Data Transformation Engine Integration Flow Designer Reference Guide

Chapter 4 - How the Integration Flow Designer Works Theory of Operation

Integration Flow Designer Reference Guide

A map component and a subsystem component are conceptually similar. The

difference between them is that they operate at different layers. As with a map

component, a subsystem is an IFD object. A subsystem does the following:

♦ Encapsulates an executable system and includes a surrounding layer of

execution settings used at run time

♦ Can include a subsystem component with a defined set of interfaces based on

the sources and targets of the various maps that it contains

At design time, you decide which subsystem components you want to add to a

system. A subsystem component can reference another system you have defined

within a system definition file (.msd).

A subsystem component can also reference a design document that you have

produced by using a preferred tool (a type is registered with the Windows

platform). This facility helps you to keep track of design-related and

implementation-related information at a system level.

As with map components, it is important to recognize that while a subsystem

references another system, it does not consume it. The system being referenced is

reusable. Another subsystem can also reference the same system. Compare the

following figure with the map component figure on page 54 to see the conceptual

similarities between a map component and a subsystem component.

Systems and the subsystems that reference them have execution settings. The

execution settings include the server that will execute the system and the type of

Command or Event Server that will run the system.