Java Custom Function
The Java Custom Function resource allows you to create custom functions to use when mapping data in an activity’s input tab. These functions are also displayed when using the XPath Editor to build an XPath expression.
To create a custom function, you must write the function as a method of a Java class and compile the code into a Java class file. You then load that class file into the project using this resource.
When the class is loaded using this resource, ActiveMatrix BusinessWorks inspects the contents of the class and only the class methods that meet the following restrictions are made available in XPath:
-
Only methods declared as
public
andstatic
are loaded. -
The input parameters and return values must be of one of the types described in Datatypes allows for Java custom functions.
-
The return value of the function cannot be
void
. -
The method cannot be a constructor.
-
The method cannot explicitly throw an exception. Runtime exceptions are allowed, however.
-
Method names cannot be overloaded in a class or any imported classes in a single Java Custom Function resource. You can load methods of the same name into separate classes in separate Java Custom Function resources and use the Prefix field to differentiate between the methods.
-
If you make references to any imported class files, these classes must be available in the classpath configured for ActiveMatrix BusinessWorks. The easiest way to make the imported classes available is to place them in the
TIBCO/bw/2.0/lib
directory. -
Inner classes are not supported.
HELP_STRINGS
in your class. The element containing a string matching the function name is used as the help for that function. For an example of creating the HELP_STRINGS
arraySee Example Java Function.
Type of Data |
Datatypes Allowed for Input Parameters and Return Types |
|
Strings and Characters |
|
|
Boolean |
|
|
Numbers |
|
|
If there are different classes that have methods with the same names, the Prefix field allows you to specify a prefix for qualifying which method you want to use in an XPath function. For more information, see the description of the Prefix field below.
For more information about building XPath expressions and using the XPath editor, see TIBCO ActiveMatrix BusinessWorks™ Process Design.