External Data Source¶

We assume you already had a look on Attribute types where you can find a description of the individual fields.

To reproduce this example, choose a category you want to add a custom field, click on New Attribute and select External data source field under Format.

Our example story is to fetch data from an external product database. We want to add our products to the tickets so that the products can be searched and chosen from a list and also create a link to the product website.

Base configuration¶

Initial steps to configure external data source object type

Example:

Name: product
Display: Product

External data source configuration¶

First, enter the search URL making sure it contains #{search.term} as a parameter:

Example: https://dummyjson.com/products/search?q=#{search.term}

After that, head down to the preview section and enter a search input for the external data source.

Example: mac

Then you can find a preview of the response data below:

Preview of JSON response based on search term

We recommend using the preview to have a look on the structure. There is a top-level element called products. One level below, you can find the attributes id and title.

Search result response based on search from example:

{
   "products": [
      {
         "id": 6,
         "title": "MacBook Pro",
         "description": "MacBook Pro 2021 with mini-LED display may launch between September, November",
         "price": 1749,
         "discountPercentage": 11.02,
         "rating": 4.57,
         "stock": 83,
         "brand": "Apple",
         "category": "laptops",
         "thumbnail": "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/6/thumbnail.png",
         "images": [
           "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/6/1.png",
           "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/6/2.jpg",
           "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/6/3.png",
           "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/6/4.jpg"
         ]
      },
      {
         "id": 22,
         "title": "Elbow Macaroni - 400 gm",
         "description": "Product details of Bake Parlor Big Elbow Macaroni - 400 gm",
         "price": 14,
         "discountPercentage": 15.58,
         "rating": 4.57,
         "stock": 146,
         "brand": "Bake Parlor Big",
         "category": "groceries",
         "thumbnail": "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/22/thumbnail.jpg",
         "images": [
           "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/22/1.jpg",
           "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/22/2.jpg",
           "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/22/3.jpg"
         ]
      },
      {
         "id": 26,
         "title": "Plant Hanger For Home",
         "description": "Boho Decor Plant Hanger For Home Wall Decoration Macrame Wall Hanging Shelf",
         "price": 41,
         "discountPercentage": 17.86,
         "rating": 4.08,
         "stock": 131,
         "brand": "Boho Decor",
         "category": "home-decoration",
         "thumbnail": "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/26/thumbnail.jpg",
         "images": [
           "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/26/1.jpg",
           "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/26/2.jpg",
           "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/26/3.jpg",
           "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/26/4.jpg",
           "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/26/5.jpg",
           "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/26/thumbnail.jpg"
         ]
      }
   ],
   "total": 3,
   "skip": 0,
   "limit": 3
}

To tell the remote system that the desired data is located below the products level, you have to put it in the field Search result list key.

After inserting products in the mentioned field, you get an extended preview. You can find an additional box Search result list with a JSON structure. This is the same response as before but stripped from the upper products element by the external data source.

Preview of JSON response search result list

Now you need to provide the keys for the search result values and labels. As already mentioned, we are looking for the id and the title of our products. If you haven’t already, it is now a good time to look at the preview of the Search result list.

[
   {
      "id": 6,
      "title": "MacBook Pro",
      "description": "MacBook Pro 2021 with mini-LED display may launch between September, November",
      "price": 1749,
      "discountPercentage": 11.02,
      "rating": 4.57,
      "stock": 83,
      "brand": "Apple",
      "category": "laptops",
      "thumbnail": "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/6/thumbnail.png",
      "images": [
        "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/6/1.png",
        "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/6/2.jpg",
        "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/6/3.png",
        "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/6/4.jpg"
      ]
   },
   {
      "id": 22,
      "title": "Elbow Macaroni - 400 gm",
      "description": "Product details of Bake Parlor Big Elbow Macaroni - 400 gm",
      "price": 14,
      "discountPercentage": 15.58,
      "rating": 4.57,
      "stock": 146,
      "brand": "Bake Parlor Big",
      "category": "groceries",
      "thumbnail": "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/22/thumbnail.jpg",
      "images": [
        "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/22/1.jpg",
        "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/22/2.jpg",
        "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/22/3.jpg"
      ]
   },
   {
      "id": 26,
      "title": "Plant Hanger For Home",
      "description": "Boho Decor Plant Hanger For Home Wall Decoration Macrame Wall Hanging Shelf",
      "price": 41,
      "discountPercentage": 17.86,
      "rating": 4.08,
      "stock": 131,
      "brand": "Boho Decor",
      "category": "home-decoration",
      "thumbnail": "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/26/thumbnail.jpg",
      "images": [
        "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/26/1.jpg",
        "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/26/2.jpg",
        "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/26/3.jpg",
        "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/26/4.jpg",
        "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/26/5.jpg",
        "https://i.dummyjson.com/data/products/26/thumbnail.jpg"
      ]
   }
]

After locating our two keys, we insert them in search result value key (id) and in Search result label key (title).

Basically, we configured the external data source already and we can see a table in the preview section:

Preview of product table based on search term

According to our example story, now just the Link template is missing.

Note

Please note that this is an optional feature. If you don’t want to use such links, of course you don’t have to configure it.

We can add now an address where additional product information can be found.

Example: https://your_domain.com/q=#{ticket.product}

In the example, the parameter means:

#{}: “Frame” for the insertion of information

ticket: object level, where you create your custom object

product: name of the (custom) object

After configuring your Link template, there will be another column in the preview. Hovering on the icons in the Link column will show you where it forwards you.

In our example, one of the links looks like: https://your_domain.com/q=6, where the 6 is the product id.

You can find more information regarding the URL in Attribute types.