Connect to Zoho Creator Data in RunMyProcess through Connect Server

Akorbi Digital RunMyProcess makes it easy to create applications for complex business processes, such as budget application and contract management. CData Connect creates a virtual database for Zoho Creator and can be used to generate an OData API (natively consumable in RunMyProcess) for Zoho Creator. By pairing RunMyProcess with the CData Connect Server, you get direct connectivity to all your SaaS and cloud-based Big Data and NoSQL sources - no need to migrate your data or write your own integrations. Simply connect to Connect Server from RunMyProcess as you would any other REST service and get instant, live access to your Zoho Creator data.

In this article, we walk through connecting to Zoho Creator from CData Connect and accessing Zoho Creator data through an OData feed in RunMyProcess.

Configuring Connect Server

To work with live Zoho Creator data in RunMyProcess, we need to connect to Zoho Creator from Connect Server, provide user access to the new virtual database, and create OData endpoints for the Zoho Creator data.

Add a Connect Server User

Create a User to connect to Zoho Creator from RunMyProcess through Connect Server.

1. Click Users -> Add
2. Configure a User
3. Click Save Changes and make note of the Authtoken for the new user

Connect to Zoho Creator from Connect Server

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

1. Open Connect Server and click Databases
2. Select "Zoho Creator" from Available Data Sources
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Zoho Creator

   The connector is already registered with Zoho Creator as an OAuth application.

   If you would prefer to use your own custom OAuth app, see the Help documentation.

4. Click Test Database
5. Click Privileges -> Add and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions (SELECT is all that is required for RunMyProcess).

Add Zoho Creator OData Endpoints in Connect Server

After connecting to Zoho Creator, create OData Endpoints for the desired table(s).

1. Click OData -> Tables -> Add Tables
2. Select the Zoho Creator database
3. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Next
4. (Optional) Edit the resource to select specific fields and more
5. Save the settings

(Optional) Configure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)

When accessing and connecting to multiple domains from an application, such as Ajax, you might violate the limitations of cross-site scripting. In that case, configure the CORS settings in OData -> Settings.

• Enable cross-origin resource sharing (CORS): ON
• Allow all domains without '*': ON
• Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, PUT, POST, OPTIONS
• Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Authorization

Save the changes to the settings.

Sample URLs for OData Feeds

Once you have configured a connection to Zoho Creator, created a user, and created OData endpoints in Connect Server, you can access OData feeds for Zoho Creator data. Below, you will see the URLs to access tables and the list of tables. For information on accessing the tables, you can navigate to the API page for Connect Server (click the API link on the top right of Connect Server Web page). For the URLs, you will need the URL of Connect Server, likely in the form: CONNECT_SERVER_URL/. Since we are working with Angular, we will append the @json parameter to the end of URLs that do not return JSON data by default.

As with standard OData feeds, if you wish to limit the fields returned, you can add a $select parameter to the query, along with other standard OData URL parameters, such as $filter, $orderby, $skip, and $top. See the help documentation for more information on supported OData queries.

Configure Connect Server to Connect to Zoho Creator

To connect to Zoho Creator data from RunMyProcess, you need to configure Zoho Creator access from your Connect Server instance. This means creating a user, connecting to Zoho Creator, adding OData endpoints, and (optionally) configuring CORS.

Add a Connect Server User

Create a Connect User to connect to Zoho Creator from RunMyProcess.

1. Click Users -> Add
2. Configure a User
3. Click Save Changes and make note of the Authtoken for the new user

Connect to Zoho Creator from Connect Server

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

1. Open Connect Server and click Databases
2. Select "Zoho Creator" from Available Data Sources
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Zoho Creator.
   
   

   The connector is already registered with Zoho Creator as an OAuth application.

   If you would prefer to use your own custom OAuth app, see the Help documentation.

4. Click Test Database
5. Click Privileges -> Add, and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions (SELECT is all that is required for RunMyProcess)

Add Zoho Creator OData Endpoints in Connect Server

After connecting to Zoho Creator, create an OData Endpoint for the desired table(s).

1. Click OData -> Tables -> Add Tables
2. Select the Zoho Creator database
3. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Next
4. (Optional) Edit the resource to select specific fields and more
5. Save the settings

(Optional) Configure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)

When accessing and connecting to multiple domains from an application, such as Ajax, you might violate the limitations of cross-site scripting. In that case, configure the CORS settings in OData -> Settings.

• Enable cross-origin resource sharing (CORS): ON
• Allow all domains without '*': ON
• Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, PUT, POST, OPTIONS
• Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Authorization

Save the changes to the settings.

Retrieve Zoho Creator Data from RunMyProcess DigitalSuite Studio

With the connection to Zoho Creator and OData endpoints created, we are ready to add Zoho Creator data to RunMyProcess for retrieval.

Create a Provider

1. Log into RunMyProcess and open DigitalSuite Studio.
2. Click Resources to bring up the Resources page, then select then the CONNECTORS tab. 　　
3. Click the + (New Provider) button to create a new provider, choose the project to use, then click Confirm.
4. In the provider settings page, configure the following properties.
   • URL：Set the OData endpoint in the CData Connect Endpoints page.e.g. CONNECT_SERVER_URL/api.rsc/
   • Authentication Schema：Select Login/Password.
   • Login：Specify the CData Connect User name configured above.
   • Password：Specify the Authtoken of the user.
5. Fill in the same properties in the ACCEPTANCE and TEST tabs. Note: You can copy the configured settings by clicking 'Copy this configuration button,' then pasting the content in the new tab by clicking 'Paste previously copied configuration.'
6. Click Save to save the properties.

Retrieve Zoho Creator Data by Creating a Connector

1. In the CONNECTORS tab, click the button with three dots to create the provider, then select Add connector from the menu.
2. In the following page, set Connector URL to the OData endpoint configured in Connect Server.e.g. odataendpoint/
3. Click Save then Launch to test the connector execution. Click Launch test to execute. The process is successful if you get the JSON response of your configured table information.

More Information & Free Trial

Now, you have created a provider and connector to retrieve Zoho Creator data. For more information on creating OData feeds from Zoho Creator (and more than 200 other data sources), visit the Connect Server page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live Zoho Creator data in RunMyProcess.