Microsoft 365 Community Power Platform Connectors, 17 Jan 2023

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From YouTube: WooCommerce Power Platform Connector

Description

In this 23-minute video, Power Platform author Nick Hance steps you through the way the official WooCommerce Power Platform connector uses Dynamic Schema and Dynamic Values to provide an experience for makers that is fully dynamic. The connector uses capabilities described on the WooCommerce side to provide a unique experience that exposes features and fields unique to each site. Based upon sensible web standards, you'll learn how you too can build fully dynamic connectors. This video was taken from the November 9, 2022 Power Platform Integrations / Connectors LABs Call.

Demo Presenter: Nick Hance | @NHance

Supporting materials
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/connectors/woocommerce/
https://reenhanced.com/
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerPlatformConnectors/tree/9ce8ae0858328bd4b81c2efe0a56de439f2a0e98/certified-connectors/WooCommerce

Learn more about Power Platform Connectors
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerPlatformConnectors
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/connectors/

A

Our last section and last demo for the day go ahead. Nick.

B

Okay, thank you very much. uh Adele I saw you had a question for Chandra. Did you want to ask him that.

A

No sorry I miss Ed.

B

Oh no problem: okay, I'm gonna go ahead and get started. The slides.

C

I have okay can can I give you a short introduction. Oh yes, of course, so um so this is. This has been in the works for at least uh six months uh when we started with this call. We had the independent publisher, connector demos like Chandra just did and Nick said. Oh I have a connector to uh to show, and then we were talking about the thing yeah, but what he wants to show it's very useful for a lot of people. We want to give him some more time because we think it's it.

C

His story is good so but well long story short. It took a long while so I'm very happy that you're here and I just wanted to say that before you start so go ahead.

B

Thank you, I'm gonna have to move through the slides pretty quickly. um This was an hour-long presentation when I gave it at Summit in Orlando a couple weeks ago, um so I'll have to go through this pretty quickly.

B

um There is some I can skip over to give you a short, um a short uh preview of what we're doing it's going to be a fully Dynamic connector, so the connector runs completely Dynamic. The um the the connector shell itself that lives inside of power. Automate um really is just uh it's like a meta programming, sort of thing, so um really cool I'll get into it right away. So um this is about me I liked code, I, liked stuff I'm going to go through this stuff quickly.

B

I'm going to skip by a bunch of this um I'm Jed did a great job talking about what connectors are so I'm, not even going to speak to these slides, but I will get into some of the interface that that we're all familiar with. This is how we make our connectors.

B

um You can do it this way and in this point and click the boring normal way to do it, but you can't do Advanced things in here um with the exception of policies.

B

um So what I'm going to talk about is in the Swagger editor, so you can get to that by clicking the little guy here or you can write it in something else. But this is what will um what we'll be using for? The kind of primaries is what I'm talking to here is the actual connector sub data. The you know the the raw code that we're going to be looking at, so um the standard features that we that we have in connectors are normal things.

B

This is sort of the format that we need to put into it, and um uh we've got the the the the the the operation- and this is the HTTP method that we're using the parameters that come into it and the responses, um and uh some of the things that you need to know is that power automate's super picky about formats um sure, as as uh independent publisher authors, you guys have all seen this where the um it has to be a string always and if it's not a string, you have to type convert it and power.

B

Automate will enforce that and break your flows if things come out in the wrong format.

B

um These are the types and formats that are available in the standard. Connectors I apologize, I'm moving through the standard stuff so quickly, because I'm trying to move us along so um just kind of going through that quick I assume. This is something you guys already know. What we're going to talk about today are the dynamic values, the dynamic schema and the policies there's also custom code, but I'm not going to get into that.

B

We're just going to focus on these three things here and I'm, going to try my best to get through this, so that we can have a time for a demo. So the first thing we're going to look at is the dynamic values, and this is um in the connector documentation as Ms Dynamic values and Ms Dynamic list, uh there's two of them and I. Don't really know the reason why there's two, but it doesn't hurt to include both.

B

um So what is a dynamic value? It's something like this. Where you want to say hey, we want to have a list here, a drop down list, but we don't know what it's going to be in that list until we ask the server what has in it, you know what what's in that list, so the dynamic values allows you to reach out and ask your API for what should populate a list in that in the in the drop down, and the way that that looks is um is like this in the connector schema.

B

So, as you build out, your schema you're going to be using this XMS Dynamic values and XMS Dynamic list and that what that does is this is a post request to this end point and- um and it requires this parameter of resource type and in order to get the resource type, it needs to call this other parameter. So we have this. Other operation called get resources documented elsewhere, and it looks just like this: it has its own operation, ID its own URL and its own HTTP method, and it's it.

B

It then returns data in term of in with a with a name and a resource, and we use this configuration to populate the drop down list here. So how does that work? We put it into the parameters here. So if you put it into a parameter for an operation, um which is what you see here with Dynamic values and the dynamic list, then it's basically just saying hey. We need this for the URL and, um like I said this is going to reach out and get this parameter data. So what's happening.

B

Is you see we have this resource in the path? So resource is the name of this variable and this.

C

Is saying we're going to get I? Think we're not looking at what you're talking about we're still on the dynamic value slide and.

A

C

C

Now it's understanding, Dynamic values, I'm looking at.

B

Yeah, you know my connection. Upload is terrible here. I've got the other way to do this I'm going to do the present themes. Option see if that works.

B

Okay, can you see the slide.

C

It's loading on my site.

B

Okay, yes, cool I'm, gonna jump us ahead, so this is where I was talking and now I get to use laser pointer, that's fun! Okay, so um let me explain a little bit more about what's going on in this operation. We need to get item so resource and that's that drop down list. So this is going to say um you know we need this resource type.

B

So in order to get the resource type, um we need to ask for this resource, so you're, basically saying we're going to get this resource value and in order to get that we're going to make a call to this XMS Dynamic values, which is a totally different operation. So when we make that call out we're going to get the we're going to call get resources and then these two things talk about the the data that comes out.

B

One of them specifies the um the title so we're going to show the user the title, but we're going to use the value of it differently. So we can have the machine readable value here and then the the human readable value here so what's presented in the drop down is the human, readable value and then what's put in here is the machine value.

B

So um this is what happens. Is it makes a call to the get resources? So if you saw it in the previous slide, it says get resources. This is what that operation looks like, and this is all still inside the same. uh The same uh connector definition file, and so you can see all this is doing is just a get request to resources and it comes back with an object with key and name and resource, and this is going to be our human readable and this is going to be our machine readable one.

B

This is an example of what it looks like when it comes out. So here's how the whole thing flows we've got the in order to make this post request here. We need to know what parameter we want.

B

So we have to ask the resource type and say: hey we're going to say you know what uh get me a list of resources that makes this Json request out and it gets this array that comes back at all the different resources, and you can see that the name here is mapped to the name there and then the resource. You can only tell this because it's different capitalization but the resource, then is the machine readable one and that resource is going to get mapped back up into there.

B

So now we've got this cool fully Dynamic thing that in order to get a list here, we're going to see what the uh we're gonna ask the server for what what those values are.

B

So um we can take this a step further. I want to get a little further ahead, and um one of the things we can say is: we've got a example, API response, and that is saying that um you know we want to say uh here's the topic. This is the the attributes is an array kind of deep inside of here. But how do we present the list of attributes in a drop down? So here we want to say we're going to use the skill as the human reading human readable part and then for the machine.

B

A readable part, we're going to say: Nick is kind of bad at public speaking. So um in order to do this, we're going to use this value collection. So that means that when your API response has it coming back and it's not just a simple array like a simple um list of items, you can actually look kind of a little bit further down and you can get this nested item.

B

So you can say that this item, then this this attributes is going to be where the the collection of values is and then within that we can say skill. This is going to be the the human readable and then the rank is going to be what we're going to use for the machine readable, and this is what it would look like inside of your connector definition.

B

So that's cool um for dynamic uh values, but let's go a little bit further and let's say well: we've got this dependent values right so essentially here this is one of our connectors for contact form. Seven and what's Happening Here is it's saying: well, we need to pick out the so we want to find out what form we want for this trigger.

B

So what's happening is it's it's going to say well pick the website that has a has our plugin installed and then from that website, we're going to reach out and find out the list of forms, but you can't get the list of forms until you've actually picked the website.

B

So to do that, we've got two parameters in here and I'm using um the the references here, um because this connector ended up reusing it all over the place. So this is a cool little thing that you can use to reference um reference parameters. So essentially, um this is our trigger here.

C

B

uh And uh so anyway, the the it has two parameters that it had that it needs. First, is the uh this header parameter, which is the the website URL and then that needs the form parameter in the path. So in order to get the header um it has here, you can see the X Dynamics values and that's just doing the drop down for the header.

B

So that's the one for the I'm, sorry for the for the the WordPress site, URL um and that's going to get the list of domains, and um so that just calls this other operation, but then to get the uh to get the form, which is the list of forms then it needs to. uh It needs to call the X Dynamic values. That's a little further down. Yep.

B

Here's X Dynamic values here calls get the forms, but you can see, there's a new parameter or there's a new block that appeared that I haven't talked about yet, and that is parameters. So you can see this one here for X they make values, doesn't have the parameters, and then this one does. So. That means that this one requires this WP site URL, which is this guy and um and that's how you can then make it dependent so now, when it tries to fill out this one and present it to the user.

B

It says: oh, we can't do this, yet we need to fill out this parameter and then it goes back and it looks up here for where the, where that parameter is so that's where it looks, I think the sides here kind of describe this um it so there's the form, ID parameter and um now this is just everything. I just spoke about, so um ah here we go so when we get into what the actual um we're gonna take a look at the next part of this, and that is the dynamic schema.

B

So Dynamic schema is the other cool part, um and that's basically saying the first part here: we've selected our resource type. We did that with the X Dynamic values, but then this is all the the stuff that we have to submit, and this is the X Dynamic schema.

B

So what this is saying is we know we, the server, has told us the resources that we can work with we're going to work with a coupon and then, when we want when we choose coupon, we need to know what the shape of that coupon object looks like and we're actually, depending on the server to tell us what the shape of the object looks like.

B

So um that's going to go through something called The, xmx X, the dynamic properties- and this is in the um uh this one happens to be passed as a as a body uh to the post, but um the resource schema is going to be then another parameter, and it's going to be the body and we're using this Dynamic properties to get that list of uh to get that that scheme.

B

So essentially, um what that means is we've got the um the magic endpoint here, so this resource schema operation is this guy over here and um that's saying that we're going to make this call to the server and it's going to be an options request to the same uh to this to this endpoint.

B

um At with that, with that initial coupon item that we picked from the drop down, we're going to make this options request and then when that data comes back, it looks like this, so it comes back with all of these things and we say that the the schema that we're interested in is in this get object item.

B

So um this is what that request looks like. So if we make this request here- um and this is actually the um the options request to this, so we make an options request here. Then uh we get back this and the the get item here has this data. That comes back. So if you can control your API, if you can control what comes back from it and have it come back in formatted data like this you're able to use this to describe uh to describe the objects and uh and have it be fully dynamic.

B

This is how um this is directly used to render these fields over here. So this is coming from our end server uh installed onto the the um person's WordPress site and then that's that's actually describing itself to power automate at runtime. So when you go to build this out, it's fully Dynamic. So if you were to customize the WordPress side, then it will be customized on the power automate side instantaneously at the time of build.

B

So um a couple of things to know is that the operation ID for the resource schema has to exist in your connector, so you have to actually put it in there. It doesn't need to be public, but you have to write the definition for it. The one you want to use is called xmx Dynamic properties.

B

um There's only two there's Dynamic schema as well that you only really need to use the new one I, don't know why there's two there's, probably some kind of backwards compatibility reasons for that, and then the response from Json needs to be in the open, API format.

B

So that's the same format that you're writing your connector definitions in you need to provide that back from your server, and um so, if you were going to put it all together, this is how you'd be able to write the connector specification just one time and send that off and get it certified. But then any updates that you want are fully Dynamic handled outside of power automate.

B

um So that's what we're doing with our woocommerce connector. It's 100, driven by the client side, which means that different users of the um of the woocommerce connector are going to see different interfaces on power automate using the same connector, um the same connector definition.

B

So um this means that you're not going to talk to amjet a whole lot. Sorry I'm dead, because once you've written this, then it becomes fully Dynamic and you're able to control it outside of the um outside of the the connector definition space.

B

um And this is what that looks like with a fully Dynamic connector. We essentially have complete coverage of the entire API, but it's covered in just these six actions or seven actions, so we've got the trigger and then we have a create delete, find get and an update, and then there's another one here for batch operations, um but these all kind of translate over to the HTTP verbs if you're familiar with those at all.

B

So what that means is to create does a post, the delete does the delete, and so you can see this is all like pretty cool the way it's engineered, um because now, if you understand the apis, you can see how this directly maps and it becomes very understandable because we've done it across everything the same way.

B

So um as we keep going, um you can see that you only really have to read one connector, um so you really only have to read one of these operations to know how everything works. So essentially, if you, if you understand one of the actions, you understand all of the actions, because it's all engineered in the same way and um there's more to go over here with the um so I'll go over this more in the demo and I think we still have time if I keep going quickly. I'll go to that in the demo.

B

um So yeah, let's skip over the rest of this, because now I start to get into policies I'm going to skip stop here, because this is the coolest part. I didn't want to, and I'll go and go into the demo instead. So I'm going to exit here and we'll go to the demo.

B

um I, don't know that I understood your question. Rebecca.

B

C

Is it's more about you can't you obviously have to define something, so you define more generic kind of actions, but what you can? What you do in these actions is totally depending on how something on the other end is configured or.

B

Totally right yep, so this trigger, we only have one trigger and it's called when a woocommerce event happens and then from here you pick what what resource type you want to work with. So let's say hey when an order- or you know say, wait like when a coupon um and then from here you'll do you can see it's dependent so the first list there um it reached out already that's kind of cached, but now it just asks for you know well when a coupon is updated.

B

Now your trigger is for when a coupon is updated, but you can easily change it and you can say when in order and then um I'll wait for it to load, you can say when an order has the status changed. Now your trigger has changed. You haven't had to change anything in the trigger, but you can see it's fully dynamic.

B

So essentially this whole coupon section doesn't even appear unless you've turned on coupons in your in your store. So you won't see coupon as an option, because it knows when you run when you do it at build time to ask the server what the capabilities are and then the server describes itself and um and then that's that's how the whole thing the whole thing works and the same thing works across all of the different ones. So we can see, we only have a couple of actions. So this one's find a list.

B

So this one, you can see it says, find a list of customers, and this is this is what the um the search parameters are. So we pre-fill, because the server can tell us what these things look like. We pre-fill all of the parameters here, so it's very similar to what you'd see in like the dataverse connector and you can see if I switch it to order the whole field.

B

The whole form changed this, so I switched to order, and now it's going out and it's asking for what, how you know, what does an order look like and you can see it's totally different and that works on the back end like this. So the first thing it does. Is it asks for a list of resources and that's all we're doing here? Is we get a list of resources and then if we wanted to get a um a product, so this would be to get a single product.

B

For example, um now we get I'm sorry this is a list of products but because I built it, the HTTP standards.

C

B

Thing we need to do is plot this over to options and options are basically saying you know what is this? What is this? um You know it's an options request is used to get kind of detail or options about. What's what escaping so we're using the options request here to provide us with the API schema, which you can see is all in this Microsoft um kind of swagger API, schema format, and this object that it returns.

B

um You come back, you go to this resource here for product and it tells you how to use it for all the different things. So the schema here describes the object itself, but if you were going to make a get request, then um the get request is a different sort of request. So when you say get the product, then you have all these options that are available.

B

So this is how you then would search for products, but you can also make a post request to the same endpoint, and if you were going to make a post then this is what it's going to look like.

B

So this is how we're returning all of the options here and it becomes a very understandable thing across the entire space I've shown you two endpoints and now you understand the entire space of the entire, the entire implementation, and it can be easily extended, and just as long as we build to that standard, um then it will just extend the whole. The whole thing across the entire, the entire API space of the woocommerce connector, we're at time did I did I cover this. Does this make sense.

A

I think this was great. It was in itial. I gave examples. This was fantastic. Thank you so much Nick and thank you for I. Don't know, rushing a little bit too, because I'm sure he has so much content to cover, but that was fantastic.