Web Client
The Web Client destination writes data to an HTTP endpoint. The destination sends requests to a request endpoint URL. For information about supported versions, see Supported Systems and Versions in the Data Collector documentation.
The Web Client destination requires that Data Collector use Java version 17. For more information, see ../../../reusable-content/datacollector/../../datacollector/UserGuide/Installation/JavaVersions-Features.html.
The Web Client destination provides much of the same functionality as the HTTP Client destination. It also provides functionality not available in the HTTP Client destination. For more information, see Comparing Web Client and HTTP Client Destinations.
Use the Web Client destination to perform a range of standard requests or use an expression to determine the request for each record.
When you configure the Web Client destination, you define the request endpoint, optional headers, and method to use for the requests. You can also use a connection to configure the destination.
You configure the destination to generate one request for each record or to generate a single request containing all records in the batch.
You define the pagination mode and optional status response actions.
You can configure the timeout, request transfer encoding, and authentication type for both requests and responses.
You can optionally use a proxy server and configure TLS properties. You can also configure the destination to use the OAuth 2 protocol to connect to an HTTP service.
Comparing Web Client and HTTP Client Destinations
Data Collector provides two destinations that write to HTTP endpoints. The HTTP Client destination was the first destination. The new Web Client destination includes key functionality available in the older destination, as well as improvements and new features.
- The Web Client destination allows you to configure different data formats for request data and response data.
- The Web Client destination allows you to configure per-status and per-timeout actions.
- The HTTP Client destination can be configured to use Kerberos and Universal authentication. Both destinations can be configured to use Basic, Digest, OAuth 1, and OAuth 2 authentication.
HTTP Method
- GET
- POST
- PUT
- PATCH
- DELETE
- HEAD
- Expression - An expression that evaluates to one of the other methods.
Expression Method
The Expression method allows you to write an expression that evaluates to a standard HTTP method. Use the Expression method to generate a workflow. For example, you can use an expression that passes data to the server using the PUT method based on the data in a field.
Headers
- Security Headers
- Common Headers
You can define headers in either property. However, only security headers support using credential functions to retrieve sensitive information from supported
If you define the same header in both properties, security headers take precedence.
Grouping Style
The Web Client destination can generate one HTTP request for each record, or it can generate a single request containing all records in the batch.
Configure the destination to generate requests in one of the following ways:
- Multiple requests per batch
- If you set the Grouping Style property to One Request per Record, the destination generates one HTTP request for each record in the batch and sends multiple requests at a time. To preserve record order, the destination waits until all requests for the entire batch are completed before processing the next batch.
- Single request per batch
- If you set the Grouping Style property to One Request per Batch, the destination generates a single HTTP request containing all records in the batch.
Event Generation
The Web Client destination can generate events that you can use in an event stream. When you enable event generation, the destination generates event records each time the destination completes processing all available data.
- With the Email executor to send a custom email
after receiving an event.
For an example, see Sending Email During Pipeline Processing.
- With a destination to store event information.
For an example, see Preserving an Audit Trail of Events.
Event Records
Event records generated by the Web Client destination include the following event-related record header attributes. Record header attributes are stored as String values:
Record Header Attribute | Description |
---|---|
sdc.event.type | Event type. Uses one of the following types:
|
sdc.event.version | Integer that indicates the version of the event record type. |
sdc.event.creation_timestamp | Epoch timestamp when the stage created the event. |
The destination can generate the following types of event records:
- finished
- The destination generates a finished event record when the destination finishes writing data to the endpoint.
- start
- The destination generates a start event record when the destination starts writing data to the endpoint.
Per-Status Actions
The Web Client destination accepts only responses that include a status code that has been configured to be read as successful by the stage. When the response includes any other status code, the destination generates an error and handles the record based on the error record handling configured for the stage.
You can configure the destination to perform one of several actions when it encounters an unsuccessful status code.
- Retry with constant backoff
- Retry with linear backoff
- Retry with exponential backoff
- Generate output record
- Generate error record
- Abort pipeline
When defining the retry with a constant, linear, or exponential backoff action, you also specify the backoff interval to wait in milliseconds. When defining any of the retry actions, you specify the maximum number of retries and a status failure response. If the stage receives a successful status code during a retry, then it processes the response. If the stage doesn't receive a successful status code after the maximum number of retries, then the stage performs the specified status failure action. You can only specify a status failure action for a retry action.
You can add multiple status codes and configure a specific action for each code.
Per-Timeout Actions
By default, the Web Client destination retries an operation five times before generating an error. You can configure the stage to use different timeout criteria and perform one of several actions when a specific type of timeout has reached its configured timeout limit.
- Retry with constant backoff
- Retry with linear backoff
- Retry with exponential backoff
- Generate output record
- Generate error record
- Abort pipeline
When defining the retry with a constant, linear, or exponential backoff action, you also specify the backoff interval to wait in milliseconds. When defining any of the retry actions, you specify the maximum number of retries and timeout failure action. If the stage receives a response during a retry, then it processes the response. If the stage doesn't receive a response after the maximum number of retries, then the stage performs the specified timeout failure action.
You can add multiple timeout types and specify timeout criteria and actions for each of them.
Pagination
The Web Client destination can use pagination to retrieve a large volume of data from a paginated API.
When configuring the Web Client destination to use pagination, use the pagination type supported by the API of the HTTP client. You will likely need to consult the documentation for the origin system API to determine the pagination type to use and the properties to set.
The Web Client destination supports the following common pagination types:
- Link in Header
- After processing the current page, the stage uses the link in the
HTTP header to access the next page. The link in the header can
be an absolute URL or a URL relative to the next page link base
URL configured for the stage. For example, let's say you
configure the following next page link base URL for the
stage:
https://myapp.com/api/objects?page=1
- Link in Body
- After processing the current page, the stage uses the link in a
field in the response body to access the next page. The link in
the response field can be an absolute URL or a URL relative to
the next page link base URL configured for the stage. For
example, let's say you configure the following next page link
base URL for the
stage:
http://myapp.com/api/tickets.json?start_time=138301982
- Page
- The stage begins processing with the specified initial page, and
then requests the following page. Use the
${startAt}
variable in the resource URL as the value of the page number to request. You can optionally set a final page or offset for the stage to stop reading data. - Offset
- The stage begins processing with the specified initial offset, and
then requests the following offset. Use the
${startAt}
variable in the resource URL as the value of the offset number to request.
Page or Offset Number
When using page or offset pagination, the API of the HTTP client typically requires that you include a page or offset parameter at the end of the response endpoint URL. The parameter determines the next page or offset of data to request.
The name of the parameter used by the API varies. For example, it
might be offset
, page
, start
, or
since
. Consult the documentation for the origin system API to
determine the name of the page or offset parameter.
The Web Client destination provides a ${startAt}
variable that you can
use in the URL as the value of the page or offset. For example, your resource URL might
be any of the following:
http://webservice/object?limit=15&offset=${startAt}
https://myapp.com/product?limit=5&since=${startAt}
https://myotherapp.com/api/v1/products?page=${startAt}
When the pipeline starts, the Web Client stage
uses the value of the Initial Page or Initial
Offset property as the ${startAt}
variable
value. After the stage reads a page of results, the stage increments the
${startAt}
variable by one if using page pagination, or by
the number of records read from the page if using offset pagination.
Example
https://myapp.com/product?limit=5&since=${startAt}
https://myapp.com/product?limit=5&since=0
${startAt}
variable
by 5, such that the next response endpoint is resolved
to:https://myapp.com/product?limit=5&since=5
The second page of results also includes 5 items, starting at the 5th item.
OAuth 2 Authentication
The Web Client destination can use the OAuth 2 protocol to connect to an HTTP service that uses basic or digest authentication, OAuth 2 client credentials, OAuth 2 username and password, or OAuth 2 access token.
The OAuth 2 protocol authorizes third-party access to HTTP service resources without sharing credentials. The Web Client destination uses credentials to request an access token from the service. The service returns the token to the destination, and then the destination includes the token in a header in each request to the request endpoint.
- Client credentials grant
-
The stage sends its own credentials - the client ID and client secret or the basic authentication credentials - to the Jira instance.
For more information about the client credentials grant, see https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6749#section-4.4.
- Access token grant
-
The stage sends an access token to an authorization service and obtains an access token for the Jira instance
- Owner credentials grant
-
The stage sends the credentials for the resource owner - the resource owner user name, password, client ID, and client secret - to the Jira instance.
For more information about the resource owner password credentials grant, see https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6749#section-4.3.
Data Formats
The Web Client destination writes data to HTTP endpoints based on the data format that you select.
The Web Client destination processes data formats as follows:
- Avro
- The stage writes records based on the Avro schema. You can use one of the following methods to specify the location of the Avro schema definition:
- Binary
- The stage writes binary data to a single field in the record.
- Delimited
- The destination writes records as delimited data. When you use this data format, the root field must be list or list-map.
- JSON
- The destination writes records as JSON data. You can use one of
the following formats:
- Array - Each file includes a single array. In the array, each element is a JSON representation of each record.
- Multiple objects - Each file includes multiple JSON objects. Each object is a JSON representation of a record.
- Protobuf
- Writes one record in a message. Uses the user-defined message type and the definition of the message type in the descriptor file to generate the message.
- Text
- The destination writes data from a single text field to the destination system. When you configure the stage, you select the field to use.
- XML
- The destination creates a valid XML document for each record. The
destination requires the record to have a single root field that
contains the rest of the record data. For details and
suggestions for how to accomplish this, see Record Structure Requirement.
The destination can include indentation to produce human-readable documents. It can also validate that the generated XML conforms to the specified schema definition. Records with invalid schemas are handled based on the error handling configured for the destination.