A Beginner's Guide to Mule

Mule Application Building Blocks

Mule application building blocks are separated into categories in the Mule Palette:

Message Sources :

The first building block of most flows is a receiver that receives new messages and places them in the queue for processing.

• Message sources are usually Anypoint Connectors.

• Connectors provide connectivity to external resources, such as:

  •  Databases, protocols, or APIs.

  • Standard protocols like HTTP, FTP, SMTP, AMQP.

  • Third-party APIs like Salesforce, Twitter, or MongoDB.

Anypoint Connectors :

• Anypoint Platform has over 120 pre-built connectors:

  • 30 bundled with Anypoint Studio.

  • Additional ones available in the Anypoint Exchange.

• Connectors are accessible directly from Anypoint Studio or at https://www.mulesoft.com/exchange

• There are 2 main types:

  • Endpoint-based connectors

  • Operation-based connectors

Endpoint-Based Connectors :

• Are either inbound or outbound endpoints in a flow.

• Inbound endpoints serve as a message source for a flow.

• Outbound endpoints send information to external systems.

Operation-Based Connectors :

• These connectors require the specification of an operation in order to perform.

• This category includes most connectors not based on a standard communication protocol

Connector vs Endpoint :

• A connector is a Mule-specific connection to an external resource of any kind.

• An endpoint is a flow-level element that is configured to receive and/or send messages from and/or to external resources.

• When you drag a connector from the Mule Palette, an endpoint is created.

• Connectors and endpoints are global elements.

Creating Mule Applications With Anypoint Studio

Anypoint Studio is an Eclipse-based integration development environment that provides:

• Two-way editing between graphical and XML views.

• Visual debugging (EE).

• A data transformation framework and language (EE).

• One-click deployment of applications.

• Templates for common integration patterns (EE).

• Integration with Maven for continuous build processes.

Anatomy Of Flow: Visual

Anypoint Studio Anatomy:

Running an Application:

Anypoint Studio comes with an embedded Mule runtime to test applications without leaving it.

The console outputs application logs and information:

Testing Applications to Make Requests to an Endpoint:

Some options:

• A browser.

• A cURL command-line utility.

• A browser extension like Postman (for Google Chrome).

Introducing Mule Flows and Message

Mule Flows

Mule applications accept and process messages through a series of message processors plugged together in the flow.

A typical flow has:

• Message Source  - Accepts a message from an external source, triggering the execution of the flow.

• Message Processors - Transforms, filters, enrichs, and processes messages.

An application can consist of:

• A single flow.

• Multiple flows connected together to create more complex applications.

Anatomy of  a Flow :

Mule Message