Designing Processes › Operators and Links: The Building Blocks

Operators and Links: The Building Blocks

The general structure of a CA Process Automation process consists of two basic items: operators and links. Operators perform tasks or conditional tests. Links connect operators and determine the processing sequence.

The following list describes some examples of operators:

• File Management operators monitor file sizes, patterns, and other parameters relative to files on a system.
• File Transfer operators use FTP to perform file transfers and remote file operators.
• Email operators notify system administrators in the event of errors or other conditional states requiring human intervention.
• Network Utilities interface operators get, update, and monitor SNMP variables and send SNMP traps for network devices and monitors.
• Resource operators represent resources in limited supply.
• Web Services (SOAP methods) represent an interface between third party products and CA Process Automation.

Links connect operators and carry out the processing flow. The point where an operator and link intersect is called a port. A link originates at the exit port for one operator and ends at the entry port for another operator.

When a process between two operators runs, the processing sequence can be summarized as follows:

• Activate the first operator.
• Apply logic, get a result, and flow to the appropriate exit port.
• Activate the second operator.

An operator can have multiple exit ports to handle various results. Each exit link can initiate a separate branch of operators in a subprocess or child process. Exit and entry ports enforce a linear sequence in which operators are processed. They can direct the process flow to a particular branch of a process depending on the outcome of a single operator.

To direct processing based on the outcomes of multiple operators, use the following operators:

• The Loop operator.
• The Exception operator in Exception Handler mode.
• Conditional operators, such as the And operator or the Or operator.

These operators allow you to design multiple entry and exit branches for other operators. You can also create links that depend on the outcomes of multiple operators.