Developing a Future Proof inRiver Custom Connector

Real World

When an inRiver PIM connector is developed for an external system, it is based on a number of assumptions. It starts from the definition of the product in PIM, an organization of data in PIM, inRiver system environment, target systems environment, connectivity and so on.

All these assumptions have a reasonable probability to change in the short term itself. While it may be impossible to make it future proof for the long term, there can be a lot of initiatives that can be taken to minimize the changes and prevent connector redevelopment in the short term.

Challenge

Following are some of the sample scenarios that can be encountered in any PIM implementation or PIM integration in short term.

• Change in the number of attributes required to define a product in the target.
• Mapping of inRiver product attribute to target system’s attribute.
• Transformations if any for inRiver product attribute to target system’s attribute.
• Runtime controls of the connector like source data location, target server connectivity, etc.,
• Alert/notification mechanisms

Approach

While there are many possible approaches to overcome these challenges, some of the proven ones are:

• Making use of inRiver connector’s settings
• Making use of resource files in the same way configuration files are used in any typical software development
• Making use of inRiver’s Specification entity to store some of these frequently changing values

Final word…

Each of the options above has its own advantages & limitations. And the right option for the situation can be selected considering the requirements for flexibility, the frequency of expected change, technical expertise of the end users, etc…

 

Saravanan Baskaran

Observant to enrich & generate revenue for e-stores with the right product content and other SaaS Solutions.