The easiest way to test a source plugin is to create a test channel with From Plugin as the source component and LLP Client as the destination component. You can use the HL7 Listener, included with your installation of Iguana, to display the messages that the plugin sends.

To create the test channel:

• In the Dashboard Control Panel, click Add Channel. The Select Channel Components screen appears.
• From the Source list box, select From Plugin.
• From the Destination list box, select LLP Client.
• Click Configure Channel.
• Click the Channel tab. The Channel screen appears:

• In the Channel name field, specify a name to identify the channel on the Dashboard and in the plugin.
• Click the Source tab. The From Plugin screen appears:

• Unselect the Iguana starts executable check box. You will notice that most of the fields on this screen have now disappeared. Leave the remaining fields unchanged.
• Click the Destination tab, and make a note of the port that appears in the Port field. The HL7 Listener will use this port to receive the sent messages.
• Click Add Channel to add the channel.

After you have created the channel, you can test the plugin as follows:

• Open the HL7 Listener application. (To access it, click Start, then Programs, iNTERFACEWARE, HL7 Analytical Tools and HL7 Listener.)

• In the Message log file field, type or browse for the name of the file to which the HL7 Listener is to write any messages it receives. (If this file does not exist, the HL7 Listener will create it.)
• In the Port Number field, type the port number specified in the LLP Client destination component of your test channel.
• Click Start to start the HL7 Listener.
• Start the test channel.

When the channel is started, it begins sending out MessageRequest events at regular intervals to request a message from the plugin. (The time between events is specified in the Polling time field of the From Plugin destination component of the channel.)

	You must start the HL7 Listener before you start the channel. If you start the channel first, Iguana will generate an error, as the channel does not yet have an LLP Client to communicate with.

• Now that your channel and the HL7 Listener are set up, you can start the plugin. Your development environment may enable you to start the plugin from within the environment, or you can start the plugin manually from a command line prompt. When starting the plugin, you will need to provide three parameters: the hostname, the port, and the name of your channel.

When the plugin is started, the following happens:

• The Iguana channel sends out its next MessageRequest event.
• The plugin traps the MessageRequest event and sends its HL7 message to the channel.
• Iguana processes the message and sends a MessageRequestCompleted event to indicate that the message was processed successfully.
• The plugin traps the MessageRequestCompleted event and sets an internal flag to ensure that the message is not resent.

The console for the plugin displays that the message was sent successfully, and the sent message is displayed in the HL7 Listener's display window:

To finish testing your channel:

• In Iguana, examine the Dashboard to check whether any errors have occurred:

• Then, click the Logs tab. If the message was sent successfully, the message and its acknowledgment message are displayed in the logs:

• In the Iguana Dashboard, click Stop to stop your channel. The application window will indicate that Iguana has closed the connection, and that you can close your plugin.

After you have successfully tested your plugin, you can create a production channel that processes the messages sent by your plugin. This production channel can automatically start the plugin when the channel is started. For details on how to create this channel, see Creating a Channel For a Source Plugin.