Tech Tuesday: Identifying the Source Company in a SmartConnect Real-Time Map

This week's Tech Tuesday is from our Senior Technical Consultant, Chris Hanson, who will show us the easiest method to tracking the Source Company in a Real-Time Map.

One of our features in SmartConnect is a real-time data source that allows maps to automatically execute when a certain event is triggered. When using a GP real-time source you can setup that source once to be used across every GP company if needed. The issue is then how you can identify which company the event/data comes from as that is not tracked by default within the source.

The easiest method to track the source company is to use the DB_NAME() function that is built into SQL. That statement can be added to any SQL based data source (real-time or otherwise) in order to identify the database the data is coming from as it will return the current database if no parameter is passed into it.

For a real-time map, that function would be added within the query builder when setting up the source. In the screenshot below, DB_NAME() was added as an expression with the Alias for that result set to SourceCompany so it is easy to identify when looking through the columns while building the actual mapping. 

The result of that function should return the SQL name of the database/company that the data is coming from. So if we were using the Fabrikam company to test this map, it would have TWO set as the value when triggered from that company. That value can then be used in restrictions, tasks, or other additional columns as needed to ensure the data is processed correctly when the map runs.

Have something you'd like to see covered in a Tech Tuesday article? Send them in to sales@eonesolutions.com!

Tech Tuesday: Differences in Real-Time and Change Sources

For today's Tech Tuesday our Senior Technical Consultant, Chris Hanson, discusses the difference between the change based data sources and the real-time data sources within SmartConnect. Both of the options have their own advantages and uses when you are setting up integrations on your system.

Change based data sources are always handled at the SQL level. SmartConnect is creating change triggers and a tracking table that will record the key fields of any record that has an insert, update, delete or any combination of those. Change sources can also be used with CRM or Salesforce by using custom entities that SmartConnect will create to mimic that same process.

Change based data sources do not run automatically though, they need to be run manually or setup on a periodic schedule. Real-time sources on the other hand, will fire off the moment one of the inset, update, or delete events occur.

Up to this point, real-time sources could only be setup on GP (and Extender), CRM, or Salesforce. This is because we use whichever method that is support by those products to trigger the event. So for CRM we use plugins, Salesforce uses the built-in scripting methods, and GP uses the dexterity triggers thrown off by the interface.

That last point is important, especially for GP real-time sources. Since we use the dexterity triggers and events coming from GP, our GP real-time sources will only fire if someone enters data through the interface – and only if we have our SmartConnect dictionary loaded on the client that the action occurs on. So in order to use the GP real-time sources we would need to have our dictionary installed on every GP client.

With all of that said, in the SmartConnect 2014 release that will be out soon there is an option for a SQL real-time data source. That will combine the benefits of tracking the events at the SQL level with instantly running the map on any event that occurs. This can be used on any SQL server/tables that you have access to and can even be used in place of the GP real-time option if you have multiple clients and do not want to load the SmartConnect dictionary on them.

If you have any questions on these data sources let us know in the comments or head over to our forums and start a discussion there. We would be happy to expand on this or any other feature.