Flow objects define Business Documents and signals exchanged during the Business Transaction. Consequently each flow can be generated as CanSend or CanReceive element depending on whether the party is the Requester or the Receiver of the message.
The following extended attributes (accessible from the Extended Attributes tab of the flow property sheet) apply to the flow. They represent mainly three technical parameters: actions, delivery channels and the message packaging used by the sender and the receiver. Since these parameters can be different in the sender and the receiver side, PowerDesigner associates two extended attributes to each parameter.
Name |
Description |
---|---|
Action ID |
Specifies the ID of the Receive/Send action Scripting name: ReceiverActionID, SenderActionID |
Action name |
Specifies the name of the Receive/Send action Scripting name: ReceiverActionName, SenderActionName |
Channel ID |
Specifies the delivery channel used by the Receiver/Sender to receive/send the message. The value references the name of a resource object having <<DeliveryChannel>> stereotype Scripting name: ReceiverChannelID, SenderChannelID |
Package ID |
Specifies the ID of the Message packaging used by the receiver/sender. This packaging is not defined by a resource object but will be generated as Packaging template. Receiver and Sender often use the same Packaging Scripting name: ReceiverPackageID, SenderPackageID |
Is authenticated |
[flows representing an acknowledgement only] Specifies that there is a digital certificate associated with the document entity. This provides proof of the signer's identity. Scripting name: isAuthenticated |
Is confidential |
[flows representing an acknowledgement only] Specifies that the information entity is encrypted so that unauthorized parties cannot view the information. Scripting name: isConfidential |
Is tamperproof |
[flows representing an acknowledgement only] Specifies that the information entity has an encrypted message digest that can be used to check if the message has been tampered with. This requires a digital signature (sender's digital certificate and encrypted message digest) associated with the document entity. Scripting name: isTamperProof |
The Action identification parameters Sender/ Receiver Action ID and Name are not required. Indeed PowerDesigner generates a default ID by combining the name of the Requesting or Responding business activity and a default string.
This default string can be:
The Sender/Receiver message packaging ID is the string that represents the reference to one packaging element in the CPA. PowerDesigner uses this ID to generate a default packaging template.
The Sender/Receiver channel ID references a detailed delivery channel that should have been defined by a resource object having <<Delivery Channel>> as stereotype.