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Introduction

TIBCO Designer offers two paradigms for manipulating data: projects and repositories. In most cases, you use the project paradigm. In some cases, you want to look at or work with the underlying paradigm, the repository. You can locate, manage, and monitor repositories using the repository palette.

By default, the repository palette is hidden.

This chapter first compares the two paradigms. It then explains how to display the repository palette, and how to use TIBCO Designer to locate repository instances. It also gives a reference to all icons in the Repository palette.

You can use Repository Finder only to manage 4.x repositories. It does not work for 5.x multi-file projects (VC format repositories).

This chapter gives an introduction to projects and repositories and how they interact.

•	Projects and Repositories

•	Showing the Repository Palette

•	Repository Finder Tool

•	Using Repository Finder to Locate Repositories

•	Repository Palette

Projects and Repositories

TIBCO Designer allows you to view and manipulate your data using two different paradigms:

•	A project is a collection of information you are currently working on. A project represents the work you have done. You can save projects, share them with others, and open them again.

A project could contain, for example, several adapter instances used by your integration and folders to organize the adapters.

•	A repository is a data store, that is, a collection of information stored in one place. Repositories can be simple, for example, contain data used by an application, or more complex, for example, contain the definitions for several adapters.

You can view and manipulate any repository using Repository Finder. This includes repositories saved as projects from TIBCO Designer and legacy repositories created by other tools. You can also view and manipulate currently loaded projects as repositories.

Warning: In almost all cases, it is appropriate to work with your data using the project’s folders, resources, and configuration information. One reason for this is that TIBCO Designer makes sure the public and private repository areas are in sync when you edit a project. Inconsistencies may result if you change a repository using Repository Finder. The Repository Finder hierarchy is meant for certain administrative tasks on legacy projects and not usually used for application design.

Showing the Repository Palette

By default, the Repository palette is not displayed in the palette panel because its functionality is for repository management only.

To display the Repository palette, choose Palettes > General > Repository. That makes the Repository palette available from the palette panel when the top-level folder is selected.

Repository Finder Tool

The Repository Finder tool lets you locate and manage repositories.

•	Locate both local and remote repositories based on the discovery criteria you specify. See Using Repository Finder to Locate Repositories.

•	Manage repository instances. See Introduction.

•	Stop a repository server. See Stopping a Repository Server.

•	Manage data inside the repository. See Introduction.

When you add a Repository Finder to your project, the Finder is later saved as part of your project. However, the search information is not saved.

Using Repository Finder to Locate Repositories

Repository Finder lets you locate both local and server-based repositories.

You can only locate repositories that have been saved in .dat format. You cannot locate repositories for multi-file projects.

To locate a repository, follow these steps:

1.	Make sure the Repository palette is available (not hidden). See Showing the Repository Palette.

2.	Drag a Repository Finder from the palette panel to the design panel.

A Repository Finder is added to your project and displayed in the design panel and the project tree. The configuration panel lets you specify discovery criteria.

Local File Repositories

3.	To locate local file repositories

a.	Click the Local File Repositories tab.

b.	Click the Search Locally check box.

c.	Click Browse and select the directory in which the repository is located.

d.	If you only want to look for local file repositories, click Rediscover.

TIBCO Designer looks for repositories in the specified directory and displays them in the project tree panel under a Local Repositories entry. Here’s an example of part of a repository hierarchy for a TIBCO BusinessConnect for RosettaNet application.

By default, Repository Finder only displays repository directories and objects. If you want to view attribute information, select Advanced Browsing in the Advanced tab before you click Rediscover. See Introduction.

e.	If you want to look for both local and remote repositories, go on to the next step.

Servers and Instances

4.	Click Server Repositories if you want to find repository servers and their instances.

a.	Click the Search Remotely check box.

b.	If the server is using RVD, specify any non-default TIBCO Rendezvous daemon, network, and service, specify it here. Otherwise, TIBCO Designer searches using the defaults, which are:

−	RV Daemon: tcp:7500

−	RV Network: unspecified

−	RV Service: unspecified

c.	If you are using RVA, click the RVA button and specify the host and port.

d.	Click Rediscover (unless you intend to specify advanced settings).

TIBCO Designer finds any remote repositories for the specified TIBCO Rendezvous settings and displays them in the project tree.

If you do not have read permission for a server-based repository managed by TIBCO Administrator, you may not be able to display it.

5.	Browse the local and remote repositories that match your search criteria. In the hierarchy, you see repository instances, directories, and objects.

6.	If you need additional information on the contents of the object, or want to change its attribute, choose the Advanced tab, then turn on advanced browsing and editing. See Viewing Attributes of Repository Objects and Modifying Attributes Inside Repository Objects.

In most situations, adding resources to projects and manipulating their attributes is preferable to manipulating repository objects through the Repository Finder hierarchy. One reason for this is that TIBCO Designer makes sure the public and private repository areas are in sync if you edit a project, but cannot do so if you change a repository.

Copyright © Cloud Software Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved