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Create custom flows

Integration flows transfer data from a source application to a destination application. If you have customer record data in one application that you want to transfer to another application, an integration flow allows you to export data from the source application and import it into the destination application. You can create a flow to sync your shipping data with your billing info, or your inventory data with your customer lists. You can automatically stream the data in real time using webhook listeners, set up a flow to run on a scheduled basis, or manually trigger a flow to run as needed.

Important

Locate the API documentation for each application. The API documentation provided by the applications you are integrating contains information you need to reference when setting up your connections and modifying your data.

Create a simple flow

Flow Builder allows you to create and customize a flow to transfer data from one platform to another. You can use Flow Builder to export and combine data from multiple applications, and import data into multiple applications, but let's start simple. Building a simple flow requires a minimum of three steps:

  1. Choose source and destination applications – Select the applications you're connecting. All flows have at least one export step (source application) and one import step (destination application), but simple flows have no more than four steps.

  2. Establish connections – Enter the credentials to the applications you're connecting.

  3. Modify data configurations – Configure the data conversion behavior for your flow.

To access Flow Builder from the home page:

  • From the left navigation menu, click Tools > Flow Builder.

    -or-

  • In the upper-right corner, click Create and select Flow.

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  1. Name the flow. integrator.io names the flow "New Flow" by default.

  2. Click Add source and choose the application that you want to export data from. If your preferred application does not appear in the list, you can use HTTP options to build flows between unlisted applications.

    1. Select one of the following options from the What would you like to do? drop-down menu:

      • Export records from source application: Choose this option to export data from your source application to be imported into your destination application.

        • Connection: If you have already created a connection for your source application, you can select it from the drop-down menu. Otherwise, click the + icon to create a connection.

      • Transfer files out of source application: Choose this option if the source application data you want to export is a BLOB file that does not need to be modified before sending it to the next step in your flow.

      • Listen for real-time data from source application: Choose this option if you are using a webhook listener in your source application.

  3. Click Add destination / lookup to choose the app that you want to import data into.

    1. Select one of the following options from the What would you like to do? drop-down menu:

      • Import records into destination application: Choose this if your flow does not need additional steps to generate the data you want to import into your destination application.

        • Connection: If you have already created a connection for your lookup or destination application, you can select it from the drop-down menu. Otherwise, click the + button to create a connection.

      • Lookup additional records (per record): Choose this if your flow has a lookup step to retrieve additional information that is unavailable from the initial source application export. For more information on lookups, see HTTP Import: Static and Dynamic Lookups.

        • Connection: If you have already created a connection for your lookup or destination application, you can select it from the drop-down menu. Otherwise, click the + button to create a connection.

Modify your source application records

Once you have established connections to both source and destination (or lookup) applications in Flow Builder, click the + icon in your source application flow step to define your export options.

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You can now choose to set up a flow schedule, transform data from the source application, filter data from the source application, or add a hook to your source application.

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  1. Override flow schedule: If you have a flow that contains multiple source export flow steps, you can set an individual schedule for each export to override your general flow schedule. See Override flow schedule.

  2. Transform data: You can remove fields or change field names. For more information on data transformation, see Apply transform rules.

  3. Create filters: You can filter for data that meets a set of criteria that you define. For more information on filters, see Apply filters.

  4. Create a hook: Invoke a specific function in your records by creating a hook. For more information on hooks, see Hooks for integrator.io.

Define import mapping and hooks

Once your source application data contains the export data you want to import into your destination application, you must map the fields to from the source application to their destination application counterparts. Click the mapping icon to define import mapping.

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For more information on mapping records, see Map source record fields to destination.

You can also click the Define options button (+) to add a hook to your destination application. For more information on hooks, see Hooks for integrator.io.

Additional options available for complex flows

Flow Builder has some functionality that only appears in specific circumstances. The above content only describes the options available for the simplest flow (export - import), but if you have lookup steps or multiple destinations in your flow, Flow Builder provides additional customization options.

Page size

The records being exported from a particular source are grouped into pages of data. Each page is moved through the flow as processing becomes available, thus the integration is running on multiple pages at a time. The default number of records per page is 20, but you can modify page size to fine-tune integrator.io for optimal throughput. This does not apply to webhooks and listeners, where data is sent in real-time and messages are queued, then run individually through the integration.

Multiple exports

If you have multiple exports, each export is run as a separate job on your dashboard, thus data being sent one export will not touch the data from another export.

Add a lookup step

A lookup is an export to fetch additional data to be added to the original data that's going through the data flow. For example, you could pull order information from Shopify, then call back into Shopify to get details for each customer for those orders, then this customer information would be added to the order information going through the flow. A lookup is sending another query to another application or database. These results are used to refine or enrich the data being sent from your source application.

Click the + button next to Destinations & Lookups to add a lookup step.

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integrator.io has two types of lookups: Lookup additional files (per record) and Lookup additional records (per record).

Look up additional files (per record)

This option is available only for applications that have APIs with BLOB export capabilities. Choose this if there are files associated with each record in a given resource that you want to include as a BLOB file to add to each record pushed to the destination application. For more information on this option, see Example file transfer: Salesforce to NetSuite.

Look up additional records (per record)

Choose this option if you want to supplement the data from your source application with additional data from another resource or location. The information retrieved by the lookup will be added to each record that passes through the lookup step.

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Enter a name and description for the lookup step.

One to many: Select Yes (advanced) if the lookup records contain child records that should each be used as the main record. The Path to many field displays for you to select or enter the path to the section of the record that should be split into data for multiple record population. If the records you retrieve with the lookup share a one to one relationship with the records they are supplementing (meaning each record in the lookup should supplement each record imported), select No.

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After making your selections, continue to the What would you like to export? section.

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API Name: Select the name of the API you are connecting to. The list of available options will vary depending on the APIs available for the service you are using as the source for your lookup step.

Operation: Select the operation you would like to perform on the API you selected to retrieve your lookup data. The list of available options will vary depending on the API you selected for the service you are using as the source for your lookup step.

Click Launch in the Configure search parameters section to further refine your search parameters. The settings available from the pop-up window will vary depending on the API you selected for the service you are using as the source for your lookup step.

After you have configured the above settings, you can configure the export type.

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Export type: Select the appropriate type for the needs met by your lookup:

  • All: Exports all data.

  • Delta: Exports only data that has changed since the last time the flow ran.

  • Once: Exports only data that has not been exported already (and marks the records as exported).

  • Test: Exports only one record for testing purposes.

Add a transfer step

You can add a transfer step to send records to an alternate API database during a flow. Transfers are similar to lookups, but instead of contributing to data to steps further down the flow, a transfer just copies the records according to your preferences to a secondary location. For more information on transfers, see Example file transfer: Salesforce to NetSuite.

Add an additional destination application

You can add multiple destinations to a single flow. The data is migrated to each destination in the order defined by the flow. For more information about multiple destination flows, see Mapping responses from multiple destination applications.

Run another flow after this flow

If you have another flow that is enabled in this integration, you can run the flow directly after the first flow completes via the Flow Builder Settings. An example could be running a customer synch, then run an order synch, or an item synch, then an inventory synch.

Find tips and info on Flow Builder in our community forum.

Take the following classes to learn more about this topic:

You can add additional options and steps to create complex flows based on your requirements. For more information, see Complex flows - additional options.

If you’re familiar with creating flows but want to optimize your business processes, check courses in Celigo University.

If you run into any issues, join Office Hours and get help.

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