TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Introduction
- Alumio Connector Package- Incoming Configurations
- A Brief Explanation Of Request Parameters (For Better Understanding)
- Alumio Connector Package- Outgoing Configurations
- Closing Note
Introduction
If you have been using Alumio, you would know that connections across various data points play an important role in many operational scenarios. From retrieving products/collections to getting product variants and much more, Alumio Connector package allows you to establish connections smoothly. This article will shed light on how to establish connection with any of the platforms that you would like to connect with.
Let’s suppose that you have a Shopify connector that you would like to integrate with the help of Alumio. You can name it Shopify- Get Products Connector Package. To begin with, you must start with creating a template within the Incoming Configuration.
Note: The features are the same for all the Alumio Connector Packages and if you grasp the nitty-gritties of one package, you will sail smoothly with the others!
Your specific connector package
You can find documentation specific to your connector package in one of the Connector Packages subcategories.
By clicking the software name of your choice
and going to the “About the <name> category” topic that’s pinned by default.
Any questions specific to that connector package can also be asked in the related connector package subcategory.
Alumio Connector Package- Incoming Configurations
Here is how the Alumio users can set the incoming configurations of the Alumio Connector Packages.
Step 1: Select Shopify Subscriber within Subscriber and move on to the Entity field, where the full API functionalities are listed as options.
Step 2: An Alumio user can dictate terms while making the connection. For instance, you can search for the specific end-point (customers, products, etc) you wish to trace and connect with.
Step 3: For example, you can pick Retrieve a list of products as the end-point.
You can check the Request Parameters below. There are 3 parameters- path, query, and payload that you must mandatorily include.
Request Parameter
{
"path": [],
"query": [],
"payload": []
}
A Brief Explanation Of Request Parameters (For Better Understanding)
Here is an explanation of how the Request Parameters are used.
Let’s consider that http://example.com/api/customers is the URL from where you want to receive information from all the customers. Now, what if you are looking for a specific customer numbered as 1?
We can do that by using it within the path of the URL by adding a slash followed by a 1 to the URL. Let’s say that the URL is http://example.com/api/customers/1 where 1 is being used as an id.
In this case, the Request Parameter must also reflect the change in path. The array must be changed to an object where the id has to be specified.
{
“path” : {
“id” : “1”
} ,
“query” : ,
“payload” :
}
Now, what if there is a certain API key/API token for that specific customer, and you want to get that? Let’s say that the URL is http://example.com/api/customers/1?api_key=qwe123 where qwe123 is the API key. That is something we must input in the query of the Request Parameter as well.
{
“path” : {
“id” : “1”
} ,
“query” : {
“api_key” : “qwe123”
},
“payload” :
}
Let’s consider a scenario where there is a specific customer within the customer base denoted as 1 who has contacts. Now, those contacts also have their specific ids since one customer can have multiple contacts. Consider this URL:
http://example.com/api/customers/1/contacts/<contact_id>?api_key=qwe123
In this case, the Request Parameter will look something like this after the inclusion of the extra objects (contact_id):
{
“path” : {
“id” : “1” ,
“contact_id” : “123
} ,
“query” : {
“api_key” : “qwe123”
},
“payload”:
}
The last parameter is the payload. It can be utilized if you wish to post data into the system. It is set within the outgoing configuration which has been discussed later in the article.
Step 4: Moving on, you have to select the HTTP Client field where you have to select Shopify Client. This allows the connector to locate the system, its authentication criteria, and other such details.
Step 5: Click on the Save button and a pop-up will appear confirming the same.
Step 6: Click on Run Incoming to run the incoming configuration.
A Subscriber has been consumed pop-up box will also appear if everything goes right. Hit Click to view more information just beneath it to check the Logs.
Step 7: Hit the Refresh button at the top-right corner and the logs will load.
Here, you will see that a get request has been created for the products. Subsequently, a response will be received which contains all of the products that are currently present within the Shopify environment. Once retrieved, the product data can be used in multiple ways as per requirement.
Bonus Step: In case, you wish to retrieve a specific product, you can do that as well. Simply change the path of the Request Parameter (step 3) from an array to an object that specifies the product id. You can choose the product id from the response.
This is how the Request Parameter will look:
Request Parameter
{
“path” : {
“product_id” : “8777085369”
} ,
“query” :
“payload” :
}
Here, 8777085369 is the product id (example).
It is important to note here that the variables used within the Request Parameter must adhere to the documentation of the specific software (recommended).
You can use the API reference shown just below the Request Parameters segment (within the Incoming Configurations). For a better understanding, go to 4:35 of the Youtube Video (How To Use An Alumio Connector Package).
Once you save the Incoming Configuration and hit Run Incoming, the Subscriber has been consumed pop-up box will appear once more. if Hit Click to view more information > Logs. Click on the Refresh button at the top-right corner and this time you will see that a product call (get request) has been made to the product id 8777085369. Subsequently, the product response will also include that specific product exclusively.
Alumio Connector Package- Outgoing Configurations
This is where the subscriber package is set for the outgoing configuration (meant for the publisher). It works a bit differently than the incoming configuration.
Once again, let’s suppose that you have a Shopify connector named Shopify- Create Product Connector Package.
Step 1: Select Shopify Publisher within Publisher and move on to the Action field, where there are options to Update, Delete, and Create the HTTP requests.
Step 2: Next, you must define the HTTP Client field which is obviously Shopify Client in this case.
Step 3: In this case, we are configuring the Outgoing configuration for a Route named Products from Akeneo to Shopify which has a pre-defined task, where data from a specific product is pulled from the system.
You can go to the Shopify environment and you will see that the specific product has not been made yet.
Step 4: Subsequently, you have to fill the field of Entity transformers (if necessary). In this case, you can select Shopify- Prepare Data for Connector Package. By clicking on View configuration just beneath it, you can see what it takes to prepare the data for a connector package.
Step 5: Similar to the Incoming Configuration, you have to specify the path, query, and payload once again as it is a key requirement for the connector packages. In scenarios, where they are not required, you can simply designate them as empty arrays.
In this case, the connector package is interacting with an end-point that does not have a path or query. Nevertheless, you have to specify the payload, which will include the information of the product (step 3) that will be sent to Shopify.
{
“product” : “&{product}”
}
Step 6: You can test how the product data will look based on the entity transformer, by clicking on the Run Test button on the right-hand panel.
Step 7: Save the entity transformer and the outgoing configuration and you are ready to go!
You can now run the Route- Products from Akeneo to Shopify and a Publisher has been exported pop-up message will appear. You can go to Tasks, refresh the page, where a finished task will appear.
Go to Export Messages which will reflect a request which was sent to products.json with a specific payload of the product. It will be followed by a response from Shopify where the product will get created.
You can also re-visit the Shopify environment and refresh the page. The product will be reflected here as well that was created through the API call.
Closing Note
This is how you can receive any of the subscribers from any of the connector packages that Alumio provides. The platform makes it super easy to create incoming and outgoing configurations. The article provides a step-by-step insight on how to configure them. Feel free to connect with us to learn more and stay tuned for more insightful updates!