Plug-ins and REST clients

Plug-ins and REST clients allow extending the capabilities of Semarchy xDM using Java code and external APIs. They usually implement data enrichment and validation processes that are not simply doable using SemQL.

Overview

Plug-ins are developed in Java. REST clients are designed in Semarchy xDM with no code.

They have the following characteristics:

They all accept Inputs, typically mapped on attributes or SemQL expressions.
Plug-ins accept Parameters to configure their behavior.
Enricher plug-ins and REST clients return enriched values as Outputs, which are mapped on the attributes to enrich.
Validation plug-ins return a single boolean value indicating whether the inputs are valid.

Examples of plug-ins and REST clients:

Enricher plug-in: Text Normalization and Transliteration, Google Translate Enricher, etc.
Validation plug-in: Pattern Matching, Phone Validator, etc.
REST client: Retrieving current product prices from your price management application.

More information

The Plug-ins and REST clients usage is detailed in logical modeling and data certification.
The built-in plug-ins are listed in Plug-ins reference.
To develop your own plug-ins, refer to Plug-in development.
Designing REST clients is explained in REST clients.