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Connectors for use with ECL

When used with External Content Library (ECL), Connectors based on the Tridion Integration Framework can support a variety of CRM and multimedia use cases. The ECL integration enables Editors to add the external content using the same methods they do for other Tridion content or external data.

Prior to SDL Tridion Sites 9.1, ECL was as the primary integration point for consuming external data and content and using it in SDL Tridion Sites. From SDL Tridion Sites 9.1 onward, Tridion Integration Framework is the primary and recommended way to build new Connectors that work with the existing ECL functionality. Legacy ECL Providers (pre-existing and not built on the Tridion Integration Framework) will continue to work as before.

Tridion Sites provides the Tridion Connector Template to help implementers to quickly build new connectors. The template is available in a .NET Core and a Java version.

Use cases

Use cases for ECL-based Connectors include the following:
  • Creating a mashup of external data and Tridion content
  • Consuming external multimedia assets
  • Linking to external data, such as products or contacts

Capabilities

As with other Application Clients, ECL is a consumer of Connector capabilities. The following table maps Connector capabilities to existing ECL functionality:

Connector capabilityECL function
ListEntitiesList folder
SearchEntitiesQuery
GetEntityGet metadata
UpdateEntityUpdate metadata

Entity identity mapping to ECL

The entity identity of an ECL Connector maps to an ECL-URI, as follows:

Entity identity itemECL itemDescription
Namespace IDMount Point IDThe namespace where the external data is made available. A connector can expose several namespaces with different setups, such as different end points or entity types. Typical namespaces are 'sapcommerce', 'salesforce' and 'poolparty'.
Entity TypeSubtypeThe general type of data represented by the entity, such as product, category, contact or concept.
Unique IDItem IDThe unique identifier provided by the external system. The external system defines the ID format.
Locale IDPublication IDAn identifier for a locale-specific variant of the entity, such as a product ID for a specific market. The locale ID can either be a Tridion Sites publication ID or a locale string, such as 'en' or 'sv-se'. The connector is responsible for the actual locale value and mappings between locales and publication IDs.
Structure TypeItem Type A read-only value to identify the type of element that the entity represents in the structure, and one of the following: root item, container item or a leaf item. This value is available only as a returned value; therefore, it cannot be modified through a GraphQL mutation.

Content Management-side integration

The ECL integration enables Editors to add the external content using the same methods they do for other Tridion Sites content or external data.

The following screen shot illustrates ECL-generated thumbnail images for videos that are managed externally in YouTube:

The video content in this example is made available in the Content Manager through implementation of a YouTube Connector that is built on Tridion Integration Framework.

More on ECL

For more information on ECL, refer to the main documentation for SDL Tridion Sites 9.5.