Connector Extensions

Connector Extensions are a group of Connectors that provide specific tools to make your flows more powerful or use a specific technology to access systems that do not have a matching Connector. For example, you can use the Variables Connector to set and get a variable during the execution of a flow and be sure that the value of the variable is available throughout the flow or you can use the Tools Connector to encode and decode data. Connectors in this group include: 

• Variables — Set and retrieve variables in a flow.
• Tools — Execute special operations such as encoding data, inserting a delay into a flow, or enhancing logging.
• Files — Move and process text or binary files.
• HTTP — Format and send HTTP calls to an API.
• Mapper — Serialize and deserialize content based on a sample data structure.

Sample Flows

Sample Flows are available to illustrate some of the features of these specialty Connectors. You can download them from Knowledge Base articles in the TIBCO Community and import them into Solutions in TIBCO Cloud™ Integration - Connect. Sample Flows are listed in order from the most simple to the most complex.

• Variables Sample Flow
• Tools Sample Flows
• Files Sample Flows
• HTTP Sample Flows
• Mapper Sample Flows

Prerequisites

Before importing Sample Flows, you need the following: 

• Sample - CRM Connector and an associated Connection named SampleCRM with no spaces or special characters. On the Connection Configuration dialog set the Use Sample Data field to true to use the sample data distributed with the Connector. See the Sample CRM Connector notes.
• Variables Connector and an associated Connection named Variables.
• Tools Connector and an associated Connection named Tools.
• Files Connector and an associated Connection named Files.
• HTTP Connector and an associated Connection named HTTP.
• Mapper Connector and an associated Connection named Mapper.
• An Agent to execute the Maps. Best practice for Connector Extensions is to use an On -Premise Agent. Some Connectors and Connector Extensions do not support the Cloud Agent.
• One or more apps where you can import the flows. Follow the instructions in Exporting And Importing Flows to import a Sample Flow.

Sample CRM Connector

Note the following when using the Sample CRM Connector:

• A sample database is installed in the agent folder when the Connector is installed.
• If you have more than one Connect on-premise agent installed, there is a separate database for each agent. In this case, the database associated with the agent that runs an app using the Sample CRM Connection is the database that is updated. If you have multiple agents, you can expect the databases to be different over time.
• If you are using a Connect cloud agent, there is a separate database for each app that uses the Connect cloud agent. In this case, you can expect the database for each app to be different over time.

Helpful Tools

Some of the Sample flows take advantage of third-party tools to illustrate technical concepts or help test the flows, including: 

• Postman Echo — Use Postman Echo as an endpoint to make sample API calls from within a flow and have the contents of that call returned in an HTTP response that can be used in subsequent blocks. See the documentation for Postman Echo for additional information.