After reading this article, you'll learn how to:
Configure the HTTPS step
Retrieve data from a different place
What is the HTTPS step?
The HTTPS step is one of the standard action steps within the action builder. It's also one of the most powerful steps in the standard set of steps since it allows you to connect to various services, be it retrieving-, sending-, updating-, or deleting information.
Think of it as a bridge between your application and another. You send a request to the other side to retrieve a package (some data), and maybe you need to sign a security form(a password/key), to show it's you who is picking up the package (the data) and then bring it back to your side.
Each way on the virtual bridge is set up with the HTTPS step, and per step (GET/DELETE/POST/PUT) you will have to define the action your application needs to take for virtual routing over the internet.
The HTTPS step options
The HTTPS step has a few major options: Methods that define what the step needs to do, URL parameters options to navigate to the correct environment and make sure you can safely pick up your virtual data, and the schema model to assist the application in structuring the data you retrieve so that you can immediately work with it.
Methods
Methods describe what task needs to be done when you are calling out to another application. Often when working online, we GET data from other environments, here is a more in-depth explanation using a bank account as an example:
GET is like viewing your account details
Imagine logging into your bank account to check your balance or view your transaction history. You're not changing anything, just getting information about your account. GET requests are like that, they're used to retrieve information about a website account from a server without modifying it.
POST is like adding money to your account
When you deposit money into your bank account, you fill out a form with the amount and submit it. You're adding new information to the system. POST requests are like that, they're used to create new website account data on a server.
PUT is like transferring money to another account
If you want to transfer money from your bank account to another account, you'll need to initiate the transfer. You're changing the balance of your account. PUT requests are like that, they're used to update existing website account data on a server.
DELETE is like closing your account
If you decide you no longer need your bank account, you can close it and remove all your information. You're removing yourself from the system. DELETE requests are like that, they're used to remove website account data from a server.
URL & parameters
After deciding the method, you will build up the URL and provide the information necessary to connect to the other service, the first part to fill in, is the Header option. Within the Header option you define items like the content-type you are requesting, or providing the authentication token that is requested by the opposing party you are connecting too.
Make use of the application configuration segment to safely and dynamically work with authentication keys within your application.
After defining the header information, you move onto structuring the URL you are connecting too by defining the Protocol, URL and other parameters.
The protocol determines if you are using a safe (HTTPS) or unsafe (HTTP) connection. The URL option allows you to set the URL of the remote source you want to connect too, within the URL you can set the URL and Query parameters.
When looking at the example use-case in the screenshot, the complete URL looks something like this https//.jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/{{id}} .
Let's dissect this URL to get an idea of what we are dealing with:
HTTPS | the protocol, in this case a Secure protocol |
jsonplaceholder.typicode.com | The domain we are connecting to |
/posts | The endpoint of the domain of which we want to retrieve data (GET). You can set this up dynamically |
/{{id}} | On an endpoint, there might be multiple resources, in this case, posts. With a variable like {{id}}, we can ask for a single post, that would look like this: /posts/1 |
URL parameters are used to dynamically build the URL with defined values, in our example case you could either navigate to the /posts endpoint, but you could also navigate to the /users endpoint of the source.
The Query parameters are used to filter the response you are asking for on other values, let's say we are looking for users from the country of the Netherlands, where applicable.
The URL would like this: https//.jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users?country=netherlands. It will now retrieve all users, and initially ask for users from the Dutch country if possible.
Using the data
Once the data is being sent back to you, you would preferably have that defined in a way that your application can use it. This can manually be defined in the Body option of the HTTPS step, or you can select a schema model you have created in your application.
Once all is set, you can retrieve your response with the As option, and use it throughout the rest of your action.
Building an HTTPS action
We have created an in-depth guide on retrieving test data using the HTTPS step, in this article we'll go over the example settings you need to use and how to test retrieving data from an external source.
Use the information from this article to safely set up connections to other sources, and to turn your application into a multi-source data management tool!