SmartIntegrator is the development tool-set used by customers and vendor partners to integrate external applications with
SmartOffice.
Overview
SmartIntegrator has two primary components:
To use
SmartIntegrator for application development you will need a business expert who understands your organization’s business processes and is familiar with
SmartOffice. You will also need a developer who is familiar with Web Services and XML. Most of
SmartIntegrator’s features are accessed through the XML Engine, making the programming language unimportant. A few options require familiarity with
JavaScript? and XSLT.
FAQ's
Can I use SmartIntegrator to [insert business requirement here]?
SmartIntegrator is designed to allow you to programmatically replicate virtually anything you could do manually in
SmartOffice. If you can design a business process around
SmartOffice that accomplishes your goals, you should be able to leverage
SmartIntegrator to create an application that does it for you.
So, I can just configure SmartIntegrator to do all that stuff for me?
No.
SmartIntegrator is just a development tool, not a solution unto itself. You will need a programmer to create your solution, but
SmartIntegrator will give that programmer powerful access to
SmartOffice functionality.
What can’t I do with SmartIntegrator?
- SmartIntegrator cannot passively initiate workflows based on data being modified or viewed by users; this is something that would be expected of a workflow management engine. Workflows that should be initiated by users in SmartOffice require the user to explicitly enter the workflow through a SmartIntegrator button or link.
- SmartIntegrator does not allow you to expand/modify the SmartOffice data model. SmartIntegrator can interact with the “custom” fields in SmartOffice that users can configure with their own labels, but it doesn’t have tools for creating your own custom objects or redefining the properties of existing objects.
- SmartIntegrator has limited options for creating and modifying user accounts. These limitations are intentional and were implemented for data security reasons.
What kinds of resources/expertise do I need to create a solution with SmartIntegrator?
You will need a business expert who understands your organization’s business processes and is familiar with
SmartOffice. You will also need a developer who is familiar with Web Services and XML. Most of
SmartIntegrator’s features are accessed through a REST service over XML, making the programming language unimportant. A few options require a familiarity with
JavaScript? and XSLT.
Can I just connect directly to the database with SQL and do what I need to do?
If you are a self-hosting
SmartOffice Enterprise customer, this is certainly within your rights. However, Ebix cannot provide support for you. The
SmartOffice database contains over 1,000 tables with a drastically changing schema from release to release.
SmartIntegrator uses the same data access layer as the
SmartOffice user interface, which enables us to support forward-compatibility even with the changing schema.
What fields are available to read/modify through SmartIntegrator?
The
DataDictionary document in our Development Kit lists all fields available through
SmartIntegrator. It is most of the
SmartOffice data model. Most fields that are missing can be easily added unless we have a security concern.