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  1. DZone
  2. Data Engineering
  3. Databases
  4. How To Use IBM App Connect To Build Flows

How To Use IBM App Connect To Build Flows

Three scenarios demonstrate how to build flows that integrate with apps.

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shahmini a user avatar
shahmini a
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Sep. 26, 22 · Analysis
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This article illustrates three scenarios that demonstrate how you can use IBM App Connect to build flows that integrate with apps. The connectors that we will use for these scenarios are;

  1. IBM Sterling Order Management (OMS) - a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution, designed for organizations to either enhance their existing e-commerce initiative or launch a new omnichannel initiative. OMS helps manage complexities and improve an organization’s supply chain efficiencies and business responsiveness by cost-effectively orchestrating global product and service fulfilment across the extended enterprise.
  2. Zendesk Service - a cloud-based customer service platform that is designed to improve communication between an organization and its customers. It helps to keep businesses in sync, you can view, organize tickets, and generate reports or analytics. It delivers an omnichannel customer experience.
  3. IBM OpenPages with Watson - an AI-driven, highly scalable governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) solution that runs on any cloud. It functions within a single environment and is designed to help identify, manage, monitor, and report on risk and regulatory compliance.

Scenario 1 - IBM Sterling Order Management

IBM App Connect supports connecting to an IBM Sterling Order Management System account by using either a REST API or an IBM MQ server.

You can use IBM App Connect to perform actions or events on the following objects:

Actions

Events

 ·      Catalog items

 ·      Customers

 ·      Orders

 ·      Organizations

 ·      Shipments

·      Orders

·      Release orders

·      Shipments

 

Connect to IBM Sterling Oms (Via Rest)

Provide the following information to connect IBM App Connect to your IBM Sterling Order Management System account:

Required Credentials

Description

*Endpoint URL

 The IBM Sterling Order Management System instance URL in the format HTTPS://<hostname>.

*Login ID

 The email address of the registered IBM Sterling Order Management System account.

*Password

 The password for the IBM Sterling Order Management System account.

*Certificate

 The client certificate content is in Base64-encoded (PEM) format. The certificate and key are generated from the personal certificate, which is created during the Order Management System account creation.

*Key

 The client certificate key is in Base64-encoded (PEM) format. The certificate and key are generated from the personal certificate, which is created during the Order Management System account creation.

Connect to IBM Sterling Oms (Via MQ)

Provide the following information to connect IBM App Connect to your IBM Sterling Order Management System account:

Required
credentials

Description

*IBM MQ server

 The queue manager hostname and listener port in the format <hostname>:<port>.

*Queue manager   name

 The name of the queue manager.

*Channel name

 The server-connection channel definition for the queue manager.

*Cipher      specification

 Select a cipher specification or use the default value of ECDHE_RSA_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 to enable the standard TLS for cloud deployment. Leave the field blank for a TCP connection.

Passphrase

 The passphrase that is associated with the IBM Sterling Order Management System certificate.

*Certificate label

 The client certificate label.

*Certificate

 The client certificate content is in Base64-encoded (PEM) format. The certificate and key are generated from the personal certificate, which is created during the Order Management System account creation.

*Key

 The client certificate key is in Base64-encoded (PEM) format. The certificate and key are generated from the personal certificate, which is created during the Order Management System account creation.

‘*’ - Indicates mandatory fields

Create Orders in IBM Sterling Order Management System for Orders Created in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales

Consider this simple scenario where you use IBM App Connect to create orders by using the IBM Sterling Order Management System’s create order asynchronous operation whenever any new orders are created in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales.
For example, in this flow, Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales checks for a new sales order every 5 minutes, and if a new sales order is created, an order is created in IBM Sterling Order Management System.

Microsoft Dynamics plus IBM Sterling Order manager

Create a Pickup Ready Order Event Through Flexengage Based on the IBM Sterling Order Management System Delivery Method

Consider the sequel scenario where flexEngage creates a pickup-ready order even if the IBM Sterling Order Management System delivery method is empty. An email is then sent from flexEngage with the order pickup details.

Sterling Order Management System delivery method
  1. The event-driven flow is triggered whenever a new order is created in the IBM Sterling Order Management System.
  2. The flexEngage ‘Create confirm order event’ operation notifies the consumer via email that the order has been confirmed with the order details.
  3. The flow includes an If and Else conditional statement node to process each of the orders.
    1. If the IBM Sterling Order Management System DeliveryMethod is empty, the flexEngage ‘Create pickup ready order event’ operation notifies the consumer via email that the order is ready for collection with the order pickup details.
    2. Else, the flexEngage ‘Create ship order event’ operation notifies the consumer of the order shipping details via email.

Scenario 2 - Zendesk Service

The connection fields used to connect IBM App Connect to your Zendesk Service account differ based on your chosen authorization methods. You can opt to log in to IBM App Connect by using BASIC, BASIC OAUTH, API KEY, OAUTH 2.0 CODE, or OAUTH 2.0 PASSWORD authorization methods.

Provide the following information to connect IBM App Connect to your Zendesk Service account.

Connection fields

Authorization method

Description

 

 Subdomain

 

  • BASIC
  • BASIC OAUTH
  • API KEY
  • OAuth 2.0 CODE
  • OAuth 2.0 PASSWORD


The subdomain can be identified from your Zendesk account's URL.

For example, in the URL mycompany.zendesk.com, the subdomain is mycompany.

 

 Login ID

  • BASIC
  • API KEY
  • OAuth 2.0 PASSWORD


 The user ID or email address of the registered Zendesk for the service account.

 

 Password

  • BASIC
  • API KEY
  • OAuth 2.0 PASSWORD

 

 The password for the specified login ID.

 

 Client ID

  • OAuth 2.0 PASSWORD

 
The unique identifier of your Zendesk client application.
Get the client ID from your Zendesk account user interface.

 Client secret

  •  OAuth 2.0 PASSWORD

 
The client secret of your Zendesk client application.
Get the client secret from your Zendesk account user interface.

 

 Access token

  • BASIC OAUTH



 The access token is generated from the application client ID and client secret.

 

 API token

  •  API KEY


The API token for the Zendesk instance.

 

For more information about connection fields, see How to use IBM App Connect with Zendesk Service.
The following are Zendesk Service objects that can be run in IBM App Connect.

Article attachments

Profiles

Articles

Tags

Events

Ticket attachments

Group memberships

Ticket comments

Groups

Tickets

Organizations

Users

IBM App Connect allows users to create custom objects on Zendesk Service.

Create a Ticket in Zendesk Service When a New Email Is Received

Consider the following scenario where you use IBM App Connect to create a flow to integrate Zendesk Service with an email service provider and a messaging application.

flow to integrate Zendesk Service

Zendesk Service creates a ticket with the email details and attachments when you receive a new email through the connected email server account. A notification gets sent through a Slack channel upon successfully creating a ticket.

The steps involved in this event-driven flow are as follows:

  1. The event-driven flow is triggered whenever a new email is received through the connected email server account.
  2. The Zendesk Service Create ticket operation creates a ticket when a new email is received. For example, a ticket is created with the email details such as the subject, description, and sender email address.  
  3. The Zendesk Service Upload attachment operation uploads the attachment (if any) with the attachment’s file name and content in binary format.
  4. The Zendesk Service Create ticket comment operation uploads the attachment.
  5. A Slack message gets sent to the intended channel with the ticket details.

Tips

   Before you add the email attachments to the flow, there are a few things you should know.

  1. You can attach files only to the comments in the ticket.
    1. Upload the attachment to a new ticket comment.
      1. To add an attachment to a ticket comment, you need to copy the token received in the Upload attachment response.
      2. Paste the token received from the Upload attachment response into the Uploads property of the Create ticket comment operation. By pasting the token, it adds the attachment to the ticket comment.
    2. Upload an attachment to an existing ticket comment (multiple attachments).
      1. To upload multiple attachments to a ticket comment, you need to paste the previous token in the Token property of the Upload attachment operation.
        1. Copy the token received in the Upload attachment response.
        2. Add the token that is received from step (i) to the current Upload attachment's Token property.
        3. Paste the token received from the Upload attachment response into the Uploads property of the Create ticket comment operation.
    3. You can attach the attachment to a ticket comment in any one of the following operations.
      • Create ticket
      • Update ticket
      • Create ticket comment

Create an Incident or Problem in Servicenow When a Ticket Is Created in Zendesk Service

Consider the sequel scenario; when a ticket is created in Zendesk Service, an incident or problem is created in ServiceNow, and a Slack notification gets sent to the relevant squad.

Zendesk Service

The steps involved in this event-driven flow are as follows: 

  1. The event-driven flow is triggered whenever a new ticket is created in Zendesk Service. In this flow, Zendesk Service checks for new tickets every 5 minutes.
  1. Include an If and Elseconditional statement node from the Toolbox.
    1. If the Zendesk Service ticket type is ‘incident’, an incident is created in ServiceNow. A Slack message is sent to the intended channel with the incident details.
    2. Else if the Zendesk Service ticket type is ‘problem’, a problem is created in ServiceNow. A Slack message is sent to the intended channel with the problem details.

Scenario 3 - IBM OpenPages With Watson

To allow IBM App Connect to your IBM OpenPages with Watson account, you need to fill the connection fields that you see in the IBM App Connect Designer Catalog page or flow editor.

The following are IBM OpenPages with Watson objects that can be run in IBM App Connect.

Objects

Description

Action items

 

An issue is resolved through action items. You can use an action item or a series of related action items to form an action plan.

 

Business entities

Business entities are abstract representations of your business structure, which can contain subentities such as departments, business units, or geographic locations.

 

Controls

Controls are policies and procedures that make sure that risk mitigation responses are performed.

 

Files

Files that are located in the IBM OpenPages with Watson repository.

 

Issues

 A concern that is associated with any IBM OpenPages with Watson object type.

Processes

Processes represent the major end-to-end business activities within a business entity that are subject to risk.

 

Risks

Risks are potential liabilities. Risks can be associated with business processes, business entities, or compliance with a mandate.

 

Users

Access within the IBM OpenPages with Watson application is administered through the use of users, groups, and domains.

 


*The IBM OpenPages standard objects and user-defined custom objects can be viewed by expanding the Show more option from the object list once you have connected App Connect to your IBM OpenPages account.

You can define custom properties on objects, which will be discovered by IBM App Connect based on the account used.

For more information on connection fields and Templates gallery, see How to use App Connect with IBM OpenPages with Watson.

Create an Issue in IBM OpenPages With Watson When an Incident Gets Created in Servicenow

Consider the following scenario; when an incident is created in ServiceNow, an issue is created in IBM OpenPages with Watson. This flow helps you to keep incident data in sync between ServiceNow and IBM OpenPages with Watson.

ServiceNow, an issue is created in IBM OpenPages with Watson

For this scenario:

  1. The event-driven flow is triggered whenever a new incident gets created in ServiceNow.
  2. If, the ServiceNow incident priority is greater than 4:
    1. ServiceNow retrieves the system user based on the system user ID.
    2. IBM OpenPages with Watson retrieves the user along with the username details.
    3. If the ServiceNow user exists in IBM OpenPages with Watson, a Slack message gets sent to the intended channel. This message is sent to notify you that the user will not be created in IBM OpenPages with Watson.
    4. Else, IBM OpenPages with Watson creates the user with the user’s details, and a Slack message gets sent to notify you that the user is created.
    5. IBM OpenPages with Watson creates an issue that is assigned to the user with the incident details.
  3. If the ServiceNow incident priority is not greater than 4, a Slack message gets sent to the intended channel. This message is sent to notify you that an issue will not be created in IBM OpenPages with Watson.

Add a Document in IBM Watson Discovery When a File Gets Created in IBM OpenPages With Watson

Consider the following scenario; when a file is created and downloaded in IBM OpenPages with Watson, the document gets added to IBM Watson Discovery.

IBM Watson Discovery

For this scenario:

  1. IBM OpenPages with Watson checks for new files every 1 minute.
  2. If a new file gets created, the file gets downloaded by IBM OpenPages with Watson.
  3. The file gets uploaded as a document in IBM Watson Discovery.

You can view the Templates gallery in your IBM App Connect Designer instance.

  • Create an issue in IBM OpenPages with Watson when an incident is created in ServiceNow.
  • Add a document in IBM Watson Discovery when a file is created in IBM OpenPages with Watson.
You must enable the Designer AI features in your containerized environment in order to access the IBM App Connect templates. For more information, see The preloaded IBM App Connect templates.

You can also import these use cases directly into your IBM App Connect Designer. These templates are added to a public GitHub repository.

API Management system Microsoft Dynamics 365 Upload app Build (game engine) Event Flow (web browser) SENT (protocol) Template

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