This page is for data modellers who want to connect to data sources via HTTP.

Overview

An HTTP datasource is a modelling object whose properties provide the information needed to connect to an external source of data via HTTP. This may be a web site, a web service or some other target that allows XML, HTTP or text data to transferred over HTTP.

You must have one HTTP datasource for each HTTP location to which you need to connect. Each HTTP datasource must have at least one HTTP datasource instance. You can add several instances if you want to configure different settings.

In an analysis model, you can add:

• a HTTP Collector to load data from a site or service.
• a HTTP Exporter to update the site or service with processed data from the model.

The HTPP datasources you create appear in the Basic Settings → HTTP Datasource list in HTTP collector and HTTP exporter properties. In the properties for collectors and exporters, you can optionally specify the HTTP datasource instance using the Advanced → Datasource Instance Expression.

To add a new HTTP datasource to an analysis model:

1. Go to the model's toolbar → Create group.
2. Click  HTTP to expand the menu.
3. Drag a  HTTP Datasource onto the analysis model.

To add an existing HTTP datasource to an analysis model, in the model diagram toolbar:

1. Go to the model toolbar → List group.
2. Click  HTTP to expand the menu.
3. Click  HTTP Datasource to open the list of available HTTP datasources.
4. Drag a HTTP datasource into the analysis model.

Property Pane Toolbar

For information about the toolbar options, see the Common Properties page, Toolbars and Controls section.

HTTP Datasource  Properties Tab

Parent Details

If this item is within or belongs to another, its parent name is shown here. See the Parent Details section on the Common Properties page for more details.

Basic Settings

Field	Description
Name	Enter the name of the HTTP Datasource.
Enabled	Tick when the configuration is complete and the HTTP datasource is ready to be used.
Protect During Import	Untick to allow this HTTP datasource to be updated or deleted by during import.  Tick to retain these property settings if this HTTP datasource is imported from another PhixFlow instance.  More ... When you have several instances of PhixFlow, for example development and production instances, you may want some item properties to be different for each instance. Usually, when you export from a source instance, then import to a target instance, PhixFlow overwrites item properties with those from the source instance. In the target instance, tick this box to prevent the current setting being overwritten by the source item.
Connection Type	Select: http: the data will be transferred using standard HTTP (not encrypted). https: the data will be transferred using HTTPS, a secure form of HTTP (encrypted).
The following properties are available when Connection Type is https
Check Certificate	Tick to validate the web site's security certificate. This will check that the web site's certificate matches the web site address, is signed by a valid certification authority, and has not expired.
SSL Protocol	If you are not familiar with SSL Protocol settings, leave this field blank. The SSL Protocol selects a list of actual protocols that are supported, and enables a sub-set of that list. If this field is blank, PhixFlow will select a default value which will work in almost all cases. Valid settings depend on the version of Java that PhixFlow is running under. These are the allowed values for Oracle's Java 8: TLS, TLSv1, TLSv1.1, TLSv1.2
SSL Protocols Enabled	If you are not familiar with SSL Protocol settings, leave this field blank. This field specifies the SSL Protocols that should be enabled (as a comma-separated list). E.g. SSLv3,TLSv1,TLSv1.1,TLSv1.2 If this field is blank, the SSL Protocol (above) determines the Protocols that are enabled.

Datasource Instance Details

This section has a toolbar with standard buttons.

The grid contains a list of HTTP datasource instances that belong to this HTTP datasource. Each datasource defines the connection details to an HTTP target. A number of instances can be defined to allow for several connections under a single HTTP datasource. You must define at least one HTTP datasource Instance for each HTTP datasource.

Double-click on a row to open the HTTP datasource instance properties. 

To add a HTTP datasource to the list, click  Create New . PhixFlow opens the properties for a new datasources instance; see HTTP Datasource Instance Properties, below.

To remove a datasource instance from the grid, use the toolbar button  Delete. 

Secret Key Details

This section has a toolbar with standard buttons.

The grid contains a list of the secret keys available to this datasource. A secret key is a way to securely store datasource authentication values; see Secret Key and Local Secret. To use the secure values in HTTP collector or exporter expressions, refer to the secret key using:

_datasource.name

where name is the secret key name listed in this grid.

Rate Limiting

This feature is available in PhixFlow version 11.1+.

Rate limiting can be used to limit traffic and help stability. This works by restricting the amount of requests that can be sent.

Rate Limiting Example

Requests gained per time period: 20

Time period for gaining new requests: 30000ms

Maximum rollover requests: 25

If 10 requests are sent, then 30000ms later another 30 requests are sent, 25 requests would be sent straight away (up to the Maximum rollover request), and the other 5 requests would be sent 30000ms later. 

Advanced

Analysis Models

If this item is used by an analysis model, its name is listed here. See the Common Properties page, Analysis Model section for more details.

Description

We recommend that you always enter a description to explain the purpose of this item.

 Audit Tab

Audit Summary

See the Common Properties page, Audit Summary section.

HTTP Datasource Instance  Properties Tab 

Parent Details

If this item is within or belongs to another, its parent name is shown here. See the Parent Details section on the Common Properties page for more details.

Basic Settings

In addition to the standard icons, the properties toolbar includes  Show Tables, which opens a list of tables visible for this datasource using the default login details; see the Table Details window.

Description

We recommend that you always enter a description to explain the purpose of this item.