In Camunda, a Connector is a mechanism for interacting with external systems or services. It allows Service Task nodes in the BPMN model to communicate with external systems or services, making the process more flexible and scalable. Using Connector, you can integrate business processes with external systems without writing complex code or using third-party libraries.
Camunda provides some built-in Connector implementations, such as HTTP, SOAP, and JMS Connectors. Additionally, you can write your own Connector implementations to interface with other systems.
Using Connectors, you can encapsulate the operations of external systems or services as reusable components and use them multiple times in your BPMN model. For example, you can create a Connector for sending data to a third-party service, and then use it in multiple Service Task nodes to send data. This keeps the BPMN model simpler and easier to maintain.
In the BPMN model, a Connector can be invoked using a Connector Task node. You can configure the input and output parameters of the Connector Task, as well as other connector-related properties. The Camunda runtime will then automatically create Connector instances and invoke their operations to perform interactions with external systems. In this way, business processes can be integrated with external systems for more efficient business processes.
How to use the connector of camunda
Using Connector in Camunda requires the following steps:
1. Define Connector implementation: First, you need to define a Connector implementation, which defines how to interact with external systems. Camunda provides some built-in Connector implementations, such as HTTP, SOAP, and JMS Connectors. You can also write your own Connector implementations to interact with other systems.
2. Configure Connector: Next, you need to configure Connector in Camunda. You can use the Camunda Modeler tool to define a Connector configuration and then export it as an XML file. Connector configuration includes the Connector implementation, input and output parameters, and other connector-related properties.
3. Using Connector in the BPMN model: Now you can use the Connector Task node in the BPMN model to call the Connector. You can configure the input and output parameters of the Connector Task, as well as other connector-related properties. The Camunda runtime will then automatically create Connector instances and invoke their operations to perform interactions with external systems.
Here is a simple example showing how to use Connector to call an external HTTP service:
1. Define Connector implementation: Camunda provides a built-in HTTP Connector implementation for interacting with HTTP services. You can define the Connector configuration in Camunda Modeler, select the HTTP Connector implementation, and configure parameters such as URL, HTTP method, and request header.
2. Configure Connector: Export the Connector configuration as an XML file and add it to Camunda's configuration file.
3. Use Connector in the BPMN model: add a Connector Task node in the BPMN model, and configure parameters such as Connector implementation, URL, HTTP method and request header. The data to be passed to the HTTP service can be defined in input parameters, and the data to be received from the HTTP service can be defined in output parameters.
In this way, when a BPMN process executes to a Connector Task node, the Camunda runtime will automatically create an HTTP Connector instance and invoke its operations to perform interactions with external HTTP services.