Beginning with the 4.0.0 release, most runtime properties and other deploy-time settings are configured using a structured XML file called the Cluster Deployment Descriptor (CDD). A big advantage of this change is that you can change CDD file values at deploy-time without having to rebuild the EAR file (the CDD file used is stored outside the EAR file).
A multi-tab editor in TIBCO BusinessEvents Studio enables easy maintenance of this file. This section explains the role of the CDD file for the benefit of those migrating projects from 3.x.
The EAR file now includes all resources In the current architecture, you don’t select what resources to include in the EAR file. The EAR includes all project resources and can be very large. During runtime however, the resources are enabled (filtered) through the CDD Agent Classes and Collections tabs.
In 3.x (and earlier), runtime properties were set using individual properties set in one or more TRA files. In some cases, runtime properties were set in TIBCO Designer, specifically in the BAR resource, and some were set in the TIBCO Designer TRA file.
Now only JVM-level properties (those that need to be used before the engine starts up) are set in the
be-engine.tra file. Properties that were set in the TIBCO Designer TRA file (
designer.tra) are now generally set in the
studio.tra file:
Other runtime properties are configured in the CDD file. The CDD file provides fields for all commonly used settings, and it has property sheets where you can add other properties as needed. The property sheets are available at various levels, cluster, processing unit, and agent, so that you can scope the effect of the property appropriately and provide overrides at lower levels.
In the CDD, you configure processing units (equivalent to an engine at runtime). A processing unit references the agent or agents you want to include in the processing unit (engine) at runtime. At deploy time you specify which processing units to deploy.
Beginning with the 4.0.0 release, you configure all the processing units you need to deploy in a single CDD file. When you deploy an engine, you specify the processing unit to use. The processing unit configuration in the CDD determines which project resources and settings are used at runtime.
Some agents and processing units are created for you when you import a 3.x project into Studio based on 3.x information available. After you import the project into TIBCO BusinessEvents Studio, edit the CDD file to fully configure the agents and processing units as needed.
The entity metadata properties (also known as extended properties) for cache and backing store are now configured in the CDD. Preloading configuration has also been simplified. This is explained in the migration sections.