The first step in adding a channel is to select the channel components. To do this, perform the following steps:

• Click the Dashboard tab.
• In the Dashboard Control Panel, click Add Channel. The Add Channel screen appears:

• From the Source list box, select a source component. See Channel Source Components for a description of each of these components.
• From the Destination list box, select a destination component. See Channel Destination Components for a description of each of these components.
• Click Configure Channel to start the channel configuration process.

When you click Configure Channel, the Configure Channel screen appears. This screen consists of the following sections, each of which is in its own tab:

• A Channel section, in which you supply the configuration details for the channel itself;
• A Source section, in which you configure the source component of the channel;
• A Filter section, in which you can specify a VMD file to filter incoming messages;
• A Destination section, in which you configure the destination component of the channel;
• A Tables section, in which you specify the database information. This section is only defined if your channel specifies From Database as its source component or To Database as its destination component.

The exact contents of a Configure Channel screen depend on the source and destination components that you have selected.

The following sections describe how to configure the details of the channel, configure the source component of the channel, configure the destination component of the channel, and optionally configure a filter for incoming messages.