Build Rebilly-Connected Apps in Bubble

Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Use CData Connect AI to create an OData feed for Rebilly Data and create custom 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 AI, you gain effortless no-code access to Rebilly data for streamlined app development. This article guides you through the integration process from Bubble to Rebilly using CData Connect AI.

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

Connect to Rebilly from Bubble

To work with Rebilly data from Bubble, we need to connect to Rebilly from Connect AI, provide user access to the connection, and create a Virtual Schema for the Rebilly data.

Connect to Rebilly from Connect AI

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

  1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
    2. Adding a Connection
  2. Select "Rebilly" from the Add Connection panel
    3. Selecting a data source
  3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Rebilly.

    Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the Rebilly Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Rebilly.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Rebilly (see below).

    Rebilly API Profile Settings

    Generate an API Key in Rebilly by navigating to Automations > Integrations > Custom Integrations > API Keys and selecting Secret as the type.

    Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
  4. Click Save & Test
  5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Rebilly Connection page and update the User-based permissions. Updating permissions

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

  1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
  2. On the Settings page, go to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
  3. Give the PAT a name and click Create. Creating a new PAT
  4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Configure Rebilly Endpoints for Bubble

After connecting to Rebilly, create a virtual schema for your desired table(s).

  1. Navigate to the Virtual Schemas page and click Add to create a new Virtual Schema (enter a Virtual Schema Name and click Confirm), or select an existing one. The Virtual Schemas page. Adding a new Virtual Schema.
  2. Click Add to open the Add Asset dialog, then select Tables and Views.
  3. Select the Rebilly connection (e.g. API1) and click Next. Selecting an Asset (Salesforce is shown).
  4. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm. Selecting Tables (Salesforce is shown).
  5. Click View Endpoints and copy the OData Service URL for your virtual schema.

With the connection, PAT, and Virtual Schema configured, you are ready to connect to Rebilly data from Bubble.

Build a Rebilly-Connected App

With OData endpoints added to Connect AI, you can build an app in Bubble with live access to Rebilly data.

Configure the Bubble API Connector

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

  1. In your app, click the Plugins tab and click Add plugins
  2. Search for "API Connector" and click Install Installing the API Connector plugin
  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 AI user (e.g. [email protected])
    • Set Password to the PAT for the user
    • Expand the API Call, select the "GET" command and set the URL to the OData Service URL you copied from your Virtual Schema, followed by the table name (e.g. {OData Service URL}/Attachments)
    Configuring the API Call
  4. Click the "Initialize call" button to adjust data types in the response (as needed) Initializing the call
  5. After making any necessary changes, click "Save" Saving the data types

Configure the App UI

With the API Connector configure, you are ready to retrieve Rebilly 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" Adding the Excel-like HandsonTable plugin
  2. On the Design tab, add an "Excel Table" to the workspace Adding an Excel Table to the app
  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 AI - API Call's value" (or equivalent) Binding the Excel Table to the API Call
  6. Click "Preview" to ensure the data was retrieved from Rebilly. Previewing the app

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

Live Access to Rebilly Data from Cloud Applications

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

To get live data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, see the CData Connect AI.

Ready to get started?

Learn more about CData Connect AI or sign up for free trial access:

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