User Guide > Map Connectors > Source and Target Map Connectors > OData
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OData
The Open Data Protocol (OData) is a web protocol that Microsoft has released as a set of open extensions and conventions under the Open Specification Promise (OSP) for the creation of Representational State Transfer (REST)-based data services. The protocol is based on Web technologies such as JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), Atom Publishing Protocol (ATOM), and HTTP to allow people on different platforms to query and update data that is accessible from a variety sources, including services and applications.
You can use the OData connector to create, read, update, merge, and delete data from a variety of sources such as websites, content management systems, and relational databases.
This connector writes multimode output, so replace/append target mode does not apply.
Querying OData
When you create an OData connection, the Entity field is automatically populated with the available entity types the endpoint supports. The following OData query options are available:
• $expands - Expand the fields inline.
• $filter - Filter the results.
• $format - Format results. The default is ATOM.
• $orderby - Sort the results.
• $select - The number of fields to return.
• $skip - The number of rows to bypass before starting to return results.
• $top - The maximum number of items returned in the result set for each page.
For example, if the endpoint http://odata.someservice.com/catalog features a collection of cellular phones with an entity called Name that included the fields Type, Price, and Rank, you could enter the following query in the Entity field to sort the results by Rank:
Name?$orderby=Rank
More information about OData query options is available on the OData website: http://www.odata.org/developers/protocols/uri-conventions#QueryStringOptions
You can also request a specific parent or child record. Using the previous endpoint example, you could enter the following statement in the Entity field to return all cellular phone records with a specific Name:
Name(iPhone)
Connector-Specific Notes
• To connect to an OData service you must specify its URL.
• The OData connector is a multimode connector, that is, integration platform allows for concurrent writes to the entity (table) defined in the dataset. When using the dataset in a map, use the Insert function to perform create, update, merge, or delete operations. The actual operation that the system performs is defined by the HTTP Method (POST, PUT, MERGE, DELETE) you set in the dataset.
• In OData multimode targets, modifications to data types are not permitted.
• The OData target schema has a root element called Entries that enables you to create multiple entities at once. You must output the Entries record once per map (not per entity).
• To use the OData connector to do update, merge, and delete operations, you must specify the Record Id in the Entity field.
Connector Parts
Connector parts are the fields you configure to connect with a data source or target.
The settings that are available depend on the connector you select.
For a list of all parts for source connectors, see Specifying Connector, Parts, and Properties.
For a list of all parts for target connectors, see Specifying Connector, Parts, and Properties.
Property Options
You can set the following source (S) and target (T) properties.
Property
S/T
Description
Batch Response
T
Creates a batch response file, which serves as a reporting mechanism to the connector. The file provides detailed results for each object in a batch where the batch size is greater than one. This is useful in the following cases:
• You need to capture system-generated object IDs for use in future updates
• You need to correlate an error with its object and have enough information about the error for exception handling and error diagnosis
For more information, see Data File Formats.
Batch Size
S
Number of source records that the connector caches before processing them in a map.
Default value is zero, which means to read all.
FlushFrequency
T
Number of operations the connector caches before writing them to the target. Default is zero.
HTTP Method
T
The HTTP method to be executed:
• POST - Create the entity. Default.
• PUT - Replace the entity with the one specified.
• MERGE - Update the entity fields that are specified (ignores null fields).
• DELETE - Delete the entity.
Note:  For more information, see the HTTP 1.1 specification.
Truststore File
ST
The full path to the trust store certificate from the default keystore location.
Truststore Password
ST
The password for the specified trust store.
Supported Data Types
The OData connector supports the following data types.
• Binary
• Boolean
• Byte
• DateTime
• DateTimeOffset
• Decimal
• Double
• Guid
• Int16
• Int32
• Int64
• Single
• String
• Time
Last modified date: 02/01/2024