Chapter 4. Connecting to applications that you want to integrate

To create a connection, you select the connector for the application that you want to connect to and then enter values in input fields to configure a connection to that application. The configuration details that you need to provide vary for each application. After configuring the connection, you give it a name that helps you distinguish it from any other connections to the same application. Optionally, you can specify a description of the connection.

You can use the same connector to create any number of connections to that application. For example, you might use the AMQ connector to create three different connections. Each AMQ connection could specify a different broker.

For examples, see:

In an integration, you might want to connect to an application that uses the OAuth protocol to authenticate access requests. To do this, you must register your installation of Fuse Online for access to that application. Registration authorizes all connections from your Fuse Online installation to a given application. For example, if you register your Fuse Online installation with Salesforce, all connections from your Fuse Online installation to Salesforce use the same client ID and the same client secret.

In each Fuse Online environment, for each application that uses OAuth, only one registration of Fuse Online as a client is required. This registration lets you create multiple connections and each connection can use different user credentials.

For details, see the following topics:

For information about using custom connectors that let you access applications that use the OAuth protocol, see Section 4.5, “Creating connections from custom connectors”.

When you add a connection to an integration, Fuse Online displays a list of the actions that the connection can perform when it connects to the application. You must select exactly one action. In a running integration, each connection performs only the action you choose. For example, when you add a Twitter connection as an integration’s start connection, you might choose the Mention action, which monitors Twitter for tweets that mention your Twitter handle.

Selection of some actions prompts you to specify one or more parameters. For example, if you add a Salesforce connection to an integration and choose the On create action then you must indicate the type of object whose creation you are interested in, such as a lead or a contact.

After you create a connection, Fuse Online assigns an internal identifier to the connection. This identifier does not change. You can change the connection’s name, description, or configuration values and Fuse Online recognizes it as the same connection.

There are two ways to view and edit information about a connection:

On the Connection Details page, for the connection you want to edit, click next to a field to edit that field. Or, for some connections, below the configuration fields, click Edit to change configuration values. If you change any values, be sure to click Save.

If you update a connection that is used in an integration that is running, you must republish the integration by stopping it and starting it again.

For connections to applications that use the OAuth protocol to authorize access, you cannot change the login credentials that the connection uses. To connect to the application and use different login credentials, you must create a new connection.

After you upload an extension that defines a custom connector, the custom connector is available for use. You use custom connectors to create connections in the same way that you use Fuse Online-provided connectors to create connections.

A custom connector might be for an application that uses the OAuth protocol. Before you create a connection from this kind of connector, you must register your installation of Fuse Online for access to the application that the connector is for. You do this in the interface for the application that the connector is for. The details for how to register your installation of Fuse Online vary for each application.

For example, suppose the custom connector is for creating connections to Yammer. You would need to register your installation of Fuse Online by creating a new application within Yammer. Registration provides a Yammer client ID for Fuse Online and a Yammer client secret value for Fuse Online A connection from your Fuse Online installation to Yammer must provide these two values.

Note that an application might use different names for these values, such as consumer ID or consumer secret.

After you register your installation of Fuse Online, you can create a connection to the application. When you configure the connection, there should be parameters for entering the client ID and the client secret. If these parameters are not available, you need to talk with the extension developer and ask for an updated extension that lets you specify the client ID and client secret.

For more information, see Chapter 4, Connecting to applications that you want to integrate.

To process data from the start connection through the finish connection, sometimes you need to specify input/output types when you configure a connection’s action. Type specifications let Fuse Online alert you when a data mapping step is required. A data mapping step ensures that the next integration step can process the data it receives.

After you configure an Amazon S3, AMQ, AMQP, Dropbox, FTP/SFTP, or HTTP/HTTPS connection, Fuse Online prompts you to specify input and/or output data types as follows:

The connection appears in the integration flow in the location where you added it.