Managing options

Options enable you to socialize one event source multiple times and in different ways.

An option can have a variety of controls that enable you to have greater control over how the events are used. One event source can have many options and each option can contain numerous controls as demonstrated in the following diagram. For example, one event source can have 3 options. One of those options has the schema filtering and redaction control set; the other option has no controls; and the other option has all 3 controls (schema filtering, redaction and approval). So each option is providing a different control set for a subscriber to interact with. In each case, the original event source remains untouched and all the controls that you add are enforced as it passes through the Event Gateway.

Event Endpoint Management 11.6.3 icon In Event Endpoint Management 11.6.3 and later, you can control visibility to options by assigning specific user groups to have access to selected options only. When Event Endpoint Management is connected to your external identity provider, it provides an automatically populated list of groups that will be discoverable when you add options to user groups. When you create an option, you can decide which user groups will be able to access and use the option in the catalog after you have published it. You can assign user groups when you create an option or through the User groups page.

Note: Options that do not have any user groups are considered public and are visible to all users with the viewer role.

Options and controls

Creating an option

To create an option, complete the following steps:

  1. In the navigation pane, click Manage topics.
  2. Click the event source that you want to work with.
  3. Click the Options tab on the Topic detail page.
  4. Click Create option. The Details pane is displayed.
  5. In the Option field, provide a name for your option.

  6. In the Alias field, provide a unique name that will be used to identify the Kafka topic.

    Note: The alias you provide is the name displayed for the event endpoint in the catalog, which users can then subscribe to. The alias must meet the following conditions:

    • Be less than 200 characters in length,
    • Have no white space included,
    • Must not use invalid characters: '/', '\\', ',', '\u0000', ':', '"', '\'', ';', '*', '?', ' ', '\t', '\r', '\n', '='
  7. Optional: In the Description field, provide a description of your option.
  8. Click Next. The Controls pane is displayed.
  9. Optional: If you want to add controls, click Add control. For more information about controls, see adding controls to options.
  10. If you’re using Event Endpoint Management 11.6.2 and earlier, click Save. Your new option is displayed.
  11. Event Endpoint Management 11.6.3 icon If you’re using 11.6.3 and later, click Next. The Visibility pane is displayed.
  12. Select the visibility type for the option from one of the following options:
    • Public. If you select Public, the option is visible to all users with the viewer role.
    • Custom. If you select Custom, you are prompted to select the user groups that you want to make the option available to.

    a. (Optional) If the group you want is not displayed, Click Add group to add a new group.
    b. Enter the name of your group.

    Important: Any user groups that you add manually must exist within the organization provided by your external identity provider.
    c. Click Save.

  13. Click Create option. Your new option is displayed.

You can publish the option from this page when you are ready.

Editing an option

To edit an option’s details, complete the following steps:

  1. In the navigation pane, click Manage topics.
  2. Click the event source that you want to work with.
  3. In the Topic detail page, click the Options tab.
  4. Click More options icon More options, and select Edit. The Edit option window is displayed.

  5. In the Details pane, edit the fields that you want to change.

    Note:

    • Restrictions and validation checks ensure each field meets requirements for options.
    • The Alias is only editable when the option is in an unpublished state.
  6. On the Controls pane, edit the controls as required.

  7. Event Endpoint Management 11.6.3 icon If you’re using 11.6.3 and later, on the Visibility pane, select or add the user groups that you want to make the option available to.

    Note:

    • You cannot edit the visibility of published or archived options.
  8. After you make changes, click Save.
  9. To cancel changes, click Cancel.

Option lifecycle states

After adding an option to an event source in Event Endpoint Management, the option can have different lifecycle states. The lifecycle state of your option determines whether it can be subscribed to by users and socialized in the catalog.

The lifecycle of an option in Event Endpoint Management progresses as follows:

  • Unpublished: This option is not socialized in the Catalog. It cannot be subscribed to by other users and has no current subscriptions.
  • Published: This option is socialized in the Catalog. Users can create new subscriptions to use it.
  • Archived: This option is socialized in the Catalog and has existing subscriptions. Users cannot create new subscriptions to use it.

The Options tab on the Topic detail page allows users to manage options and the state of an option is shown in the status field of the option’s tile.

To change the lifecycle state of an option, complete the following steps:

  1. In the navigation pane, click Manage topics.
  2. Click the event source that you want to work with.
  3. Click the Options tab on the Topic detail page.
  4. For the option that you want to edit, click the Edit icon edit icon. A pop-up window to edit your option is displayed.

  5. In the side bar, click Publish option. You can see the option’s current state and a button to advance it to the next state in this pane.

    • To change the Unpublished state to Published, click Publish.
    • To change the Published state to Archived, click Archive.
      • Note: This option is only available if a published option has subscribers.
    • To change the Published state to Unpublished, click Unpublish.
      • Note: This option is only available if a published option has no current subscribers.
    • To change the Archived state to Published, click Publish.
  6. After you make changes, click Save.
  7. To cancel changes, click Cancel.

Note: Archived options automatically return to the Unpublished state when all subscribers have their subscriptions removed from using this option.

An option can be edited in any lifecycle state. However, the set of fields that can be edited is restricted when in Published or Archived states to prevent changes that cause runtime issues for subscribed users.

Note: Only Unpublished options can be deleted from Event Endpoint Management.

Deleting an option

An option can be deleted from an event source if it’s in an Unpublished state. Deleting an option removes all the details and controls about the option but the event source will remain. To move your option into a state so that you can delete it, refer to the different lifecycle states of an option.

To delete an option from Event Endpoint Management, complete the following steps.

  1. In the navigation pane, click Manage topics.
  2. Find the event source that the option belongs to and ensure that the Option status is 0 published. All options in the Unpublished state will have a delete icon trash icon in their row in the event source table.
  3. Click the event source that you want to work with.
  4. Open the Options tab within the Topic detail page.
  5. Click More options icon More options, and select Delete. The Delete option window is displayed.
  6. Enter the name of the option to confirm the option that you want to delete.
  7. Click Delete. (Delete is highlighted in the footer if you entered the name of the option that you want to delete correctly).