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Custom Connector

A custom connector allows you to create a Bold BI connector on your own. Now, you can create a Bold BI connector for your REST API without having to wait for us to implement it. Creating a custom connector is simple - you just need to prepare a JSON file and upload it into BoldBI.

Note: This feature is available in On-Premises Deployment, but not in Syncfusion Managed Cloud Server.

The following documentation will provide instructions on how to create the JSON file for the Custom Connector.

Create Custom Connector in Bold BI

JSON Template Syntax :

{
    "Name": {connector_name},
    "Description": {connector_description},
    “ConnectorInfo”:{
    “Tags”: [{search_tag_name1},{search_tag_name2}],
    "Template": {
        "Method": {
            "value": "GET/POST",
            "isHidden": true/false
        },
        “Authentication”:{Basic/none},
        “Username”:{
            “isHidden”: {true/false},
            “value”: {username_vale}
        },
        “Password”:{
            “isHidden”: {true/false},
            “value”: {password_value}
        },
        "DataFormat":{
        "value": "{JSON/CSV/XML}",
        "isHidden": {true/false}
        },
        "URL": {
            “value”: {default URL},
            “isHidden”: {true/false}
        },
        “Raw”: {
            “value”: {JSON_content},
            “isHidden”: {true/false}
        },
        "Parameters": [{
            "key": {parameter1_name},
            "value": {parameter1_value},
            "isHidden": {true/false}
        },
        {
            "key": {parameter2_name},
            "value": {parameter2_value},
            "isHidden": {true/false}
        }
        ],
        "Headers": [{
            "key": {header1_name},
            "value":{header1_value},
            "isHidden": {true/false}
        },
        {
            "key": {header2_name},
            "value":{header2_value},
            "isHidden": {true/false}
        }
        ],
        
        "Pagination":{
            "Type": {Nexturl/Nexttoken/NextPage/Offset},
            {param1}:{value1},
            {param2}:{value2}

        }
    }
}

Note : false is the default value if you don’t provide isHidden property.

Syntax Explanation

Name

The name of the Custom connector should be provided in this property. The name should not contain any special characters.

Description

A description for the custom connector should be provided in this property.

Connector-Info

All other properties should be within this connector info, except for the name and description.

Tags

  • Tags will be used as search terms to locate your added connector on the data source page.
  • Multiple tags can be added for searching your added connector.

Template

The template property should contain an API method, authentication type, data format, URL, parameters, and headers.

Method

An API method can be either GET or POST.

Sample

“Method”:{ 
    “value”:”POST”, 
    “isHidden”:true       
}

Note : This is an optional parameter, and the default method attribute will be Get.

Authentication

Currently, two modes of authentication are supported: Basic and None.

None:

 "AuthenticationType": "None"

Basic Authentication:

You can provide values for Username and Password for basic authentication using the JSON format provided in the Template category.

Sample
“AuthenticationType”:{ “value”: “basic”,

    "isHidden": true
  },
"Username":{
        "value": "<: assign value for username>",

        "isHidden": true  
    },
"Password":{
        "value": “<: assign value for password>”,

        "isHidden": true   
    }

Note: This is an optional parameter, and the default authentication will be none if no value is given.

DataFormat

The data format can be JSON, CSV, or XML.

Sample

"DataFormat":{
      “value”:"JSON",

      “isHidden”:true 
    }

Note : This is an optional parameter, and the default format will be JSON if no value is given.

URL

The URL should be provided in this property. The URL can be hidden by setting the isHidden property to true.

Sample

"URL":{ 
        “value":“https://services.odata.org/V4/Northwind/Northwind.svc/Order_Details”, 

        “isHidden”: true 
    }

Raw

  • The Raw option allows passing a raw query JSON string via a custom connector configuration file.

  • This property is only applicable when the method attribute is set to POST.

  • The Raw option can be hidden by setting the isHidden property to true.

  • Setting the isHidden property to true will hide the request body UI along with the title label.

Note :

  • It is an optional parameter with a default value of None if no value is provided.
  • Ensure that the JSON content is properly stringified.

Sample

"Raw" :{ 
    “value” :  
            "{\"until\":\"2020-11-01T15:30:00Z\",\"window\":\"P7D\",\"data\":[{\"resources\":\"testresource\",\"metric\":\"temperature\"}]}", 

    “isHidden” : false 
}

Parameters

  • Parameters can have multiple items in a JSON array.

  • This property is applicable only when the method type is POST.

  • Key, value, and isHidden should be provided for the Parameters property.

    Key The name of the parameter should be provided in this property.
    value The default value of the parameter should be given in this property.
    isHidden Set true in this property to make this parameter hidden.

    Set false to visible this parameter in the data source creation.

Sample

"Parameters":[{ 
        "key": "token", 

        "value": "sk234234534”, 

        "isHidden": false 

        }, 
        { 

        "key": "Connections", 

        "value": "de4edw98cds#23", 

        "isHidden": true 
    }
]

Note : This is an optional parameter, and the default will be none if no value is given.

  • Headers can have multiple items in a JSON array.

  • Key, value, and isHidden should be provided for the Headers property.

    key The name of the header should be provided on this property.
    value The default value of the header should be given in this property.
    isHidden Set true in this property to make this header hidden.

    Set false to visible this header in the data source creation.

Sample

"Headers":[{
        "key": "Content-Type",
        "value": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"
        },
        {
        "key": "Caller",
        "value": "google.com",
        "isHidden": false
    }   
]

Note : This is an optional parameter, and the default value will be none for the header if no value is given.

Pagination

The custom connector has support for 4 types of pagination. Each pagination differs with the JSON properties.

  • Nexturl

  • Nexttoken

  • Nextpage

  • Offset

    Type Description Sample
    Nexturl The Nexturl pagination properties can be referred in the WEB API connector. It iterate next set of records using url obtained from response. 
      "Pagination":{ 
          
          "Type": "Nexturl", 

          "MaxIteration": 2, 

          "NextURLPath": "link",  

          "LookInHeader": true 
      }
    Next token The Next token pagination properties can be referred in Web API connector It iterate next set of records using token. 
      "Pagination":{ 
          "Type": "Nexttoken", 

          "MaxIteration": 2, 

          "NextTokenFieldName": "pageToken", 

          "NextTokenPath": "nextPageToken" 
      }
    Nextpage The Next page pagination properties can be referred in the Web API connector. Number of Pages to be fetched with specific number of records per page. 
      "Pagination":{ 
          "Type": "NextPage", 

          "MaxIteration": 2, 

          "NextPageParamName": "page", 

          "NextPageValue": "1", 

          "NextPagePassViaHeader": false, 

          "PageSizeParamName": "pageSize", 

          "PageSizeValue": "2", 

          "PageSizePassViaHeader": false, 

          "TotalPagesPath": "totalPages", 

          "LookInHeader": false, 

          "DataIndicatorPath": "" 
      }
    Offset The Offset pagination properties can be referred in Web API connector. Number of records to be skipped before start paginating. 
      "Pagination":{ 

          "Type": "Offset", 

          "MaxValue": 7, 

          "StartParamName": "$skip", 

          "StartValue": "2", 

          "StartPassViaHeader": false, 

          "CountParamName": "$top", 

          "CountValue": "3", 

          "CountPassViaHeader": false, 

          "TotalRecordsPath": "", 

          "LookInHeader": false, 

          "DataIndicatorPath": "value" 
      }

Note : It is an optional parameter, with the default value being none for Pagination if no value is given.

Icon

We have support for icons in the custom connector, and the value should be in base64.

Sample

"Icon": <:base64 value>

Note : The default icon will be displayed as the WEB API Icon if the icon value is empty.

Sample JSON template for custom connector,

{
"Name": "New Custom connector",
"Description": "Sample for custom connector",
"ConnectorInfo": {
    "Tags": [ "Connector" ],
    "Template": {
    "Method": "get",
    "AuthenticationType": "none",
    "DataFormat": {
        "value": "json",
        "isHidden": false
    },
    "URL": {
        "value": "https://services.odata.org/V4/Northwind/Northwind.svc/Order_Details",
        "isHidden": false
    }
    },
    "Pagination": {
    "Type": "Nexturl",

    "MaxIteration": 10,

    "NextURLPath": "result.metadata.nextUrl",

    "LookInHeader": true
    }
}
}
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