IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Authoring services in Integration Designer > Services and service-related functions > Access external services with adapters > Configure and using adapters > IBM WebSphere Adapters > Email > Overview of WebSphere Adapter for Email > Technical overview of the WebSphere Adapter for Email
Outbound processing
WebSphere Adapter for Email supports outbound request processing. When the adapter receives a request in the form of a business object from a service, it processes the request and creates an email message. The adapter then sends the email message to a mail server.
Outbound processing begins with the adapter receiving a request in the form of a business object from a service. Business objects represent data that the adapter needs to create an email and each one might include, among other things, attachments, and email addresses for where the email is to be sent. When a request is received by the adapter, the adapter takes the information stored in the business object and creates an email. This email is then forwarded to the mail server for distribution.
The following illustration shows how the adapter and module (which encapsulates the service in a reusable unit) function together as part of an outbound service. A module created for outbound processing receives the business object, the business object is turned into an email by the adapter, and then the adapter sends the email to the mail server for distribution.
Figure 1. Adapter as part of an outbound SOA implementation
Each outbound module contains components that form a service, including an import. An import is a component, but without an implementation used to identify the services outside the module, making them callable from within the module. To communicate with references (for calling interfaces), imports require enterprise information system (EIS) binding information, to specify how the data is to be transported from the module. The assembly editor in IBM Integration Designer sets up the import and the EIS binding.
The following illustration shows a more detailed view of the module in an outbound implementation. The I and R symbols within the illustration represent interfaces and references. Interfaces dictate to the users of a service, in this case the import, how the component can be used. Interfaces are specification of the operations performed by a component. The operations are createCustomer, createAddress, and createEmail for outbound communication. References declare the interface that your service component is going to call. Each component in your module has one or more references. When you write your implementation for your service component using the assembly editor in IBM Integration Designer, you call a reference instead of directly calling the component. This implementation allows you to reassemble components in the future because you have not built dependencies into the code.
Figure 2. Outbound communication showing the import
During outbound processing, the adapter itself does not create emails. Instead, it converts the information received in a business object to a message that mail servers supporting the RFC822 format can understand.
This process is not visible to you. It is only mentioned because the term "RFC822 format" appears in the reference section in regard to the email headers the adapter supports.
When a mail server receives an email message from the adapter, the mail server converts the message to an email and sends it to all email addresses listed in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields. If the adapter cannot send the message successfully to the server, it logs the following information:
- the MailSendFault fault for all non-connection related exceptions,
- for all other cases, the EmailOutboundCreateException exception with an appropriate error message indicating the reason for the failure.
- Outbound data transformation
During outbound communication, the adapter transforms business objects into multipart MIME email messages.