Setting Input Adapter Properties

An input adapter is a program, usually running in the same server process as your StreamBase application, that converts data from an external source to the StreamBase tuple protocol. After adding an input adapter to an EventFlow canvas in StreamBase Studio, select its icon in the canvas to open its Properties view.

The Properties view for each adapter differs according to the capabilities offered by each adapter. The Properties view for input adapters always has a General tab, a Concurrency tab, and at least one Adapter Properties tab. Many adapters also have an Edit Schemas tab to specify the schema to be output from the adapter.

Properties: General Tab

Name: Use this field to specify or change the component's name, which must be unique in the application. The name must contain only alphabetic characters, numbers, and underscores, and no hyphens or other special characters. The first character must be alphabetic or an underscore.

Adapter: A read-only field that shows the formal name of the adapter.

Start with application: If this field is set to Yes or to a module parameter that evaluates to true, an instance of this adapter starts as part of the containing StreamBase Server. If this field is set to No or to a module parameter that evaluates to false, the adapter is loaded with the server, but does not start until you send an sbadmin resume command, or until you start the component with StreamBase Manager. With this option set to No or false, the adapter does not start even if the application as a whole is suspended and later resumed. The recommended setting is selected by default.

Enable Error Output Port: Select this check box to add an Error Port to this component. In the EventFlow canvas, the Error Port shows as a red output port, always the last port for the component. See Using Error Ports and Error Streams to learn about Error Ports.

Description: Optionally enter text to briefly describe the component's purpose and function. In the EventFlow canvas, you can see the description by pressing Ctrl while the component's tooltip is displayed.

Properties: Adapter Properties Tabs

Use the adapter properties tab or tabs to configure the unique properties of each adapter. Some adapters have a single tab in the Properties view named Adapter Properties. Other adapters have property settings spread out over multiple tabs.

Refer to the Properties section of each adapter's topic in the Adapters Guide to understand how to set the properties for each adapter.

Properties: Edit Schema Tab

Use the Edit Schema tab to specify the schema of outgoing tuples from this input adapter. This functionality is similar to the Edit Schema tab for Input Streams, as described in Defining Input Streams.

Properties: Concurrency Tab

Use the Concurrency tab to specify parallel regions for this instance of this component, or multiplicity options, or both. The Concurrency tab settings are described in Concurrency Options, and dispatch styles are described in Dispatch Styles.

Caution

Concurrency settings are not suitable for every application, and using these settings requires a thorough analysis of your application. For details, see Execution Order and Concurrency, which includes important guidelines for using the concurrency options.