Integration Object

Overview

This page provides detailed design information about the integration object and its configuration options.

The information below applies most directly to HTTP, OpenAPI, and SQL integrations. If you are using a pre-built connected system, the fields you see may be different.

• To learn how to use the integration designer to configure, test, and troubleshoot HTTP integrations, see Create an HTTP Integration.
• To learn how to create and use a SQL integration object, see Create a SQL Integration.
• To learn how to call an integration from other places in your application, see Call an Integration.
• To learn about connected systems, see Connected System Object.
• For a real-world example of how to build and use connected systems and integrations, see the Integration Tutorial.

Properties

Each integration type has its own set of properties that can be configured.

HTTP integration properties

Each HTTP integration has the following properties.

Property	Description
Name	The name that will be used when executing an integration. Follow the recommended naming standard when creating this name.
Description	Supplemental information about the integration that is displayed in the expression editor and in the objects grid of some Appian Designer views.
Save In	The rule folder that the integration is saved into.
Rule Inputs	Rule inputs are used to pass data into the integration. Name: The name that is used when referencing the input within the integration definition, such as ri!input, or when passing arguments by keyword. Input names are case insensitive and must be unique within a given integration. Description: A short description of the rule input. Type: The type of the rule input. Array: Rule inputs can be either a single value or an array of values.
Integration Definition	The integration is defined using the configuration pane of the integration designer.

SQL integration properties

Each SQL integration has the following properties.

Property	Description
Connected System	This will be the custom JDBC connected system you created to go with this SQL integration.
Operation	The SQL integration type used for this integration. Value can be SQL Write Integration or SQL Query Integration.
Name	The name that will be used when executing the integration. Follow the recommended naming standard when creating this name.
Description	Supplemental information about the integration that is displayed in the expression editor and in the objects grid of some Appian Designer views.
Save In	The rule folder that the integration is saved into.

Integration definition

Open the integration object to define the details of your integration.

HTTP integration definition

The configuration pane of the integration object allows you to define the HTTP request details for your integration.

Field	Description
Enter connection details below/ Use an existing connected system	Determines whether the integration will use a shared connection configuration from a connected system. Enter connection details below: The connection details will be unique to this integration and will not be shared using a connected system. Use an existing connected system: This integraton will use a connected system and will inherit the connection details it provides. When selected, fields with values that are inherited from the connected system will be hidden. You should use a connected system when configuring multiple integrations that connect to the same external service.
URL	The HTTP URL that will be called. URL must begin with http:// or https://. Note: If you need to connect to this URL using a proxy server, that configuration can be enabled in the Admin Console. This field is not shown when using a connected system.
Base URL	The base URL from your connected system. This field is not shown when entering connection details directly.
Relative Path	Used to specify the endpoint for a given operation. Relative Path will be appended to Base URL to form the URL for your integration. This field is not shown when entering connection details directly.
URL Preview	The URL for your integration given the current rule inputs. The URL Preview is determined by evaluating the relative path expression and appending it to the end of the connected system’s base URL.
Connected System	The connected system being used. This connected system represents the external system or service, and contains the base URL and authentication details that the integration will use to connect to that service. This field is not shown when entering connection details directly.
Authentication	Although basic authentication can be configured directly from an integration, connected systems are the best way to manage authentication. Using a connected system gives designers access to additional authentication options and allows them to manage authentication for several integrations in one place. Note: This field is not shown when using a connected system.
Username	The username to use for the authentication. This value is encrypted and supports environment specific configuration. Note: This field is only shown when using basic authentication.
Password	The password to use for the authentication. This value is masked, encrypted, and supports environment specific configuration. Note: This field is only shown when using basic authentication.
Send credentials preemptively instead of waiting for a 401 authentication challenge	Determines whether or not authentication credentials are sent only after a 401 Not Authorized response or, when selected, before the system has challenged. Note: This field is only shown when using basic authentication.
Method	The HTTP method with which to call the URL. Available options are "GET", "POST", "PUT", "PATCH", "DELETE", "HEAD", "OPTIONS", and "TRACE".
Timeout (sec)	The time, in seconds, after which an integration should time out and throw an integration error if a response hasn't been returned. This time pertains to the entire integration runtime (prepare + execute + transform). If left blank, the integration will run indefinitely until a response is returned or a connection error terminates the call.
Usage	The type of interaction that the HTTP request has with data in the external system. Queries data: The request retrieves data but does not make any changes. Modifies data: The request may create, update, or delete data in the external system. Integrations that query data can be used in any expression. Integrations that modify data must be called as a smart service. This means they can only be called in a saveInto parameter, web API, or process model. To learn how to call an integration, see Call An Integration. This field is automatically set to Modifies data and disabled when an integration response is configured to convert binary or base64 to Appian documents.
Parameters	The query parameters that will be appended to the URL using the format ?name1=value1&name2=value2. Name: The parameter name. Value: The parameter value. Parameter names and values will be URL encoded before being added.
Ignore query parameters with empty values	Determines whether or not query parameters with null or empty values will be appended to the URL. When checked, developers can use a single integration object for an endpoint with optional query parameters.
Headers	The HTTP headers that will be added to the request. Name: The header name. Value: The header value. Default headers will be added automatically but can be overridden by adding an explicit header with the same header name.
Ignore HTTP headers with empty values	Determines whether or not HTTP headers with null or empty values will be added to the request. When checked, developers can use a single integration object for an endpoint with optional HTTP headers.
Body	The body that will be sent with the HTTP request. This field can be used to send documents as either binary data or base64 data. The format of the body should match the defined content type. Size limitations Request bodies cannot exceed 5 MB. The file size of documents being sent do not count towards this limit. For base64 files, the combined size of the files in the request body cannot exceed 75 MB. For binary files, we recommend keeping the file size under 250 MB. For examples of sending documents, see the HTTP integration examples section.
Content Type	The content type of the body that will be sent with the HTTP request. JSON (application/json) XML (application/xml) Document (auto-detect) Multipart Form Data (multipart/form-data) Text (text/plain) Custom: Define a custom content type using the provided field. Content type applies only to requests with a body. See the page on content types for more information.
Automatic Request Body Conversion	Checking this box causes the integration to automatically convert Appian values to the selected Content Type. If JSON is selected, you can pass either a dictionary or CDT as the request body. If XML is selected, you will need to use a CDT. This checkbox also enables you to send Appian documents to other systems as base64. When the dictionary or CDT contain documents, those documents will be converted to base64 and sent inline with the request body. Note: This field is only shown when the request body Content Type is set to JSON or XML.
Remove fields with null or empty values from generated JSON	Checking this box removes all fields with values that are null, empty strings, or empty arrays from the generated JSON request body. This behavior matches the removeNullOrEmptyFields parameter of the a!toJson function. This is important for certain web services, such as those that follow the OData protocol. Some web services treat fields with null values differently from fields that aren't included in the request body at all. Omitting a field may mean "don't modify the field," while sending a null value for that field would mean "write a null value to the field." Note: This field is only shown when the request body Content Type is set to JSON.
Response Body Parsing	If the service returns a binary or JSON response body, the response body can be converted to an Appian value. The following options are available: Return the raw response body Convert JSON to Appian value Convert binary to Appian document Selecting the binary option enables the integration to stream and download a binary file from the response body to create an Appian document. These documents can be as large as 250 MB. It also sets the Usage field to Modifies data. If you see Convert JSON to Appian Value (prior version) for the Response Body Parsing, it means your integration was migrated from an earlier version of Appian that converts the JSON using a!fromJson_19r2(). You could choose to convert it to Convert JSON to Appian Value, but that may cause issues with parts of your application that rely on the integration. Because of this, for existing integrations we recommend continuing to use Convert JSON to Appian Value (prior version).
Document Name and Extension	When an integration is configured to convert a binary response body to an Appian document, this field specifies the document name and/or extension. It is recommended to provide an extension at design time in order to ensure its accuracy. If this field contains period(s), the document extension will be set to everything after the last period and the document name will be set to everything before the last period. So profilePicture.jpg would set the document name to profilePicture and the extension to jpg. If this field doesn’t contain a period, the document name will be set to the entire field value and Appian will try to infer an extension from the response using the Content-Disposition and Content-Type HTTP headers. So profilePicture would set the document name to profilePicture and the extension would be inferred. Note: This field is only shown when Response Body Parsing is set to Convert binary to Appian document.
Convert base64 values to Appian documents	When Response Body Parsing is set to Convert JSON to Appian value, checking this box enables the integration to convert base64 values in a JSON response body to Appian documents. Once checked, further configuration will be required. Checking this box enables the integration to stream up to 75MB of files as base64 in a single response body (one 75MB file, three 25MB files, etc), with the limitation that base64 strings longer than 4,000 characters are truncated. It also sets the Usage field to Modifies data and exposes a table, allowing you to specify the Response Body Location of each file in the JSON response body and (optionally) provide a Name for that document. The Response Body Location dropdown contains the structure of the most recently received response body. At runtime, selected locations that are found in the response body will be converted to Appian documents. Locations that aren’t found in the response body will be ignored. This allows the grid to support optional document fields. The Name field specifies the name and/or extension for each document. It is recommended to provide an extension for each document at design time in order to ensure their accuracy. If this field contains period(s), the document extension will be set to everything after the last period and the document name will be set to everything before the last period. So profilePicture.jpg would set the document name to profilePicture and the extension to jpg. If no extension is specified, Appian will try to infer an extension by using the Apache Tika library to analyze the bytes. Note: This field is only shown when Response Body Parsing is set to Convert JSON to Appian value.
Save Document(s) In	When an integration is configured to receive documents in the response, this field determines the document folder in which to save those documents. This can be configured using an expression, allowing the designer to set document security per integration call. Each user who will call an integration must have at least Editor permission to the selected folder. Note: This field is only shown when an integration is configured to pull back documents in the response as binary or base64 values in a JSON response body.
Error Handling	Override error handling to customize error messages or update the criteria for success to check for error messages in the body. The following options are available: Use default error handling Override and define all error conditions
Success Criteria	Return false when this integration should return an error. Use fv!success, fv!error, and fv!result to reference the default integration outputs.
Error Message	Return an error message when this integration success criteria returns false. Use fv!success, fv!error, and fv!result to reference the default integration outputs. Use a!integrationError() to create the custom error message.
Enable HTTP request/response logging for this integration object	This field enables HTTP request/response logging for this integration. Integration calls will only ever be logged to integration_req_resp_activity.log if it is enabled in both the integration object and the Admin Console. The HTTP request/response logs may contain sensitive data or credentials. Before enabling HTTP request/response logs, it's important to understand the integration logging guidelines below.

SQL integration definition

The configuration pane of the integration allows you to define the SQL statements you will use in your integration.

Field	Description
Connected System	The custom JDBC connected system you are using for the integration.
Operation	The SQL integration type used for this integration. Value can be SQL Write Integration or SQL Query Integration.
SQL Statements	The SQL statement or statements to be executed. Multiple statements can be executed in a single integration to allow for batch statement execution against the same external data source. Statements will be executed in the order they appear.
Parameters	Placeholders for specific values that can be passed into your SQL statements during execution on the database server. A single parameter can be shared across multiple SQL statements but the parameter value will remain consistent. You can also define all values with a single expression. A parameter value can use an expression or reference a rule input.
Timeout	The amount of time each statement can run. The default is 30 seconds but the value is configurable. For example, if you have 5 statements and the value is set to 60 seconds, then each statement can run for up to 60 seconds for a total value of 5 minutes for the entire integration.
Auto-commit	The auto-commit mode for your SQL statements. This mode determines whether the database will automatically issue a "COMMIT" operation after every SQL statement. Enable this feature if your database requires it for the JDBC Connected System. However, it is important to note that when auto-commit is enabled, it may consume significant processing time and resources.

Encrypted values

Certain integration fields contain sensitive values like passwords. These values are managed differently depending on whether they are defined directly or are defined using expressions:

• Values entered directly are encrypted and will not be included in the package when the integration object is exported. Use an import customization file to set environment-specific values when importing into other Appian environments.
• Expressions should be used only when you cannot enter values directly. Appian does not manage encryption or environment-specific import for values populated by expressions and a!scsField() is not supported (instead, use a connected system to share credentials across multiple integrations).

HTTP request/response logging guidelines

Integrations that enable HTTP request/response logging are much easier to troubleshoot when integrations fail. However, it's important to understand the safeguards we have in place before deciding whether a specific integration should be logged.

HTTP request/response logging safeguards

There are a number of safeguards in place to ensure that HTTP request/response logging doesn't store sensitive data when used correctly:

• Administrator-only access: The APPIAN_HOME/logs/perflogs/http-requests-and-responses/ subdirectory and the integration_req_resp_activity.log log are only accessible by system administrators. This prevents any privilege escalations for designers who shouldn't be able to see certain integrations.
• Credentials: Credentials sent in the HTTP request will be masked. This includes all connected system credentials marked as sensitive, as well as anything sent in HTTP headers with the key Authorization, X-Amz-Security-Token, or Credential.
• HTTP request body: Appian will only log the first 100,000 characters of the HTTP request body. Anything beyond that will be truncated. Additionally, any binary files sent in the request body will be replaced with the string "<binary>".
• HTTP request body: Appian will only log the first 100,000 characters of the HTTP response body (roughly 100 KB). Anything beyond that will be truncated. Additionally, any binary files returned in the response body will be replaced with the string "<binary>".
• Log rollover policy: The log files roll over based on time and size. No HTTP request/response log will ever last more than 7 days. The cumulative size of all rollver over HTTP request/response logs will never exceed 100 MB. To learn more about the log rollover policy, see the Logging page.

When not to log HTTP request/responses for an integration

There are three cases under which you should not enable HTTP request/response logging for an integration:

• Unsupported authentication method: Do not enable logging if you are using an unsupported authentication method. Doing so will result in the credentials being logged in plain text. Logging should only be enabled if one of the following is true:
  • The integration uses connected system authentication.
  • The integration uses Basic Authentication (for integrations that don't use a connected system).
  • The endpoint is unauthenticated.
• Sensitive data in HTTP request: Do not enable logging if the integration sends sensitive data, such as a credit card number, in the request body, HTTP headers, or query parameters. Doing so will result in the sensitive data being logged in plain text.
• Sensitive data in HTTP response: Do not enable logging if the integration returns sensitive data, such as a social security number, in the response body or HTTP headers. Doing so will result in the sensitive data being logged in plain text.

Outputs

Integrations return a result, an error, and a connected system as their output. To learn how to use these outputs, see Call an Integration.

HTTP result

The result output contains the HTTP response details.

Field	Data Type	Description
headers	Any Type	The list of HTTP response headers.
statusLine	Text	The HTTP response status line, containing the HTTP protocol version and response status code.
body	Any Type	The body of the HTTP response. If the HTTP response returns a JSON body, Appian can convert this to an Appian value by enabling automatic parsing. This allows Designers to use dot notation or indexing without the need to create a wrapper rule or expression first. Response bodies over 5 MB cannot be processed and will cause the integration to return an error.
contentType	Text	The content type of the HTTP response body, as specified in the Content-Type response header.
statusCode	Number (Integer)	The HTTP status code that was returned. For example, 200 for a successful request.

SQL result

SQL statements return as a List of Map type:

• When you use a SQL Write integration template, the update count for each separate statement returns as an integer with a Map type.
• When you use a SQL Query integration template, the result set for each separate statement will return as a List of Map with each returned row representing a single Map.

Error

The error output contains the information about an unsuccessful request. An Integration error will output the following fields:

Field	Data Type	Description
title	Text	The general error summary.
message	Text	The specific error message.
detail	Text	The details about the error.

Designers can use fv!success, fv!error, and fv!result to create custom error messages using a!integrationError(). Otherwise, a default error message is used after an unsuccessful request.

OAuth connected system

When an OAuth connected system is used, its value will be stored as part of the integration output. This value is used to generate an authorization link when a user needs to obtain a new access token.

When an OAuth connected system is not used for an integration, the value is null.

Versions

Each time you modify and save an integration, a new version is created. All objects that use the integration will use the latest version. All versions are accessible to designers who can view the integration, and an integration can be reverted back to a previous version at any time.

For information on how to manage object versions, see Managing Object Versions.

Security

The security role map of an integration controls which developers can see or modify it and its properties. By default, integrations inherit the security of the folder that they are saved in. However, after creating the integration, you can disable that inheritance and modify the integration's security. See Editing Object Security to modify an integration's security.

The following table outlines the actions that can be completed for each permission level in an integration's security role map:

Actions	Administrator	Editor	Viewer	Deny
Execute the integration	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
View the integration definition	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Duplicate the integration	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Test request	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Update the integration definition	Yes	Yes	No	No
View the security	Yes	Yes	No	No
Rename the integration	Yes	Yes	No	No
Update the security	Yes	No	No	No
Delete the integration	Yes	No	No	No

Duplicate

Developers with Viewer permissions to this object can duplicate it. There are two ways to duplicate an object:

• From any view in an application, you can select the object you wish to duplicate and use the toolbar option to launch the duplication dialog. The duplicated object will be added to the application you're working in. This capability is only available for single object selections from the grid.
• If you are in an interface, expression rule, integration or decision object, you can select Duplicate from the object's settings menu . From there, you can specify the target application for the new object.

Once you select the Duplicate option, you will see the following dialog:

You can only duplicate the most recent version of an object. If you have unsaved changes and attempt to duplicate the object from within the designer, the most recent saved version of the object will be duplicated without the unsaved changes. A banner appears when there are unsaved changes to remind you before duplicating.

Limits

The HTTP and OpenAPI integrations have limits on both the request body and the response body to ensure proper use.

Binary and base64 encoded documents have higher limits than plain text because they are streamed, and so they stay out of memory. See the request body limits and response body limits for more information on limits related to HTTP and OpenAPI integrations.

For SQL integrations, note that the maximum number of rows per result set returned is 1,000. Result sets that exceed the default limit are truncated and a warning will appear. 

To change the default value, modify conf.sqlIntegration.limits.maxRowsPerResultSet=.

Request body limits

Request body limits are determined by the Content Type value in the Request Body section.

Request Body Content Type	Request Body Limit
JSON (application/json)	5 MB + 75 MB of base64
XML (application/xml)	5 MB + 75 MB of base64
Document (auto-detect)	No limit. Best practice is to limit your binary request body to 250 MB.
Multipart Form Data (multipart/form-data)	5 MB, no limit on documents. Best practice is to limit total size of documents for a single multipart request to 250 MB.
Text (text/plain)	5 MB
Custom	5 MB

Response body limits

Response body limits are determined by the Response Body Parsing value in the Response section.

Response Body Parsing	Response Body Limit
Return raw response body	5 MB
Convert JSON to Appian value	5 MB + 75 MB of base64. Note: base64 strings longer than 4,000 characters are truncated.
Convert binary to Appian document	250 MB

Examples

HTTP integration examples

Using Relative Path

When using a connected system with a base URL attached, designers should construct the URL for an integration using the Relative Path field.

1. Base URL should be used to store a consistent prefix for the URLs of all an integrations for that connected system. Base URL is set on the connected system.
2. Relative Path specifies the endpoint for a given operation. It is fully expressible, allowing for a dynamic URL based on rule inputs.
3. URL Preview is determined by evaluating the relative path and appending it to the connected system’s base URL. This field shows you how Relative Path and Base URL will be combined at runtime to build the integration's URL.

These fields are only displayed when Inherit Base URL is selected. If you would prefer not to leverage the base URL for an integration, you can select Build Base URL from Scratch.

Sending a binary document

Designers can send documents in the request body as binary. To do so, they must first set the content type to Document (auto-detect) and enter a document in the request body.

In this example, we cast an integer to type document, but this can also be a constant pointing to a document or a rule input of type document.

When the integration is executed, the content type is automatically detected and the document is streamed as binary data.

Sending base64 inline with JSON

Designers can send base64 documents inline with JSON using a dictionary, a CDT, or a list of either. For this example, we will use a dictionary.

1. Set the content type of your request body to JSON (application/json).
2. Enter a dictionary containing one or more documents.
   • In this example, we cast integers to documents, but these can also be constants pointing to documents or rule inputs of type document. In fact, if you can pass in the whole dictionary as a rule input if you want to.
3. Make sure that Automatically convert CDT, dictionary, or list to JSON is selected.

When the integration is executed, the dictionary is automatically converted to JSON and the documents are streamed as base64 data.

Sending base64 inline with XML

Designers can send base64 documents inline with XML using a CDT. First, they must create the CDT, structured like the XML they want to send and containing one or more fields of type document.

Once the CDT is created, you can configure the integration request body.

1. Set the content type of your request body to XML (application/xml).
2. Ensure that the checkbox for automatic request body conversion is enabled.
3. Enter the CDT you created. In this example, we cast integers to documents, but these can also be constants pointing to documents or rule inputs of type document. In fact, you can pass in the whole CDT as a rule input.

When the integration is executed, the CDT is automatically converted to XML and the documents are streamed as Base64 data.

Receiving a binary document

Designers can configure an integration to pull a binary document from external systems. To do so, you will need to configure the integration response.

1. Set Response Body Parsing to Convert binary to Appian document. This will cause two new fields to appear and also set Usage to Modifies Data.
2. Document Name and Extension should be provided to give the document a human-readable name and ensure that it’s created with the correct extension. If this field is left blank, Appian will try to infer a name and extension from the response headers.
3. Save Document In determines which folder the returned document should be saved in. This can be configured using an expression, allowing the designer to set document security per integration call. Each user who will call an integration must have at least Editor permission to the selected folder.

When the integration is successfully executed, a document will be created with the given name and extension and saved to the selected folder. Integrations can stream a binary file as large as 250 MB from the response body. Because integrations that pull documents are automatically set to modify data, they must be called as a smart service. This means they can only be called in a saveInto parameter, web API, or process model.

When calling the integration from a process model, map a process variable of type Document to the output AC!Result.body:

When calling the integration from a web API or a saveInto on an interface, use the onSuccess parameter to save the document in fv!result.body to a variable:

Receiving base64 inline with JSON

Designers can configure an integration to convert base64 values in a JSON response body to Appian documents. To do so, you will need to configure the integration response.

1. First, set Response Body Parsing to Convert JSON to Appian value. This will cause a checkbox to appear.

2. Next, select the checkbox. In addition to disabling Usage and setting it to Modifies data, this will expose an empty grid and a disabled folder picker. As the instructional text states, you will need to run a test that returns successfully to proceed with configuration. At that point, the grid and picker will become enabled.

   

3. Select the locations of the base64 strings in the response body from which you want to create documents.
4. A name with an extension should be provided to give the document a human-readable name and ensure that it’s created with the correct extension. If this field is left blank, Appian will try to infer a name and extension from the response.
5. Save Documents In determines which folder the returned documents should be saved in. This can be configured using an expression, allowing the designer to set document security per integration call. Each user who will call the integration must have at least Editor permission to the selected document folder.

At runtime, configured locations that are found in the response body will be converted to Appian documents. Configured locations that aren’t found in the response will be ignored. This allows the grid to support optional document fields.

When the integration is successfully executed, each document will be created with the given name and extension and saved to the selected folder. Integrations can stream up to 75MB of files as base64 in a single response body (one 75MB file, three 25MB files, etc). Integrations that pull documents are automatically set to modify data, they must be called as a smart service. This means they can only be called in a saveInto parameter, web API, or process model.

When calling the integration from a process model, you can create a CDT for the response and map it to AC!Result.body. Alternately, you can map a process variable of type Document to a custom output for each document location:

When calling the integration from a web API or a saveInto on an interface, use the onSuccess parameter to save documents to variables:

SQL integration examples

Building SQL statements to query with static values

You can query your database with static values, such as HIRE_DATE >= '2023-03-01' used in the following example, by using syntax specific to the database you're querying for the custom JDBC connected system.

Building SQL statements to query with parameterized values

You can parameterize your query directly in the SQL statement. Use curly brackets to define a parameter placeholder, such as {hireDate} in the following example. The parameter value can then be defined using an expression, such as the today() function used in the following example.

Building SQL statements to query with parameterized values using a rule input

If you use an expression to define a SQL statement parameter, you can reference a rule input, such as ri!hireDate in the following example.

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