Connector shape
Introduction
The connector shape is used to define which connector instance should be used for sending or receiving data, and then which endpoint.
All connectors have associated endpoints which determine what entity (orders, products, customers, etc.) is being targeted.
Any connector instances that have been added for your installed connectors are available to associate with a connector shape. Any endpoints configured for the underlying connector will be available for selection once you've confirmed which instance you're using.
If you need more information about the relationship between connectors and instances, please see our Connectors & instances page.
Accessing connector shape settings
When you add a connector shape to a process flow, the connector settings panel is displayed immediately, so you can choose which of your connector instances to use, and which endpoint.
To view/update the settings for an existing connector shape, click the associated 'cog' icon to access the settings panel - for example:
Configuring settings for a connector shape
Follow the steps below to configure a connector shape.
Step 1 Click the select a source integration field and choose the instance that you want to use - for example:
All connector instances configured for your company are available for selection. Connectors and their associated instances are added via the manage connectors page.
Step 2 Select the endpoint that you want to use - for example
All endpoints associated with the parent connector for this instance are available for selection.
Step 3 Depending on how your selected endpoint is configured, you may be required to provide values for one or more variables.
Step 4 Save your changes.
Step 5 Once your selected instance and endpoint settings are saved, go back to edit settings:
Now you can access any optional filter options that are available - for example:
Available filters and variables - and whether or not they are mandatory - will vary, depending on how the connector is configured.
Step 6 The request timeout setting allows you to override the default number of seconds allowed before a request to this endpoint is deemed to have failed - for example:
The default setting is taken from the underlying connector endpoint setup and should only be changed if you have a technical reason for doing so, or if you receive a timeout error when processing a particularly large payload.
Step 7 Set error-handling options as required. Available options are summarised below:
Option | Summary |
---|---|
Retries | Sets the number of retries that will be attempted if a connection can't be made. You can define a value between |
Backoff | If you're experiencing connection issues due to rate limiting, it can be useful to increase the You can define a value between |
Allow unsuccessful statuses | If you want the process flow to continue even if the connection response is unsuccessful, toggle this option |
Step 8 Set the payload wrapping option as appropriate for the data received from the previous step:
This setting determines how the payload that gets pushed should be handled. Available options are summarised below:
Option | Summary |
---|---|
Raw | Push the payload exactly as it is pulled - no modifications are made. |
First | This setting handles cases where your destination system won't process array objects, but your source system sends everything (even single records) as an array. So, When multiple records are pulled, they are written to the payload as an array. If you then strip out a single record to be pushed, that single record will - typically - still be wrapped in an array. Most systems will not accept single records as an array, so we need to 'unwrap' our customer record before it gets pushed. |
Wrapped | This setting handles cases where your destination system is expecting a payload to be wrapped in an array, but your payload contains a series of 'unwrapped' objects. The most likely scenario for this is where you have a complex process flow which is assembling a payload from different routes. Setting payload wrapping to wrapped will wrap the entire payload as an array object. So, |
Step 9 If required you can set response handling options:
These options are summarised below:
Option | Summary | Endpoint method |
---|---|---|
Save response AS payload | Set this option to | POST PUT PATCH DELETE |
Save response IN payload | Set this option to | GET POST PUT PATCH DELETE |
Expect an empty response | Set this option to | POST GET |
Step 10 Save your changes.
Last updated