Create Confluence-Connected Enterprise Applications in OutSystems

OutSystems is a low-code platform which provides the tools for companies to developer, deploy, and manage omnichannel enterprise applications. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, you get instant, cloud-to-cloud access to Confluence data for business applications. This article shows how to create a virtual database for Confluence in Connect Cloud and build a simple app from Confluence data in OutSystems.

The CData Connect Cloud provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for Confluence, allowing you to build reports from live Confluence data in OutSystems — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you create applications to work with data, OutSystems generates SQL queries to gather data. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Cloud pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to Confluence, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return the requested Confluence data.

Configure Confluence Connectivity for OutSystems

Connectivity to Confluence from OutSystems is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Confluence data from OutSystems, we start by creating and configuring a Confluence connection.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Confluence" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Confluence.

   Obtaining an API Token

   An API token is necessary for account authentication. To generate one, login to your Atlassian account and navigate to API tokens > Create API token. The generated token will be displayed.

   Connect Using a Confluence Cloud Account

   To connect to a Cloud account, provide the following (Note: Password has been deprecated for connecting to a Cloud Account and is now used only to connect to a Server Instance.):

   • User: The user which will be used to authenticate with the Confluence server.
   • APIToken: The API Token associated with the currently authenticated user.
   • Url: The URL associated with your JIRA endpoint. For example, https://yoursitename.atlassian.net.

   Connect Using a Confluence Server Instance

   To connect to a Server instance, provide the following:

   • User: The user which will be used to authenticate with the Confluence instance.
   • Password: The password which will be used to authenticate with the Confluence server.
   • Url: The URL associated with your JIRA endpoint. For example, https://yoursitename.atlassian.net.
4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Confluence Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Confluence data from OutSystems.

Connect to Confluence from OutSystems

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect Cloud from OutSystems to create a new Confluence database connection.

1. Open OutSystems Service Studio
2. Click the gear icon to open Environment Management in the Service Center
3. Click Administration and select "Database Connections"
4. Click "New Database Connection"
5. Configure the database connection:
   • Name: name the connection (e.g. CData Connect Cloud Confluence)
   • DBMS: SQL Server / Azure SQL
   • Username: a Connect Cloud user (e.g. user@mydomain.com)
   • Password: the PAT for the Connect Cloud user
   • Server: tds.cdata.com,14333
   • Schema: the name of your Confluence connection (e.g. Confluence1)
6. Click "Test Connection"
7. Click "Create"

Map Confluence Tables or Views to Entities in an Extension Module

Once you create the database connection for Confluence, you can create an extension that maps the tables or views to OutSystems entities. If you have not already done so, create an Application in Service Studio.

1. Open the Service Studio and open the existing Application
2. Click "Add Module," set the "Module Name" (e.g. confluence_db_extension), set "Module Type" to "Extension," and click "Create Module"
3. In Integration Studio, connect to your environment
4. Right-click "Entities" in the extension tree and select "Connect to External Table or View..."
5. Follow the steps in the wizard, selecting the tables and views you wish to work with
6. In the Integration Studio, click "1-Click Publish"
7. In the "1-Click Publish" wizard, click "Configure" when the process completes
   • In the Service Center, associate the logical database name of the extension to the database connection that the extension will use and click "Apply"
8. In your application, click "Manage Dependencies..."
9. Add a dependency to the Extension and select the Entities that you will use in your application

At this point, you can access and work with Confluence data just like you would with the standard OutSystems entities.

More Information & Free Trial

With Connect Cloud and OutSystems, you can easily build Confluence-connected applications. Request a free trial of Connect Cloud and start working with Confluence data in OutSystems today.