RPC entity

Introduction

RPC entities are Plain Java Objects used as models for Mainframe and IBM i RPC programs, SOAP services, stored procedures, and similar backends.

Structure

The RPC entity comprises three main parts: RPC Field, RPC Part, and an enclosing RPC Entity.

• RPC Field — an ordinary Java field annotated with @RpcField. It represents a field of the backend program.
• RPC Part — a Java class or static nested class annotated with @RpcPart, representing a structured object. A part defined as a separate class is an external RPC Part. Nested parts are not limited to a specific number of layers.
• RPC Entity — the enclosing representation of a single backend program (input, output, and metadata) executed by the SDK project.

Behavior can be defined by properties such as @RpcActions, @Action, and @RpcNavigation.

@RpcEntity(name="Books", language=Languages.COBOL)
@RpcActions(actions = {
        @Action(action = EXECUTE.class, path = "BOOKS")})
public class Items {

    @RpcField(originalName = "BOOK")
    private Book bookPart;
    
    @RpcPart(name = "InnerRecord", originalName = "INNER-RECORD", displayName = "INNERRECORD")
    public static class Book {

        @RpcField(length = 16, originalName = "TITLE", legacyType = "Char")
        private String title;
    
        @RpcField(length=20, originalName ="AUTHOR", legacyType = "Char")
        private String author;

        @RpcNumericField(minimumValue = -9999, maximumValue = 9999, decimalPlaces = 0)    
        @RpcField(length = 2, originalName = "ISBN", legacyType = "Binary Integer")
        private Integer isbn;

        @RpcField(length = 28, originalName = "DESCRIPTION", legacyType = "Char")
        private String description;
    }
}

RPC properties

@RpcEntity, @RpcField, and @RpcPart are structural. When a class is annotated with @RpcEntity, @RpcPart, @RpcEntitySuperClass, or @RpcPartSuperClass, compilation also generates getters/setters, an actions list, and auxiliary JSON/XML annotations.

Runtime behavior is controlled with @RpcActions / @Action, RPC field properties (except @Hidden), and the Direction enum.

RPC entity properties	RPC field properties	RPC part properties
@RpcEntity	@RpcField	@RpcPart
@RpcEntitySuperClass	@RpcBooleanField	@RpcPartSuperClass
@RpcNavigation	@RpcDateField
@RpcActions	@RpcNumericField
@Action	@RpcList
Languages enum	@RpcDynamicField
	@Hidden
	Direction enum

Actions

@RpcActions contains @Action entries:

• action (mandatory) — READ, EXECUTE, UPDATE, DELETE, GET, POST, SHOW, …
• path — executable program / procedure / REST API on the host
• alias, displayName
• olCache / olCacheEvict — per-action cache

RPC field properties

Each field should be annotated with @RpcField. Main attributes:

• length — bytes in the buffer
• originalName — host field name
• legacyType — host type (platform-specific)
• order — serialization order override
• direction — INPUT, OUTPUT, INPUT_OUTPUT (default), ERROR, NONE

Companion annotations: @RpcBooleanField, @RpcDateField, @RpcNumericField, @RpcList (count 0 = dynamic list), @FieldAttribute.

Additional

• @RpcNavigation — category name for web solutions
• @Hidden — hide the field in the view

See RPC projects and RPC SDK.

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Source: RPC Entity (Confluence)