Connector capabilities, entities and namespaces
Tridion Integration Framework provides a high level of flexibility for building Connectors through the framework's use of namespaces, entities and capabilities.
- Capability
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A connector capability is a tiny interface with a single purpose, such as get entity data, create entity data or download a binary file. Capabilities typically perform an operation on a entity.
Refer to the related topic for a complete list of all supported capabilities.
- Entity
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An entity is a representation of a remote data structure. Some examples of external entities are multimedia objects, WCM content, CRM contacts, and e-commerce products.
- Namespace
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Each instance of a Connector creates an independent connector namespace with its own configuration. Typically, namespaces correspond to the various external systems, such as 'SAPCommerce', 'salesforce', 'bynder'. Use of namespaces creates a separation between a Connector package and Connector instance, which means that you can use a single Connector package to create multiple namespaces.
Tridion Integration Framework uses the Connector's namespace when getting Connector capability metadata and is part of the entity identity. Through the metadata, an application client, such as External Content Library and Public Content API, can find out what entity types and capabilities that are available.
A high-level view
The following diagram illustrates at a high level the flexibility of Connectors built on Tridion Integration Framework, in particular, the variety of combinations that can exist between namespaces, entities and capabilities: