Life Cycle of an Integration Flow and Tips

Hi All,

I am working on the iFlow Eclipse Tool in SAP NWDS.

To be honest I love this one more than the beloved traditional Java swing based Tool.

I would like to share my understanding of the life cycle of Integration Flows and few tips for developers.

Version Used

SAP Enhancement Package 1 for SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio 7.3 SP07 PAT0007

SAP Enhancement Package 1 for SAP NetWeaver Process Orchestration 7.3 SP07

Life Cycle of an iFlow:

Status	Integration Flow Icons	Description
Created		A new iFlow has been created but not activated yet. It will be visible only under your workspace.
Activated		iFlow has been activated. All users can see this iFlow and they may edit it too. You can activate incomplete iFlows. You must activate before deployment. Please note that you will not be prompted to do so.
Saved		iFlow has undergone some change and saved but not activated by you.
Locked		iFlow has undergone some change and saved but not activated by others. You may open it in Read-Only mode.
Deployed		iFlow has been deployed. The changes are in Runtime.

As you may have noticed, the icon for an activated iFlow is same as the deployed iFlow, so just by looking at it, one cannot distinguish between an deployed and 'not deployed' iFlow. The best way to check the status is looking at the deployment status.

Undeployed iFlow:

Deployed iFlow:

Reverting to previous version:

'Reverting back to a previous version' option through NWDS is cleaner than its counterpart in integration directory java tool.

The deployment status will show which version is currently deployed.

Its recommended that one should not created an iFlow through NWDS and then edit using traditional Integration Directory Java Tool.That will lead to data inconsistency.

It is advisable to disable the permission to edit integration flows or channels created by iFlows through the traditional Integration Directory Java Tool to avoid accidental change. Moreover you wouldn't need to use the traditional tool as all the features of an integration flow are incorporated in NWDS.

Reference:

iFlow life cycle - SAP Help:

Understanding Integration Flow - Process Integration Tools (Eclipse-Based) - SAP Library

How To Guide to create an iFlow:

How To Use the iFlow Eclipse Tool with the Integration Directory

Quthorization required to work with iFlow:

Authorization for Operations on Integration Flows - Process Integration Tools (Eclipse-Based) - SAP Library

P.S: This is my first blog.Please share your thoughts.

I have created wiki page thou that has all the important link you may need.

A quick links guide for SAP Process Orchestration