mule is a simple message router, which is configured in an .xml (mostly mule-config.xml)… following main elements can be found in it:
- connectors: defining the class, which will be used for the connection (can be used by endpoint with connector_ref)
- transformers: definig the class, which transforms the message to usable stuff (can be used by endpoints this transformer_ref)
- inbound-endpoint: inbound-event for a flow
- outbound-endpoint: outbound event for a flow, or message forwardpoint
- component: class in a flow which will be called after inbound, before outbound
there are 2 types of flows… flows with an outgoing-endpoint and flows without… in a flow it is possible to define multiple entrypoints and it should be possible to define multiple endpoints… i think, only 1 component can be defined… a PoC will show…
so a normal flow will be as followed:
- defined inbound-endpoint with a connector (to connect and wait for the incomming message) and a transformer(to handle the message and transform it into a format which the component expects)
- defined component which will do something with the message
- defined outgoing-endpoint to sent the message to other systems
additionally there is a model and services in the config file… couldn’t figure out, what the heck they are for…