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Data Exchange

Data stored in STEP can be exchanged and integrated with external systems. For example, this allows STEP to receive data from an upstream system such as an ERP, and then send data downstream to a web server.

Although this section deals with configuration of imports and exports in workbench, the formats, receiver methods, and delivery methods are the same regardless of the interface used. For information about imports and exports in Web UI, see Data Exchange in Web UI (here).

In addition to exchanging data, images and documents can also be exchanged. Assets and data can be sent downstream together using STEPXML. For details, see Assets and Content with STEPXML (here). For exchanging assets independent of data, see the Digital Assets documentation (here).

Inbound Tools

There are two primary methods for importing data to STEP:

  1. Import Manager uses a selected format to import objects, classifications, and entities on demand (here).
  1. Inbound Integration Endpoints (IIEPs) monitor a data source for receipt of new messages of a specified data format to import at scheduled intervals (here).

Data Format

The data format defines the inbound file type that will be processed. The same formats are available for both inbound tools (see Data Formats here).

Receiver Method

For an IIEP, the selected receiver method determines how STEP accesses the inbound message (see IIEP Receiver Methods here). The Import Manager does not use a receiver method.

Outbound Tools

The two primary methods for exporting data from STEP are:

  1. Export Manager is used to export fixed data sets of objects, classifications, and entities on demand or at scheduled intervals using a selected format and delivery method (here).
  1. Outbound Integration Endpoints (OIEPs) are primarily used to monitor STEP and automatically export relevant data via a selected data format and delivery method. OIEPs can also be used to export fixed data sets, and can be invoked on demand or at scheduled intervals (here).

Data Format

The data format determines the output file type. The same formats are available for both outbound tools (see Data Formats here).

Delivery Method

The delivery method determines how the output file arrives at its destination. The available delivery methods are determined by the outbound tool used (see OIEP Delivery Methods here and the Export Manager - Select Delivery Method here).

Gateway Tool

Gateway Integration Endpoints (here) enable STEP to access external systems through business rules that make calls to fetch data or update status. The business rule uses synchronous REST calls from JavaScript.

For example, to create objects in STEP using an ID from an external ERP system, STEP can use a gateway endpoint to access and retrieve the external system ID.

Web Service Tools

Web Service Endpoints allow users to configure a web service call to receive requested data and transmit this response as needed. The only Web Service supported by STEP is a Matching and Merging Web Service Endpoint. For more information, see the Web Service Endpoint topic in this documentation here.

 

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