Integrating with REST services in a codeless way

Administrators can connect applications to REST API services without writing code or using connectors, directly from the the BMC Helix Innovation Studio UI. For example, if you have an Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS), you can define the REST communication between BMC Helix Innovation Studio and the integration middleware, without having to write code or run an integration controller. You can define a one-time configuration for each RESTful service that you want to connect to and create web requests for various HTTP methods, such as GET, PUT, POST, or DELETE. 

Related topics

Integrating-with-another-application-by-using-a-connector

BMC Helix Virtual Agent

Before you begin

Consider the following supported and unsupported technologies before connecting to RESTful service in a codeless way:

  • Supported authorization and authentication—Basic Auth, OAuth 2.0 (client credentials grant type), 

    BMC Helix Single Sign-On

    , Remedy (Without BMC Helix Single Sign-On), Custom, OAuth Token exchange.

  • Supported content types—JSON, Multipart 
  • REST web definitions—Once deployed as part of an application or library, administrators will not be able to modify these by using the Customization layer.


Scenario: Connecting to the JIRA REST API service

Your organization has a custom self-service application developed on BMC Helix Innovation Studio that employees use to create service requests, access knowledge articles, and so on. Your organization also uses Atlassian JIRA for project-tracking. As an administrator of the self-service application, you want to connect the application to the JIRA REST service from the BMC Helix Innovation Studio UI so that you can get details about a JIRA issue in your application. To connect the JIRA REST service in a codeless way, you must perform the following tasks:

  1. Create the JIRA REST service definition in BMC Helix Innovation Studio and create a web request to get the issue details from JIRA. 
  2. Configure the authentication connection for the JIRA REST service and map the web request to the appropriate connection. 
  3. To use the JIRA issue details in the self-service application, configure the Web Request element in the Process designer. 
  4. After the process is triggered, end users can see the JIRA issue details.

The following video (8:43) shows how you can integrate an application with JIRA REST API service to extend BMC Helix Virtual Agent:


icon_play.png https://youtu.be/n2X0YUTJ_68

 Process for connecting to a REST API service

The following images represent the tasks in the process of connecting to a REST service:

Important

After deploying an application in the production environment, you do not need to create the REST API service definition and configure the REST service web request in a process. Administrators can directly configure the authentication connection and map the REST API web request with the connection.

                   

Before deploying an application in the production environment

After deploying an application in the production environment

22_1_Process_to_connect_to_Restful_services.png

22_1_Process_to_connect_to_Restful_services_1.png

The following table explains the tasks in the process of connecting to a REST service in a codeless way:

Task

Action

Reference

1

Create a REST service definition along with web requests for the required methods such as GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE.

2

Configure the authentication connection for the REST service definitions.

3

Configure the Web Request element in a process.

4

Map the REST API web request with the appropriate authentication connection.

 

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