Build GMO MakeShop-Connected Apps in Mendix

Mendix is a high-productivity app platform that allows you to build and maintain both mobile and web applications at-scale. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, Mendix provides instant, cloud-to-cloud access to GMO MakeShop data for applications. This article demonstrates how to connect to a CData Connect Cloud data source from within Mendix.

CData Connect Cloud provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for GMO MakeShop, allowing you to import data from live GMO MakeShop data in Mendix — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you build web and mobile applications from within Mendix, CData Connect Cloud pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to GMO MakeShop, leveraging server-side processing to return the requested GMO MakeShop data quickly.

Configure GMO MakeShop Connectivity for Mendix

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

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection

2. Select "GMO MakeShop" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to GMO MakeShop.

   Configuring Access to GMO MakeShop

   GMO MakeShop requires AccessCode for each API. To obtain MembersAccessCode, OrdersAccessCode, ProductsAccessCode, and ShopId, follow the steps below:

   • Log in to the GMO MakeShop Store Manager and click Create Shop.
   • Click any target connection setting from External System Connection in the left-hand navigation menu. If you cannot find it in the menu, please contact GMO Makeshop.
   • Product Data Connection Settings: Click Issue to retrieve the authentication code and ProductsAccessCode.
   • Order Data Connection Settings: First select Get Order Information > Change Order Information settings. Then click Issue to retrieve the authentication code and OrdersAccessCode.
   • Members Data Connection Settings: Select Get/Post/Update/Delete Members Information settings. Then click Issue to retrieve the authentication code and MembersAccessCode.
   < li>Members Authentication Connection Settings: Click Issue to retrieve the authentication code and ProductsAccessCode.

   Authenticating to GMO MakeShop Account

   Set the following connection properties to connect:

   • ShopId: Set the GMO MakeShop Store ID of the connection destination. The GMO MakeShop Store ID is the same as the ID for login.
   • OrdersAccessCode: Set the orders access code retrieved from Order Data Connection Settings. This property is required to access the Orders table.
   • ProductsAccessCode: Set the products access code retrieved from Product Data Connection Settings. This property is required to access the Products table.
   • MembersAccessCode: Set the members access code retrieved from Members Data Connection Settings. This property is required to access the Members table.
   • MemberAuthenticationCode: Set the member authentication code retrieved from Members Authentication Connection Settings. This property is required to execute MemberAuthenticationConfirm.
   • Password: Specify the password for the GMO MakeShop Store Manager login user. This property is required to execute ProductCategoryRegistrationOrModification, ProductMemberGroupPriceRegistrationOrModification, ProductOptionRegistrationOrModification, and ProductRegistrationOrModification.
   
4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add GMO MakeShop Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Configure GMO MakeShop Endpoints for Mendix

After connecting to GMO MakeShop, create a workspace and virtual dataset for your desired table(s).

1. Navigate to the Virtual Datasets page and click Add to create a new Workspace (or select an existing workspace).
2. Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
3. Select the GMO MakeShop connection (e.g. GMOMakeShop1) and click Next.
4. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm.
5. Make note of the OData Service URL for your workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}

With the connection and Workspace configured, you are ready to connect to GMO MakeShop data from Mendix.

Build a GMO MakeShop-Connected App

With the Workspace added to Connect Cloud, you can build an app in Mendix with live access to GMO MakeShop data.

Downloading the OData Metadata File

When creating a connection in Mendix, the connection flow requires a Data Source Contract File. Follow these steps to download the OData metadata file for CData Connect Cloud using curl, a command line tool:

1. Open a command-line window for your operating system. On Windows, open the start menu, type cmd, and press the Enter key to open a command prompt. On macOS and Linux, open a Terminal window.
2. To check if curl is installed on your system, type curl -help and press the enter key. If it is not installed, install it from the curl website.
3. Issue the following curl command, replacing USER with your CData Connect Cloud username and PAT with the PAT you generated above: curl -u USER:PAT https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}/$metadata -o metadata.xml
4. Locate the metadata.xml file that the curl command created and move it to an accessible location.

Connecting to CData Connect Cloud in Mendix

Follow these steps to establish a connection from Mendix to CData Connect Cloud:

1. Login to Mendix and open the Data Hub page.

2. In the Register a Data Source section, select OData.

3. Upload the metadata.xml file from the steps above and click Next.

4. Enter your desired values for Data Source Name and Data Source Version. In the Data Source Relative Path field, enter /api/odata/{workspace_name} and click Next.

5. On the Application information page, click Register a new application.

6. Enter a name in Application Name and select a technical owner (by default, this is the user who is currently logged in).

7. Click Next. In the Environment Name field, enter a desired name (for example, CData Connect Cloud). In the Environment Location field, enter https://cloud.cdata.com and select the appropriate Environment Type (e.g. Production), depending on what is needed.

8. Click Done! to create your connection.

You can now use your connection in Mendix Studio Pro to easily create applications with access to live GMO MakeShop data.

Get CData Connect Cloud

To get live data access to 100+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, try CData Connect Cloud today!