Neo4j commit callback over REST API? - rest

I came across https://github.com/neo4j/neo4j/blob/master/community/kernel/src/main/java/org/neo4j/graphdb/event/TransactionData.java which allows to capture data that was changed within the course of a transaction.
My application uses two data stores, postgresql and Neo4j. To revert to a consistent state upon crash/failure, I am hoping to maintain data from this event which could be useful to reconcile data between databases.
However, we are using the neo4j server REST api, and this event is available to using neo4j in embedded mode. Is it possible to get a response similar to 'created_nodes' and 'created_relationships' over rest batch commits?

The TransactionData instances are only exposed to a TransactionEventHandler. That is a component to be written in Java (or other JVM language) you can register with your graph database, either in embedded mode or when running as server. TransactionEventHandler are typically used to implement cross cutting concerns.
Access to TransactionData is not available using the REST API.

Related

Accessing and Updating External Databases From Salesforce

I need to connect Salesforce to an external database we have, and constantly keep both the database and salesforce updated in as close to real time as we can get. I have tired Google searching possible solutions, but nearly all of them have been outdated by over a year. Any ideas?
Thank You!
Depending on your exact scenario it is quite difficult to give you a proper answer.
However off the top of my head I would suggest two Salesforce products.
Salesforce Connect
https://www.salesforce.com/products/platform/products/salesforce-connect/
Salesforce Connect allows you to connect to various data sources and turn the tables / objects of that data source into a SObject. For example MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle etc. There are limitations and thus it would be better to talk to a Certified Architect about such an implementation.
Heroku Connect
https://www.heroku.com/connect
Heroku Connect allows you to connect a Heroku data source with a Salesforce Object. The sync is not immediate but there are quite a few customisations inside the product to make the sync as "live" as possible. There are limitations and thus it would be better to talk to a Certified Architect about such an implementation.
Salesforce Connect has limitations.. It's good for presenting data via the interface, but if you need to act on the data and report on the data it might not be the best bet.
For close to real time hand coded sync, look at the streaming API, or using Salesforce Platform Events.
If you want to use an ETL tool, my organization has had decent luck with DBAmp, which is a Sql add on product and fairly inexpensive as compared to a lot of ETL tools ($1625 annually.) http://www.forceamp.com/ We're able to replicate the entire SF database offline in SQL with DBAMP, push changes to the offline Sql copy and upsert changes. It's also a good backup solution via offline full data copy. We got very good support from them as well when we encountered challenges.
Hope this helps.
Not sure if you are syncing one object or multiple objects but there are a few options that you have.
You can try the salesforce provided features Salesforce Connect which allows you to view and update data from your external source In salesforce but there are limitations with reporting and other considerations you should consider.
If you make use of Heroku, Heroku Connect is your best bet
You can also use a middleware ESB solutions like MuleSoft which can orchestrate keeping data in sync across multiple data sources and do batch loads, but depending on how often changes you want to keep an eye out for api limits for inbound calls to salesforce.
You can roll your own solution where you can use Outbound Messages in workflow (or triggers that initiates an apex class that calls out, but that is more cumbersome and you have to do custom error handling and retry logic which you get for free using outbound messages) to send changes from salesforce to your homegrown service that writes to you database and have you homegrown solution write back to salesforce using the soap or rest api. That would probably take you some time to build. You would also still need to be aware of API limits depending on how many updates are made on the non salesforce side.
You crate a Canvas App which displays data from your DB in Salesforce as a Tab and hook it up via SSO so users are auto logged in. But again there would not be reporting, or any salesforce features that you can take advantage of.
But I really think that you should spend some time to determine what system is your source of truth because that would determine how the data should be synced. You should also investigate if you really need the sync to be realtime or near realtime, or if you can manage with something like an hourly true up on the system that is not the source of truth.

Integrating external objects into SF without Salesforce or Lightning connect (from Postgres tables)

I have some tables from Postgres database to be integrated into Salesforce as external objects. I went through some video tutorials and documentations where I was recommended to use Salesforce Connect which supports providers with "OData" protocol support. Is it possible to integrate Postgres tables into Salesforce as external objects without Salesforce Connect?
Thanks.
Be careful with the phrase "external objects". To me, the use of those particular words implies the specific implementation of external data access/federation delivered with Salesforce Connect. I don't believe that there is any alternative if your goal is to create "real" external objects (named "objectname__x") within Salesforce.
There are, though, Salesforce integration solutions from the likes of Progress, Jitterbit, Mulesoft, and Informatica and others that can be used to access PostgreSQL, with varying degrees of coding being required. You won't get "external objects", but you will be able to access data residing off-cloud in a PostgreSQL database from your Salesforce system.
Hope this helps.
Currently the way to integrate data from external storages (Postgres in your case) without Salesforce Connect is implement your custom logic for synchronization using REST or SOAP API, Apex classes and triggers, Salesforce Workflows and Flows. Also you will need to implement appropriate interfaces on side of your data storage. Complexity of all these steps depends on complexity of your existing data model and infrastructure around it.

How to import or sync data to Neo4?

I have a REST API around a PostgreSQL database, the API was built using the Django REST Framework (python). I have access to the PostgreSQL database and the API, but I'm not allowed to modify the django/python code.
My first approach is to make, kind of, an HTTP POST request via a trigger every time a new record is created in PostgreSQL. I found this but seems like it's not the best way to do what I need.
In the Neo4j side, I'm thinking of a periodic HTTP GET request to the API from within a cypher function, but does not exist such thing.
You should use the APOC procedures for integrating with other DBs via JDBC. PostgreSQL is supported.
You can also use APOC procedures like apoc.periodic.schedule or apoc.periodic.countdown to periodically execute a Cypher query in the background.

Can Tableau connect to arbitrary REST APIs as data sources?

I would like to use a REST API as a data source for tableau. Is this possible in any way? The API service returns standard JSON, and I would think that would be an ideal scenario for tableau. Rather than connecting to some backend database behind the API.
Thanks
The web data connector does this and is in beta right now as noted by inox. See: https://www.tableau.com/web-data-connector
"The Web Data Connector will allow you to create a connection to almost any data that is accessible over HTTP. This can include internal web services, JSON data, REST APIs, and many other sources. It will not be supported in the initial launch of Tableau 9.0. Beta participants will be able to use a dedicated product key to continue building and testing connectors until the Web Data Connector officially launches."
Also, you can use the Extract API to create Tableau Extracts from an API: https://www.tableau.com/learn/tutorials/on-demand/extract-api-introduction

Programmatic export/dump/mass data retrieval (BaaS)

Does anyone have experiences with programmatic exports of data in conjunction with BaaS providers like e.g. parse.com or StackMob?
I am aware that both providers (as far as I can tell from the marketing talk) offer a REST API which will allow for queries against the database, not only to be used by mobile clients but also by e.g. custom web apps.
I am also aware that both providers offer a manual export of data (parse.com via their web interface, StackMob via support).
But lets say I would like to dump all data nightly, so that I can import it into a reporting system for instance. Or maybe simply to have an up-to-date backup.
In this case, I would need a programmatic way to export/replicate the data stored in the backend. Manual exports are not an option for obvious reasons.
The REST APIs offered however seem to be designed for specific queries, not for mass reads (performance?). Let alone the pricing - I assume none of the providers would be happy about a nightly X Gigabyte data export via their REST API, so their probably will be a price tag.
I just couldn't find any specific information on this topic so far, so I was wondering if anyone else has already gone through this. Also, any suggestions on StackMob/parse alternatives are welcome, especially if related to the data export topic.
Cheers, Alex
Did you see the section of the Parse REST API on Batch operations? Batch operations reduce the number of API calls needed to grab data so that you are not using a call for every row you retrieve. Keep in mind that there is still a limit (the default is 100, but you can set it to a maximum of 1000). That means you are still limited to pulling down 1000 rows per API call.
I can't comment on StackMob because I haven't used it. At my present job, we are using Parse and we wrote a C# app which compares the data in a Parse class with a SQL table and pulls down any changes.