Learn how to add each of the components available in the Components
Toolbar in the Edge Flow Manager (EFM) UI. You can add processors, remote process
groups, and funnels.
Processor
The processor is the most commonly used component, as it is responsible for data ingress,
egress, routing, and manipulating. There are many different types of processors. When you drag a
processor onto the canvas, the Add Processor dialog appears, as shown in
the following image, which allows you to choose which type of processor to use:
You can filter the list based on the processor type by using the Filter
items field at top-right corner of the Add Processor dialog.
After selecting a processor, you can click the Add button to add the
selected processor to the canvas at the location that it was dropped. Alternatively, you can
double-click on a processor type.
After you drag a processor onto the canvas, you can configure properties of the processor,
parameterize processor property values, or delete the processor. To configure properties,
double-click on the processor, or right-click on the processor and select
Configure from the context menu. To delete a processor, right-click on
the processor and select Delete from the context menu, or highlight the
processor and select DELETE on your keyboard. The following image shows the
Configure and Delete options in the context
menu:
Remote process group
A Remote Process Group (RPG) references a remote instance of NiFi. When you drag an RPG onto
the canvas, rather than being prompted for a name, you are prompted for the URL of the remote
NiFi instance. If the remote NiFi is clustered, you need to provide at least one URL of any NiFi
instance in that cluster. When data is transferred from an RPG running in MiNiFi, the RPG first
connects to the remote instance whose URL is configured to determine which nodes are in the
cluster and how busy each node is. This information is then used to load balance the data that
is pushed to each node. The remote instances are then interrogated periodically to determine
information about any nodes that are dropped from or added to the cluster and to recalculate the
load balancing based on the load of each node. If the cluster node specified in the URL is down,
the RPG cannot establish a connection with the cluster. To mitigate this scenario, you can enter
multiple URLs, allowing the RPG to establish a connection with more than one node.
After you drag an RPG onto the canvas, you can configure settings of the RPG or delete the
RPG. To configure settings, double-click on the RPG, or right-click on the RPG and select
Configure from the context menu. To delete an RPG, right-click on the
processor and select Delete from the context menu, or highlight the RPG
and select DELETE on your keyboard. The following image shows the
Configure and Delete options in the context
menu:
Funnel
Funnels are used to combine data from many connections into a single connection. If many
connections are created with the same destination, the canvas can become cluttered if those
connections have to span a large space. By funneling these connections into a single connection,
that single connection can then be drawn to span that large space instead.
To delete a funnel, right-click on the funnel and select Delete from
the context menu, or highlight the funnel and select DELETE on your keyboard.