Auto news on Youtube May 17 2018

In this video we'll explore how you can use the Mendix connector kit to build

and package extensions that can be reused simply and easily by other less

technical developers. For example you can leverage SDKs to integrate with external

api's, interface with other Java apps, or utilize third-party or open source java

libraries to extend your applications. Here we have a simple page designed by a

business user, which you have been asked to add translation functionality to. So,

let's get started by integrating the IBM Watson Translate API, using a publicly

available Java library. Microflows allow you to visually model logic and these

microflows can be extended with Java actions. First create a Java action and

set up the parameters required by the IBM Watson API to translate text between

the two languages. Type parameters allow you to take any Mendix object and use it to

define your response and input type, so it's generic and easy to reuse. The

expose as a Microflow action checkbox, publishes your connector to the native

microflow editor toolbox making it accessible to all developers. Once you've

copied the Java libraries to the user lib folder or added the jar file using Maven

or Ivy, you can deploy the project folder for use in your favorite IDE, where we add

the custom Java code. Import the Mendix project and you'll see the Java source

folder, which contains a structure based on the module within your Mendix project.

Each module has a folder containing actions, datasets and proxies.

Proxies are generated by the Mendix platform, allowing you to interact with

any constants, microflows or entities. An entity proxy comes with a number of

default methods, including "GET" and "SET" for each attribute and association. Find

the Java action and add the custom code, as well as selecting the parameters

defined earlier in the microflow. And then configure the input parameters to

pass the required data to your connector. Now run the project locally from the

Java IDE or with one-click deployment to the cloud of your choice from the Mendix

modeler. Your custom connector is ready to use and here we can see the

successful language translation. You can share your new connector directly from

your github repository on the Mendix public or private App Store.

Then non-technical developers can begin to use it in their apps and the great

thing is you'll never have to build the same integration twice. Now what will you

build?