Build SAP SuccessFactors-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 SAP SuccessFactors data for streamlined app development. This article guides you through the integration process from Bubble to SAP SuccessFactors using CData Connect Cloud.

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

Connect to SAP SuccessFactors from Bubble

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

(Optional) Add a New Connect Cloud User

As needed, create Users to connect to SAP SuccessFactors 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 SAP SuccessFactors 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 "SAP SuccessFactors" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to SAP SuccessFactors.

   You can authenticate to SAP Success Factors using Basic authentication or OAuth with SAML assertion.

   Basic Authentication

   You must provide values for the following properties to successfully authenticate to SAP Success Factors. Note that the provider will reuse the session opened by SAP Success Factors using cookies. Which means that your credentials will be used only on the first request to open the session. After that, cookies returned from SAP Success Factors will be used for authentication.

   • Url: set this to the URL of the server hosting Success Factors. Some of the servers are listed in the SAP support documentation (external link).
   • User: set this to the username of your account.
   • Password: set this to the password of your account.
   • CompanyId: set this to the unique identifier of your company.

   OAuth Authentication

   You must provide values for the following properties, which will be used to get the access token.

   • Url: set this to the URL of the server hosting Success Factors. Some of the servers are listed in the SAP support documentation (external link).
   • User: set this to the username of your account.
   • CompanyId: set this to the unique identifier of your company.
   • OAuthClientId: set this to the API Key that was generated in API Center.
   • OAuthClientSecret: the X.509 private key used to sign SAML assertion. The private key can be found in the certificate you downloaded in Registering your OAuth Client Application.
   • InitiateOAuth: set this to GETANDREFRESH.
4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add SAP SuccessFactors Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add SAP SuccessFactors OData Endpoints in Connect Cloud

After connecting to SAP SuccessFactors, 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 SAP SuccessFactors connection (e.g. SAPSuccessFactors1) 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 SAP SuccessFactors data from Bubble.

Build a SAP SuccessFactors-Connected App

With OData endpoints added to Connect Cloud, you can build an app in Bubble with live access to SAP SuccessFactors 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/ExtAddressInfo)
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 SAP SuccessFactors 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 SAP SuccessFactors.

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

Live Access to SAP SuccessFactors Data from Cloud Applications

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

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