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Connecting a process to an external application

Updated on March 29, 2022

Use the Integrator shape in a process to send or receive data from an external application in a way that continues flow processing as soon as the Connect activity completes. By integrating external applications with your process, you can add more functionality to your application. For example, you can use the Integrator shape to retrieve customer account balances or verify account numbers in an external database.

Before you begin: To connect a flow to an external application:

The Integrator shape identifies an activity that connects your instance of Pega Platform to an external system to send or receive data. The Integrator shape runs synchronously, meaning that it must receive a response immediately, and then moves a case to the next step.

Tip: To improve efficiency, as a best practice use data pages to retrieve information from an external system. You can use a data page with an autopopulated property or with an autopopulated property backed by a declare expression. For more information, see Understanding data page definition.
  1. Add the Integrator shape to your process.
    1. In the navigation pane of Dev Studio, click App.
    2. On the Classes tab, expand the case type in which you want to add the assignment, and then click ProcessFlow.
    3. In the list of Flow instances, double-click a flow that you want to open.
    4. On the Flow form, on the Diagram tab, click the Flow shapes icon, and then click Advanced ShapesIntegrator.
    5. Drag the Integrator shape to the flow diagram, and place the shape based on the order of events in the process.
    6. Connect the Integrator shape by dragging connector end points to connection points on different shapes in the process.
  2. Modify the Integrator shape to send a request from a process to an external application.
    1. Double-click the Integrator shape to open the property pane.
    2. In the Integrator field, enter a name for the shape.
      Choose a name that is meaningful to users who see this on the work object history display, in the breadcrumbs control (for entry points), and inside the Integrator shape on the Diagram tab.

      The task name does not affect run-time processing of the flow.

    3. In the Rule field, press the Down arrow key, and then select the name of a connect activity.
    4. If the connector requires parameters, the system provides a list of response and request data transforms generated by the accelerator. Use the generated request data transform to define the mapping of application (source) properties to connector request (target) properties. Use the generated response data transform to define the mapping of connector response (source) properties to application (target) properties.
    5. Optional: To control the text of instances added to the work item history when flow processing completes this shape, in the Audit Note field, select or enter the name of a Rule-Message rule.
    6. Optional: To provide a link to this step from the breadcrumb trail navigation, select the Enable navigation link check box.
    7. Optional: To update the status of a case on this shape, in the Work status field, press the Down arrow key, and then select a value that you want to apply.
      For more information, see Changing case statuses.
    8. Optional: To activate a ticket in a flow that detects an exception, error flow or event, in the Tickets section, in the Ticket name and the Display name fields, press the Down arrow key, and then select the values that you want to apply.
      Note: You can use more tickets by adding a row for each ticket. If a shape has more than one ticket associated with it, then processing of that task continues only after all tickets are set.
      For more information, see Responding to business exceptions in a flow.
  3. Click Submit to close the property pane.
  4. Click Save.

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