Creating Connections and Adaptors

Xponent uses Connections to connect to systems and services outside of the Xponent system. This includes databases, web services, social media platforms, message queues, and email systems. An adaptor is a particular method for a connection; therefore, a single connection can be used to create many adaptors.

For Example:

On a web service connection, you might have a GET adaptor and a POST adaptor with different query parameters to input and output data.

In this example, we will demonstrate making different web service calls to httpbin, the excellent web service testing site. This provides open access to all kinds of web service calls for development and testing. 

Creating a Web Service Connection 

In Project Settings, click on the Connections tab and Create Connection.

You will see the below pop-up displayed, where you can now choose the type of connection you want to create. In this example, we will show you how to create a REST Web Service.

The name of the connection is something that is recommended to resemble your connection endpoint. In this case, we will name it " httpbin " to reach the type of connection we want to create. 

• Click Create Connection.

Once you create the connection, you will find the connection under its respective category:

In the Web Service selected environment, set the endpoint for the web service - in this case, https://httpbin.org/

Save the Connector; it is now ready to use in a graph. You can also test the connection once you have saved the edits to validate that the connection is working as expected.

Creating a Web Service GET Adaptor

To create a new web service adaptor, first, go to the Graphs tab and click Create.

• In the Create a New Item screen, select REST Web Service from the Adaptors section.
• Name it Web Service GET and click Create.

It is recommended to always name your adaptors to how you will use the adaptor. For Example: Web Service GET.

Now configure the adaptor:

• Choose the connection from the drop down list
• Choose the web service method from one of: GET, POST, PUT, DELETE
• Extend the URL with any resource names, query parameters, or Xponent parameters. Xponent parameters are specified as %%paramName%%
• Set the output destination
• Click Save Edits to update the call and identify new parameters.

Once the adaptor is valid, then it can be used in a graph.