This section describes how to build a dataflow to perform connector actions in response to HTTP requests.
A NiFi Ingest dataflow that listens for requests and performs multiple actions can be complex, so Micro Focus recommends building your dataflow from the following templates that are provided with NiFi Ingest:
To create a dataflow to handle connector actions
Add the components required to handle HTTP requests.
Drag the template icon from the components toolbar to the canvas.
The Add Template dialog box opens.
In the list, select Connector ACI Server and click ADD.
The components necessary to handle requests are added to the canvas.
TIP: The Connector ACI group and the ConnectorGroupRouter added by this template are designed to handle requests for any number of connectors. In a later step you will configure the ConnectorGroupRouter to route requests to the correct connector.
Add a connector group. This is a group of processors that can handle all of the supported actions for a specific connector.
Click ADVANCED.
A dialog box opens, showing every IDOL Connector that you have installed, along with the actions that it supports.
Click INSTALL next to the relevant connector group. This example uses a File System Connector, so click INSTALL for the FileSystem Connector Group.
The Template Name dialog box opens.
Type a name for the template and click INSTALL.
A template is installed that contains the components required to handle the selected actions.
Drag the template icon from the components toolbar to the canvas.
The Add Template dialog box opens.
In the list, select FileSystem Connector Group and click ADD.
The components are added to the canvas.
Configure how to handle requests.
Right-click the Connector ACI group and click Variables.
The Variables dialog box opens.
Right-click the Connector ACI group and click Configure.
The Connector ACI Configuration dialog box opens.
Click the Controller Services tab.
An ACI Context Service already exists.
Enable the ACI Context Service (click Enable ).
The Enable Controller Service dialog box opens.
Configure the ConnectorGroupRouter to route requests to your FileSystem Connector Group, and route responses back.
Click to add a new dynamic property.
The Add Property dialog box opens.
In the Property Name box, type FileSystemConnectorGroup
. Then, click OK.
The name that you choose becomes the name of an output relationship on the ConnectorGroupRouter processor. You could also create relationships for other connector groups, by creating properties such as WebConnectorGroup
or ExchangeConnectorGroup
.
FileSystem
.Create a connection from the ConnectorGroupRouter processor to the FileSystem Connector Group.
Hover the mouse pointer over the ConnectorGroupRouter until you see the connection icon - - and then drag the icon to the FileSystem Connector Group.
The Create Connection dialog box opens.
Create a connection from the FileSystem Connector Group back to the ConnectorGroupRouter.
Hover the mouse pointer over the FileSystem Connector Group until you see the connection icon - - and then drag the icon to the ConnectorGroupRouter.
The Create Connection dialog box opens.
Configure the FileSystem Connector Group.
Right-click the FileSystem Connector Group and click Configure.
The FileSystem Connector Group Configuration dialog box opens.
Click the Controller Services tab.
An IDOL License Service already exists.
Open the FileSystem Connector Group and configure the connector processors as necessary.
Route the output from the FileSystem Connector Group into your ingestion pipeline.
Hover the mouse pointer over the FileSystem Connector Group until you see the connection icon - - and then drag the icon to the first processor in your ingest pipeline. In the image of the dataflow, at the beginning of this topic, an output port is used as a placeholder for the ingest pipeline.
The Create Connection dialog box opens.
Depending on the type of connector that you are using, you can also create connections for other types of output, such as "Collect Output" or "Identifiers Output".
Start all of the processors in the dataflow. (Go to the Operate palette and click Start ).
You can now begin sending actions (see Send Actions to NiFi).