;
    if ( input.duration <= 0 ) {
      strToBA( reply, input.anum ); 
      input.response = reply; 
      udrRoute( input, "response" ); 
    } else { 
      strToBA( reply, (string)createSeqNum() ); 
      input.response = reply; 
      udrRoute( input, "response" ); 
      udrRoute( input, "UDRs" ); 
    }
}