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Creating or editing a Connector manifest

When you create a new Connector, you need to include a manifest file as part of the Add-ons package. When you create a new .NET or Java Connector based on the Tridion Connector Template, a manifest.json gets created for you, ready for use with just a few changes.

About this task

By performing this task, you will configure a manifest file for your Connector, which will do the following:

  • Describe the Connector as an Extension that can be uploaded and managed by the Add-ons feature.
  • Define default values for Connector properties. For certain properties, implementers of a connector can override the values in the manifest with custom values they define in the connector's configuration file. If the property is also in the manifest, the value in the configuration file will override the default value set in the manifest. Implementers can also refine the configuration even further according to the environment or namespace.

Procedure

  1. Do one of the following:
    • If creating a Connector using Tridion Connector Template (either the .NET or Java version), locate the manifest.json file that was created when you built the Connector, and open if for editing.
    • If creating a Connector manually, you need to manually create your manifest. Create a new, empty manifest.json, and open if for editing.
  2. Edit the field values in the manifest according to the requirements of your new Connector. For a Connector based on the template, there is minimal editing that you need to do.

    The following sample illustrates the manifest file that is created if you specify "AnotherDataSource" at the command line:

    {
      "manifestVersion": "1.0",
      "version": "1.0.0",
      "id": "AnotherDataSourceConnector",
      "name": "AnotherDataSource Connector",
      "author": "Tridion Developer",
      "description": "AnotherDataSource Connector using Tridion.ConnectorFramework.SDK for .NET Standard.",
      "requireConfiguration": "Yes",
      "extensions": [
        {
          "type": "Connector",
          "name": "AnotherDataSourceConnector",
          "properties": {
            "connectorLibrary": "AnotherDataSourceConnector.dll",
            "connectorRuntime": "DotNetStandard"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
    Note the following:
    • When using the template, the id, name and description fields reflect the Connector name you provided when you built the Connector.
    • For all Connectors, you must set the requireConfiguration field to "yes" to require that implementors to provide a configuration when they upload the Connector through the Add-ons feature. Not doing so will prevent the Connector from deploying properly.
    • Within the extensions array, define the Connector, as follows:
      • The property type is set to "Connector" (required value, set for you by the template).
      • The properties section of the manifest.json file defines the default implementation of the connector. For certain properties, implementers of a connector can override the values in the manifest with custom values they define in the connector's configuration file. If the property is also in the manifest, the value in the configuration file will override the default value set in the manifest. Implementers can also refine the configuration even further according to the environment or namespace.
      • The following properties describe the Connector:
        connectorRuntime

        Type of runtime that is required to run the connector

        Allowed values:
        • Java
        • DotNetStandard
        connectorClassName

        The fully qualified name of the Java class that implements a Java-based connector

        Example: The following class implements Connector for Salesforce CRM: com.sdl.tridion.connectorframework.connector.salesforce.SalesforceConnector

        connectorLibrary

        The name of the DLL that contains the .NET connector implementation

        Example: The following DLL implements a YouTube connector built for ECL: YouTubeEclProvider/Tridion.ExternalContentLibrary.YouTubeEclProvider.dll
        configuration

        Any number of connector-specific settings, such as endpoint URLs, username, password, and so on. The settings vary from connector to connector. For details on what these are, refer to the connector-specific documentation.

        This setting in configurable in both the manifest and the connector's configuration file. Values in the configuration file override those in the manifest.

  3. Save your changes to manifest.json.

Example manifests

A .NET manifest created from the template:

The following sample code illustrates the manifest file of a Connector created from the Tridion Connector Template for .NET:

{
  "manifestVersion": "1.0",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "id": "MyAwesomeConnectorConnector",
  "name": "MyAwesomeConnector Connector",
  "author": "Tridion Developer",
  "description": "MyAwesomeConnector Connector using Tridion.ConnectorFramework.SDK for .NET Standard.",
  "requireConfiguration": "Yes",
  "extensions": [
    {
      "type": "Connector",
      "name": "MyAwesomeConnectorConnector",
      "properties": {
        "connectorLibrary": "MyAwesomeConnectorConnector.dll",
        "connectorRuntime": "DotNetStandard"
      }
    }
  ]
}

A Java manifest for the Connector for Salesforce CRM:

The following manifest file is of the Java-based connector for Salesforce CRM:
{
  "manifestVersion": "1.0",
  "version": "1.1.0",
  "id": "salesforce-crm-connector",
  "name": "SalesforceCRM",
  "author": "RWS Group",
  "description": "CRM connector to Salesforce",
  "requireConfiguration": "yes",
  "extensions": [{
    "name" : "SalesforceCRM",
    "type": "Connector",
    "supportedVersions": "9.1.0.0",
    "properties": {
      "connectorRuntime": "Java"
      "connectorClassName": "com.sdl.tridion.connectorframework.connector.salesforce.SalesforceConnector",
      "configuration": {
           
      }
    }
  }]
}

What to do next

Include the manifest in your Connector's Add-on package (ZIP file).