Step 5: Data Integration Options (Advanced Users)

The Data Integration page offers options for users to execute a workflow when the action is completed or to make a call to an external service.

1.     The Workflow to Execute section allows the user to select a preconfigured SharePoint Workflow to be executed.  The workflow is called upon the completion of the action.

2.     To configure the workflow, choose the site containing the list/library with the workflow, then the specific list/library.

3.     In the Choose workflow section, select the workflow to be executed.  Only a single workflow can be selected.

4.     The External Service Call section concerns the use of external services.  These are using HTTP/1.1 specifications.

5.     In the Method drop-down, choose one of the following options.  Descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia:

•      POST: POST method requests that the server accept the entity enclosed in the request as a new subordinate of the web resource identified by the URI.

•      GET: The GET method requests a representation of the specified resource. Requests using GET should only retrieve data and should have no other effect.

•      PUT: The PUT method requests that the enclosed entity be stored under the supplied URI. If the URI refers to an already existing resource, it is modified; if the URI does not point to an existing resource, then the server can create the resource with that URI.

•      DELETE: The DELETE method deletes the specified resource.

•      OPTIONS: The OPTIONS method returns the HTTP methods that the server supports for the specified URL.

•      HEAD: The HEAD method asks for a response identical that of a GET request, but without the response body.

•      TRACE: The TRACE method echoes the received request so that a client can see what (if any) changes or additions have been made by intermediate servers.

6.     The remaining fields (Service URL, Pipe delimited list of Headers, Body) are for configuring the request message.

7.     Once all necessary changes have been made, click on the Apply icon () to save the settings and to return to the Action Wizard’s home page.

8.     To return to the site, click on the Back to Site icon at the top of the page.  To return to the Site Settings page, click on the Back to Site Settings icon.

9.  When you are finished, select Finish. You are returned to the Actions Wizard’s Action Selection page. The action is now available for use in a Grid Display or a Calendar Display. If no values are copied from an item, the action can also be executed from the Action Launcher.

NOTE:  For all action types, it is important to note that performance may be impacted by the use of lookup columns in action definitions. Each time an action is executed, it has to go out and retrieve all of the possible values, which can take time; the data retrieval occurs when the action is executed. This could have an effect on performance, since it relies on another system’s or product’s ability to provide the data.

As a result, you may want to limit both the number of items returned by a lookup and the number of lookup columns referenced in a single action. CorasWorks recommends that your lookups return no more than 500 items.