XI3.0/SP19: Deadline Branch - Set time period dynamically

Question

Hi All,
We need to receive the deadline period from an external system
Is it possible to set the time period from an external value?
Thanks,
Ofer

Answer 1

We had a similar request in a project of ours, and managed to make it work with the following workaround.
Use a Fork Step with 2 branchs and in "necessary finished branches" option, set it to 1.
In 1 branch, use the steps you normally would use in the block w/ deadline main branch.
In the other branch, use a transformation step with a particular mapping.
This mapping should be from the message you receive in "start process" receive step to any other target (you could create a dummy target message type or use the same message type of source message). In the message mapping, supposing you use target message = source message, just map all fields into the respective targets. In particular, in the field with the value you want to set to the deadline, use a UDF between the source and the target. Supposing the waiting interval is in seconds, use the UDF as:
int delay = Integer.parseInt(a);
try {
  Thread.sleep(delay*1000);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
  throw new RuntimeException("Error in waiting function.");
This way you can have any time interval you want (including intervals shorter than 1 minute).
Regards,
Henrique.