Integration Providers

An integration provider is a piece of software for moving data between Dynamicweb and an external data source, like an XML file, a CSV file or an SQL database.

Integration providers are used in integration activities, which are jobs which accomplish something every time they are run, e.g. 'import products from a file' og 'export users to a file'.

An integration activity consists of:

  • A source provider matching the data source - either the Dynamicweb solution (export) or a file (import)
  • A destination provider matching the data destination - either the Dynamicweb solution (import) or a file (export)

Here's an overview of the built-in providers supplied by Dynamicweb:

Provider

Description

Dynamicweb Provider

Can access the full Dynamicweb database. High performance, but complex. Supports SQL Views.

SQL Provider

Import and export data directly to and from a Microsoft SQL server database. Supports SQL Views.

User Provider

Import and export user and user group data in a more straightforward manner than the Dynamicweb provider.

Excel Provider

Import and export data to and from Microsoft Excel.

CSV Provider

Import and export data from and to CSV files.

XML Provider

Import and export data from and to XML files.

Ecom Provider

Import and export ‘incomplete’ data to and from the Dynamicweb database. Able to e.g. auto-assign IDs to imported products.

Item Provider

Import and export items (content).

Order Provider

Import and export order and orderline data.
JSON Provider Import and export data in the popular JSON format.
Endpoint Provider Import and export data by reading and writing to predefined endpoints.
OData Provider Purpose-built for data integration between D365 Business Central and Dynamicweb through dedicated web services. 

Click the links in the table to read in-depth information about each provider – or read about creating custom providers.

There are generic providers and purpose built providers. The XML Provider is an example of a generic provider capable of consuming and creating generic XML files without requiring much from the source nor destination.

The OData Provider is an example of a purpose built provider. It is designed to use object types which have predefined mappings between specific entities in the ERP system - Dynamics 365 Business Central - and specific tables in Dynamicweb. Hence it requires a specific source and destination.

The most common scenarios are:

  • Scenario 1: Data in a source file of the type XML, CSV or Excel must be persisted.
  • Scenario 2: A source file containing users, product data or orders must be persisted.
  • Scenario 3: An XML response from a Dynamicweb Plug-In Unit must be persisted.
  • Scenario 4: An OData endpoint’s JSON response must be persisted.
  • Scenario 5: Data from Dynamicweb database table(s) must be exported to an XML file.

In each scenario, use the following provider recommendations:

  • Recommendation 1: Use a generic provider as source provider, i.e. XML Provider for XML, CSV Provider for CSV etc.
  • Recommendation 2: Use User Provider for users. Use either Ecom or Dynamicweb Provider for everything else.
  • Recommendation 3: Always use XML Provider as source and Dynamicweb Provider as destination when persisting XML responses from a Dynamicweb Plug-In Unit for NAV or Business Central.
  • Recommendation 4: Always use Endpoint Provider as source and OData Provider as destination when persisting OData.
  • Recommendation 5: Use either User, Ecom or Dynamicweb Provider as source and XML Provider as destination.

When importing data to Dynamicweb, and you import and set the Id's of tables explicitly, it is important that you use Id's that conform to Aa-Zz and 0-9 ONLY. Using space, comma, dot and/or any special characters may cause for the application to fail.