Build HCL Domino-Connected Apps in Bubble

Bubble is a no-code platform that simplifies the process of developing and launching apps and businesses. When coupled with CData Connect Cloud, you gain effortless no-code access to HCL Domino data for streamlined app development. This article guides you through the integration process from Bubble to HCL Domino using CData Connect Cloud.

CData Connect Cloud provides a pure cloud-to-cloud OData interface for HCL Domino data that allows you to integrate from Bubble to HCL Domino data in real time.

Connect to HCL Domino from Bubble

To work with HCL Domino data from Bubble, we need to connect to HCL Domino from Connect Cloud, provide user access to the connection, and create OData endpoints for the HCL Domino data.

(Optional) Add a New Connect Cloud User

As needed, create Users to connect to HCL Domino through Connect Cloud.

1. Navigate to the Users page and click Invite Users
2. Enter the new user's email address and click Send to invite the user
3. You can review and edit users from the Users page

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.

Connect to HCL Domino from Connect Cloud

CData Connect Cloud uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

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

   Prerequisites

   The connector requires the Proton component to be installed. Normally, Proton is distributed as part of the AppDev pack. See the HCL documentation for instructions on acquiring and installing Proton or the AppDev pack.

   Once the Proton service is installed and running, you will also need to create a user account and download its Internet certificate. This certificate can be used to set the connector certificate connection properties.

   Authenticating to Domino

   • Server: The name or IP address of the server running Domino with the Proton service.
   • Port: The port number that the Proton service is listening on.
   • Database: The name of the database file, including the .nsf extension.
   • SSLClientCertType: This must match the format of the certificate file. Typically this will be either PEMKEY_FILE for .pem certificates or PFXFILE for .pfx certificates.
   • SSLClientCert: The path to the certificate file.
   • SSLServerCert: This can be set to (*) if you trust the server. This is usually the case, but if you want to perform SSL validation, you may provide a certificate or thumbprint instead. See the documentation for SSLServerCert for details.

   Additional Server Configuration

   The connector supports querying Domino views if any are defined. Before views can be queried by the connector they must be registered with the design catalog.

   Please refer to the Catalog Administration section of the AppDev pack documentation for details on how to do this.

4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add HCL Domino Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add HCL Domino OData Endpoints in Connect Cloud

After connecting to HCL Domino, create OData Endpoints for the desired table(s).

1. Navigate to the OData page and click Add to create new OData endpoints
2. Select the HCL Domino connection (e.g. Domino1) and click Next
3. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm

With the connection and OData endpoints configured, you are ready to connect to HCL Domino data from Bubble.

Build a HCL Domino-Connected App

With OData endpoints added to Connect Cloud, you can build an app in Bubble with live access to HCL Domino data.

Configure the Bubble API Connector

To start, Configure the API Connector for accessing CData Connect Cloud from Bubble.

1. In your app, click the Plugins tab and click Add plugins
2. Search for "API Connector" and click Install
3. After installation, click the "Add another API" button and configure the API:
   • Name the API
   • Set Authentication to "HTTP Basic Auth"
   • Set Username to a Connect Cloud user (e.g. user@mydomain.com)
   • Set Password to the PAT for the above user
   • Expand the API Call, select the "GET" command and set the URL to an OData endpoint you previously configured (e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/service/ByName)
4. Click the "Initialize call" button to adjust data types in the response (as needed)
5. After making any necessary changes, click "Save"

Configure the App UI

With the API Connector configure, you are ready to retrieve HCL Domino data in your Bubble app. In this article, we request the data with a UI component that can display an Excel-like table.

1. On the Plugin tab, install the "Excel-like HandsonTable"
2. On the Design tab, add an "Excel Table" to the workspace
3. In the Excel Table, in Data source, select "Get data from an external API"
4. Set Type of content to "API Call value"
5. Set Data source to "CData Connect Cloud - API Call's value" (or equivalent)
6. Click "Preview" to ensure the data was retrieved from HCL Domino.

At this point, you can develop applications with live access to HCL Domino data without needing to know the complexities of the back-end API.

Live Access to HCL Domino Data from Cloud Applications

Now you have a direct connection to live HCL Domino data from Bubble. You can create more HCL Domino-connected apps — all without writing any code or replicating HCL Domino data.

To get live data access to 100+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, see the CData Connect Cloud.