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Updated August 2, 2026
Patterns/Transformation/Envelope wrap / unwrap

Envelope wrap / unwrap

Many systems demand a wrapper around the real content, an EDI interchange header, a SOAP envelope, a routing header block. Wrapping and unwrapping is an edge job: add the envelope on the way out, strip it on the way in, keep the bus dealing in payload.

On the inbound side, a pipeline component in the receive port’s inbound pipeline removes the transport envelope so what gets normalized and published is the business content, not the packaging. On the outbound side, a component in the send port’s outbound pipeline wraps the canonical-derived payload in exactly the envelope the destination protocol requires.

inbound, unwrap payload envelope unwrap payload on bus outbound, wrap payload from bus wrap payload → destination

Keeping envelopes at the edges means the bus reasons about business content alone, routing filters and maps never have to dig through protocol packaging. It pairs naturally with the splitter for multi-transaction interchanges: unwrap, debatch, then handle each transaction on its own.

In Art2link the envelope is added or stripped by a pipeline component, never baked into the canonical payload. The canonical message stays envelope-free in both directions.

Envelope is transport, not content. Control numbers and headers belong to the wrapper; promote only the few you actually route or acknowledge on, and leave the rest in the envelope handling.