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The Data Manager

The Data Manager is a technical tool for dynamic generation of Hypermedia REST APIs – complete with documentation, JSON schemas, and goodies like static file management and external Hooks.

Workflow

A Data Manager is a single, isolated entity. All other resources are dependent on a single Data Manager – they cannot be shared between Data Managers.

Resource Media Types (“Templates”) are called Models. They define a structure for resources, consisting of different fields – similar to Database tables.

Assets are wrappers for static files. They can be organized using Tags and can contain multiple variants of a file (e.g. multiple image sizes or different localizations).

After defining models for a Data Manager, a Hypermedia REST API is automatically generated and deployed to the cloud – including user management.

External APIs can be connected using Hooks.

Data Manager API

Make sure to read entrecode API Basics first.

State Diagram

State Diagram

Link Relation names are those registered with the IANA. Additionally, custom link relations are used which are built in the form https://doc.entrecode.de/en/latest/App_Manager/#link-relations/<relation>. Those relations are also links to their own documentation (on this page). For brevity, CURIE Syntax is used which results in relation names of the form ec:<relation>/<optional_subrelation>.

Additional to the official link relations defined by IANA the Data Manager uses the following:

Link Relation Target Resource  Description
ec:api Generated API Links to the generated API.
ec:dm-asset Asset A single Asset
ec:dm-asset/file File The file of an asset
ec:dm-asset/file-variant File A file variant of an asset
ec:dm-asset/thumbnail File A thumbnail of an asset
ec:dm-asset/duplicates Asset List List of duplicates of the asset
ec:dm-asset/by-id Asset A single Asset by assetID
ec:dm-assets Asset List List of assets
ec:dm-assets/options Asset List List of assets (templated)
ec:dm-assetgroup Asset Group A single Asset Group
ec:dm-assetgroups Asset Group List of Asset Groups
ec:asset Asset (Legacy) A single Asset
ec:asset/best-file File Subresource (Legacy) The content-negotiated “best suited” file
ec:asset/by-id Asset (Legacy) A single Asset by assetID
ec:asset/deleted Deleted Asset (Legacy) An Asset in the trash
ec:asset/deleted/by-id Deleted Asset (Legacy) An Asset in the trash by assetID
ec:asset/deleted/best-file File Subresource (Legacy) The content-negotiated “best suited” file for a deleted asset
ec:asset/file File Subresource (Legacy) A file of an Asset
ec:assets Asset List (Legacy) List of Assets
ec:assets/deleted Deleted Assets List (Legacy) Assets in the trash
ec:assets/deleted/options Deleted Assets List (Legacy) Assets in the trash, filtered
ec:assets/options Asset List (Legacy) List of Assets, filtered
ec:assets/download Asset List (Legacy) Downloads all Assets of the list in a single Zip-File
ec:assets/with-tag Asset List (Legacy) List of Assets with a specific tag
ec:datamanager Data Manager A single Data Manager
ec:datamanager/by-id Data Manager A single Data Manager by dataManagerID
ec:datamanager/export Data Manager Postman Collection export of a single Data Manager
ec:datamanager/update-from-template Data Manager (only PUT) Try to update Data Manager to template
ec:datamanagers Data Managers List of Data Managers
ec:datamanagers/options Data Managers List of Data Managers, filtered
ec:datamanagers/new-from-template Data Managers (only POST) Create a new Data Manager from Template
ec:dm-account Data Manager Account A single Data Manager Account
ec:dm-account/by-id Data Manager Account A single Data Manager Account by accountID
ec:dm-accounts Data Manager Accounts List of Data Manager Accounts
ec:dm-accounts/options Data Manager Accounts List of Data Manager Accounts, filtered
ec:dm-client Data Manager Client A single Data Manager Client
ec:dm-client/by-id Data Manager Client A single Data Manager Client by clientID
ec:dm-clients Data Manager Clients List of Data Manager Clients
ec:dm-clients/options Data Manager Clients List of Data Manager Clients, filtered
ec:dm-role Data Manager Role A single Data Manager Role
ec:dm-role/by-id Data Manager Role A single Data Manager Role by roleID
ec:dm-roles Data Manager Roles List of Data Manager Roles
ec:dm-roles/options Data Manager Roles List of Data Manager Roles, filtered
ec:dm-template Data Manager Template A single Data Manager template
ec:dm-template/by-id Data Manager Template A single Data Manager template by templateID
ec:dm-templates Data Manager Templates List of Data Manager templates
ec:dm-templates/options Data Manager Templates List of Data Manager templates, filtered
ec:model Model A single Model
ec:model/purge Model Deletes all entries of the Model
ec:model/by-id Model A single Model by modelID
ec:model/purge/by-id Model Deletes all entries of the single Model by modelID
ec:models Model List List of Models
ec:models/options Model List List of Models, filtered
ec:tag Tag A single Asset Tag 
ec:tags Tag List List of Asset Tags
ec:tags/options Tag List List of Asset Tags, filtered

Field data types

A field definition consists of the following properties:

Key Value Examples Allowed change with entries
title Identifier of the field description, recipeIngredients This results in the removal of the old field and creates a new field with the given title (Only allowed if required is false).
description Additional information about the purpose of this field for documentation. Lists ingredients of the recipe. Every change.
type The field type, a value as specified below text, boolean, url, asset only formattedText <> text
readOnly Specifies if the field can be written with updates (or only at creation) true, false  Every change.
required Specifies if the field always needs a value or can also be null true, false Only change to false
unique Specifies if the value needs to be unique true, false Only change to false.
localizable Specifies if the field is localizable true, false Every change. Existing entries will have localized/unlocalized values.
mutable Specifies if the field is mutable by the Data manager user, or provided by the system.  true, false None, since this value is set by the system.
validation Validation of field values. Can be a Regular Expression (text type), a JSON Schema (object type), a model or asset type, or an object with optional min and max values (number and decimal types), depending on type (specified below) ^\d{3}\w+$, { "$ref": "#some-schema" }, { "min": 0, "max": 100 } Only removed.
default The default value, which is set if the field is required but got no value. null, false, 'not set' Every change.

If a model has no entries all properties can be changed if the field itself is marked mutable. But only some properties can be changed once a model has entries, as listed in the table above.

Note that the Data Manager Field data type is published in the generated API as part of the generated JSON schema: the title property, which has only descriptive semantics, holds the type (useful for generating forms).

Change model/field definition

If a model has no entries all properties and fields can be changed if the field itself is marked mutable. But only some properties and fields can be changed once a model has entries.

Properties

In the following table is specified if and how a property can be changed once it has entries:

property change
title no change
description always
titleField always
policies always
fields see table below
locales always

Fields

In the following table is specified if and how a field can be changed once it has entries:

text formattedText decimal number boolean datetime location email url phone json entry entries asset assets account role
text x * * * * * * * * * * * * * - -
formattedText x * * * * * * * * * * * * * - -
decimal x x o * o - - - - - - - - - - -
number x x x * x - - - - - - - - - - -
boolean x x * * - - - - - - - - - - - -
datetime x x o o - - - - - - - - - - - -
location x x - - - - - - - x - - - - - -
email x x - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
url x x - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
phone x x - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
json x x - - - - * - - - - * - * - -
entry x x - - - - - - - - - x - - - -
entries x x - - - - - - - - - o - - - -
asset x x - - - - - - - - - - - x - -
assets x x - - - - - - - - - - - o - -
account - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
role - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Icon Description: x = OK, o = with data loss, * = with migration, - = not possible, rows are source fields, columns are target fields

Mandatory fields

Those fields are mandatory and included in all models by default. They cannot be deleted or otherwise modified (mutable = false).

id (Type: id)

The id field is a unique identification for an entry and an own, non-reusable type.

created (Type: datetime)

The timestamp of the creation of an entry. All date and time values are UTC in RFC3339 format.

modified (Type: datetime)

The timestamp of the last modification of an entry. All date and time values are UTC in RFC3339 format.

creator (Type: account)

The user account that created this entry. If the entry was created by an ec.user or without authentication, the value is null

Allowed field names

A field title may consist of up to 256 characters, but is limited to lowercase- and uppercase characters, digits, _ and -. Field titles should only use lowercase characters and be singular (e.g. article instead of articles). The following field names are reserved, since they are used internally by the system.

  • id
  • created
  • modified
  • creator
  • page
  • size
  • sort
  • private
  • ending with "from"
  • ending with "to"
  • ending with "~"
  • starting with "_"

Types

Primitive Types

These types are simple data types.

Type Description Entry
Structure
Validation Sort-
able
Filterable Example
text A simple string value of any length. For common formats, better use Convenience Types. String Regular Expression yes exact, search, multiple "foo"
formattedText Same as text type, but for formatted text. String Regular Expression yes exact, search, multiple "foo"
number A signed integer number. Keep integer limits in mind. Number Object with min and/or max values yes exact, range, multiple 7
decimal A floating point number. Keep precision limits in mind. Number Object with min and/or max values yes exact, range, multiple 4.2
boolean A simple true/false flag. Boolean no exact true

Convenience Types

These types are more complex types with a specific domain that abstract from primitive types.

Type Description Entry
Structure
Validation Sort-
able
Filterable Example
id Unique identification for an entry. This is an own, non-resuable type. String no exact, multiple "j4kd68fz"
datetime A date and/or time data type in RFC3339 format (always including Time Zone). Date yes exact, range, multiple "2015-01-14T13:33:43.168Z"
location A latitude/longitude definition of a location. Uses the JSON schema http://json-schema.org/geo JSON Object with keys latitude and longitude no exact, range
(with values lat,long)
{latitude: 48.774702,
longitude: 9.1827263}
email A valid eMail address. Internally, validator.js is used. String yes exact, search, multiple "info@domain.com"
url A valid URL. Internally, validator.js is used. String yes exact, search, multiple "http://entrecode.de"
phone A valid Phone number according to E.164. Will automatically formatted in international format according to the default locale of the current Data Manager with libphonenumber String yes exact, search, multiple "+49711832468234"
json A generic JSON object. JSON Object or Array A valid JSON Schema no {key: "value"}

Linked Types

Type Description Entry
Structure
Validation Sort-
able
Filterable Example
entry Link to a single entry that is related to this one. String (entry.id) A model to enforce a specific entry type exact, multiple "49a8f3b4"
entries Link to entries that are related to this one. Array
(of entry.id Strings)
A model to enforce a specific entry type search
(single id that is included), multiple
["8fa398d2","49a8f3b4"]
asset Link to a single asset that is related to this entry. String (asset.assetID) An asset type to enforce a specific type exact, multiple "a8c44bd8-d225-433b-94e4-20fd38ea2d8f"
assets Link to assets that are related to this one. Array
(of asset.assetID Strings)
An asset type to enforce a specific type search
(single id that is included), multiple
["371393a6-ab7f-4591-8d5d-54261a52d28b",
"a8c44bd8-d225-433b-94e4-20fd38ea2d8f"]
account Link to an account. UUID (v4) exact, multiple "371393a6-ab7f-4591-8d5d-54261a52d28b"
role Link to a role. UUID (v4) String (role label) exact, multiple "a118f6a0-0d74-463d-b1d7-afcf3eb6da3a"

For every asset and assets type a part of the linked resource is embedded into the entry resource. This will allow users to get file urls for linked assets directly without making an extra request to the api. For example this can be used in list view to show thumbnails of logos directly.

Assets in the Generated API (aka. getBestFile)

Assets have a file-independent URL (consisting of the asset ID). Calling it returns the best fitting file, depending on the requested Locale (Accept-Language header). Image resources also support requesting a specific size: The query string parameter size can be used to specify the size in pixels the largest edge should have at least. Note that if the image is smaller than that, the largest possible image is returned (but possibly smaller than size). To request thumbnail sizes (thumbnails are square-cropped images of size 50, 100, 200, 400px), send the parameter thumb with the request. If you do not want the file directly you cann add /url to the request and you will get a JSON with a field url containing the url of the file you would have received.

Examples:

https:/datamanager.entrecode.de/files/:assetID/:url?{?size,thumb}

general description of the best file route.

https:/datamanager.entrecode.de/files/853a931b-2091-4f92-acad-cd0c0e6fedbc?size=100&thumb

will get the thumbnail file for the asset with size 100.

https:/datamanager.entrecode.de/files/853a931b-2091-4f92-acad-cd0c0e6fedbc/url?size=100

will get the url for the asset with size 100.

Additionally there is a API for public assets similar to the ec:asset[s]. Please refer to the public documentation found in any data manager in editor.

Custom Asset Domain

It is possible to use a custom asset domain. In order to get this working simply edit the config of a Data Manager to include the property customAssetDomain. Set the value to the custom domain. After configuring the Data Manager you'll need to set up your Domain to proxy the requests to the original url of the file (original links will always work).

Example:
Original URL:
https://cdn2.entrecode.de/beefbeef/QwB6QDJ5V9jrLkEd6OdBvXqh.jpg

Custom Domain:
https://www.example.com/static/QwB6QDJ5V9jrLkEd6OdBvXqh.jpg

Your proxy should redirect all https://www.example.com/beefbeef/(.*) requests to https://cdn2.entrecode.de/beefbeef/$1. We do this by configuring a AWS CloudFront to serve /beefbeef/* requests from the same origin as our cnd2.entrecode.de does.

User Management

While Data Manager owners (users with an entrecode Account) can generally do anything, the generated APIs have their own User Management. It knows three types of users: Public, which is everybody without any authentication (Web Users). Anonymous which are users that are created by software, but that never actively registered – useful to have users store their own data in an app without requiring an registration. And finally Registered which are users that have actively signed up, providing an email address and at least one login method.

Anonymous users have one access token that is valid indefinitely or until they sign up and become a registered user. Login and Signup can be done using a registered Data Manager Client.

To get an anonymous user, POST to the <dataManagerShortID>:_auth/anonymous relation. Optional query parameter can be set to adjust the token validity time. It returns an object containing the long-lived jwt, as well as an accountID and information about the token validity time.

Which user levels are available can be configured for a data manager.

While Anonymous and Registered users automatically get added to default user roles, one can also create additional roles and assign users to those roles.

Roles can be used in Permission Policies.

Permission Policies

There are four possible methods to interact with entries of a model: create (POST), read (GET), update (PUT) and delete (DELETE). By default, none of those methods is permitted (the data manager user can still do everything, however).

Interaction can be permitted using Policies that are specified on the model level. Every model can have any number of policies.

A Policy consists of the following properties:

  • Which Method does the policy allow? (one of get, put, post, delete)
  • does it consider the whole entry or is it restricted to some fields? E.g. only allow reading of two specific entry fields.
  • Who is getting the permission? Can be either public, or one or multiple roles
  • Additional Conditions the entry has to fulfill

Example:

{
    "method": "get",
    "restrictToFields": [ "title", "description"],
    "public": false,
    "roles": ["registered"]
}

Only registered users can read entries of this model, and only the title and description property.

Conditions restrict the policy to a subset of entries that fulfill the conditions. They can be nested and are pretty much logical boolean expressions.

A Condition can either be

  • an Array containing three elements: a condition, and or or, and another condition

or

  • an Object with the properties field, operator and either constant or variable.

The property field must be the field name of a field of the model. May also be a system-generated field like _creator.

The property operator can be =, !=, <, <=, >, >=, in, notIn, hasRole and hasNotRole.

The property constant can be a JavaScript literal, like a string, a number or null. When used with the in operator, it can also be an Array containing literals.

The property variable can either be accountID or roles for fields of type account, or now for fields of type datetime.

Some combinations are not valid. E.g. </> only makes sense on numerical fields. The hasRole operator only works on account type fields and either expects one or more roles as constant or the variable roles (containing all roles the current user has). null notIn [Array] is always false, even if null is in the Array – only Arrays with actual values are considered. It is not possible to have conditions on policies for the post method, and it is also not possible to have restrictToFields populated on policies for the delete method.

Note that when someone has policies for put or post, they probably also should have a get policy. Otherwise created or modified entries will not be returned, instead a HTTP 204 will be returned without a body. And yes, it is possible to model policies that allow editing of a field that cannot be seen.

Example 1:

{
    "method": "put",
    "restrictToFields": ["editableField"],
    "public": false,
    "roles": ["anonymous"],
    "conditions": [
        {
            "field": "_creator",
            "operator": "=",
            "variable": "accountID"
        },
        "or",
        {
            "field": "public",
            "operator": "="
            "constant": true
        }
    ]
}

Only anonymous users can update the field editableField on entries they created or that have the value true in the field public. Note that the public field has to be created manually, if needed.

Example 2:

{
    "method": "post",
    "restrictToFields": ["data"],
    "public": false,
    "roles": ["freeUsers"]
},
{
    "method": "post",
    "restrictRuleToFields": ["data", "hideAds"],
    "public": false,
    "roles": ["paidUsers"]
}

Accounts with the role freeUsers can only create entries with the data field, whereas accounts with the role paidUsers can also set hideAds. Unallowed fields get their default value (probably null or false)

Customization of User Authentication

By default, "Auth" (meaning: Signup, Login, eMail-Change, Password-Reset) is done using ec.passport with dynamically generated, but generic looking templates. This means that the eMails your users receive and the rendered HTML Forms they'll see in the process are labeled with the name of your Data Manager, but have a very generic look. If you're building a Web App, you probably want to style those forms yourself and maybe even want to send mails in a custom format.

Custom eMails

You are required to register a (sub-)domain for sending custom eMails. You can still use the domain in your own eMail provider, but it is needed to be registered with entrecode in a manual process including adding some DNS entries for validation of domain ownership. If you do that, not only will auth-related mails be sent from your-data-manager-name-noreply@your-domain.com, but you will also able to use that domain for Mail Hooks! Domains are not restricted to a single Data Manager.

When a domain is registered for your Data Manager, you are eligible to provide mail templates. They are required to support Handlebars.js as template engine and should include certain variables (e.g. for the links the user can click). To make the templates available for your domain, a manual process at entrecode is necessary. Mail templates may also be delivered in multiple languages. We recommend Mailgun Transactional Mail Templates as a starting point for your own mail templates. An alternative with an online WYSIWYG-Designer is Bee.

The domain has to be set in your Data Manager configuration as config.customAuthDomain.

template name purpose data variables
email-verification Sent after signup to verify a user's mail address link, email, title (the Data Manager Title)
change-email Sent to a new mail address after a change for verification link, email, title (the Data Manager Title)
change-email-abort Sent to the old mail address after a change for resetting it link, email, newMail, title (the Data Manager Title)
password-reset Sent to the user if a new password is requested resetLink, abortLink, email, newMail, title (the Data Manager Title)

All templates receive the variables to, from, subject, template and language, as well as data which has custom properties listed in the table above.

Template Sets

Additonally to domain based custom Auth E-Mails, you can use template sets. A template set is always preferred to a domain, and can even be combined. A template set is expected to have an own template folder in ec.mail like a domain. Additionally, a domain folder can be inside a template set folder. When using template sets, you can also use config.users.templatevariables for some customization.

Custom Auth HTML pages

When clicking on a link in one of the auth mails, or after requesting an email change, by default a HTML page is rendered. You can customize those pages inside your Web App and make the calls to your Data Manager API manually using XHR. For that to work, you have to send your calls to Data Manager with the query string ?rest=true appended, which results in JSON responses instead of finished HTML pages. Your also need to configure your own endpoints to use in the links sent in the eMails. Add the following to your Data Manager config as config.customAuthLinks:

"customAuthLinks": {
  "email-verify": "https://your-domain/email-verification{?jwt}",
  "password-reset-abort": "https://your-domain/password-reset/abort{?jwt}",
  "password-reset": "https://your-domain/password-reset{?jwt}",
  "change-email-abort": "https://your-domain/change-email/abort{?jwt}",
  "change-email-verify": "https://your-domain/change-email{?jwt}"
}

Custom Auth subjects

If the default subject for auth emails should be overwritten there is the option to add customAuthSubjects and overwrite the ones you want. The value of the keys could be either a string or a object with keys default, de, en...

Add the following to your Data Manager config as config.customAuthSubjects:

"customAuthSubjects": {
  "email-verify": "Bitte bestätigen Sie Ihre eMail-Adresse",
  "password-reset": "Passwortänderung Ihres ${dataManager.title} Accounts",
  "change-email-abort": "E-Mail-Adressänderung beauftragt",
  "change-email-verify": "E-Mail-Adressänderung angefordert, bitte verifizieren"
}

Custom Auth from

If the default from for auth emails should be overwritten there is the option to add customAuthFrom and overwrite the default one which is the name of the datamanager.

Add the following to your Data Manager config as config.customAuthFrom:

"customAuthFrom": "Sir Send-a-lot"

You are free to define those URLs as you like, but they need to be valid Template URIs according to RFC 6570 expecting a variable jwt. This token you'll need to make the actual auth requests to your Data Manager API.

They map like this (all relative to your API root):

  • email-verify: /_auth/email-verification/{jwt}?rest=true
  • password-reset-abort: /_auth/password-reset/abort/{jwt}?rest=true
  • password-reset: /_auth/password-reset/{jwt}?rest=true
  • change-email-abort: /_auth/email-verification/abort/{jwt}?rest=true
  • change-email-verify: /_auth/email-verification/{jwt}?rest=true

Note: the password-reset route is only for validating the JWT, that it is still valid to set a new password. If you don't customize it, it will render a form to change the password. It is recommended to use the route after the user opened the link in the password reset mail to check if the request is valid. Then render a form requesting a new password. The new password has then to be sent in a POST request to /_auth/password-reset/callback/{jwt}?rest=true as JSON key password.

To request an email change, POST a JSON with key email to /_auth/change-email?rest=true to receive JSON response instead of a rendered HTML.

The JSON responses triggered using ?rest=true contain an object with all necessary data for rendering an HTML page, or an error.

Hooks

Hooks can be used to add additional functionality to models. E.g. they enable you to alter values before saving or to pass data on to another server.

A hook is always enabled on a per-model basis and can be triggered either before or after processing the request. A before-hook is able to transform the request (and e.g. alter values before saving them). An after-hook can be used to for example communicate the creation of an entry to another server. Hooks can be set up for all four standard HTTP methods (GET, PUT, POST, DELETE).

Hooks are defined in the hooks property of a model. It is always a JSON Array. There can be an arbitrary number of hooks for a model. If two hooks are configured for the same trigger point (e.g. 'before put'), they are triggered in the order they are listed in the hooks array.

There are different types of hooks that each have their own necessary configuration. Hooks are normally asynchronous. This means, the normal Data Manager execution is not influenced by the hook and not delayed. If a hook throws an error (e.g. a remote web server could not be reached), this does not influence the data manager request. However, “before” hooks can optionally be synchronous. This enables transformation of requests.

Example JSON:

[
    {
        "hook": "after", // 'before' or 'after'
        "type": "web", // a valid type
        "methods": ["post"], // 'get', 'put', 'post' or 'delete'
        "description": "my test hook" // optional. Makes the hook identifiable in logs etc.
        "config": {
            // type specific
        },
        "hookID": "a0603b90-ee1e-49ce-8201-aa6e06124e2f" // identifier for simpler sorting of multiple hooks. May change.
    },
    {
    // another hook. If it has the same signature ('after' 'post'), it will be executed after the first one.
    }
]

Web Hook

The web hook sends data to another server via HTTP/HTTPS.

Multiple targets can be set, so it is possible to notify multiple servers. Each target can be configured with an URI, the HTTP method to use and optional custom header fields.

Web hook configuration

The available data to use in Web hooks is the following JSON object containing all available information about the request:

{
    "request": {
        "method": "put",
        "uri": "https://datamanager.entrecode.de/beef1337/mymodel?myfield=filtered",
        "body": {
            "myfield": "newValue"
        },
        "headers": {
            "my-custom-header": "my custom header value"
        }
    },
    "response": { // the response property is only available if it is an 'after' hook.
        "status": 200,
        "body": {
            "count": 1,
            "total": 1,
            "_links": {
                // ... HAL links
            },
            "_embedded": {
                "beef1337:mymodel": {
                    "id": "l231ij4",
                    "myfield":"newValue"
                    // ... full response
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

The response property is currently not available in hooks!

This object can be transformed to only send the required information. See Transformations below for details.

The following example is a complete web hook configuration:

[
  {
    "hook": "after", // 'before' or 'after' – when should the hook be fired?
    "type": "web", // indicates that this is a web hook
    "methods": ["put"], // which methods should this hook watch
    "description": "send updated entry", // describe what the hook does
    "config": { // this config object is web-hook-specific
      "createJWT": { // optional. Will create a JWT before syncing
        "variableToSet": "jwt", // required. The context variable that will hold the generated JWT
        "algorithm": "HS256", // required. The algorithm to use: HS256, HS384, HS512 (HMAC) or RS256, RS384, RS512 (RSA)
        "issuer": "entrecode", // optional, can be any string and can use context variables
        "secret": "GQDstcKsx0NHjPOuXOYg5MbeJ1XT0uFiwDVvVBrk", // only needed if the algorithm is HMAC (HS***)
        "subject": "{{username}}", // optional. Can use context variables
        "expiresIn": "5min" // optional. Expiration time in seconds or a timespan according to https://github.com/rauchg/ms.js
      },
      "requests": [ // you can list any number of requests here, they get executed sequentially.
        {
          "uri": "https://my-other-server/endpoint?remoteID={{response.body._embedded['beef1337:mymodel'].id}}", // you may access variables from the context here
          "headers": {
            "Authorization": "Bearer 1o32iru1oi3rj",
          },
          "method": "post"
          "body": {
            "__jsonmask": "response/body/_embedded/*(id,property1,property2)", 
            "__jsonpath": "$.response.body._embedded['beef1337:mymodel']",
            "__array": false
          },
          "responseMapping": { // maps the response to new context variables (optional)
            "accessToken": { // the value of $.body.accesstoken will be available in the next request as {{accessToken}}
              "__array": false,
              "__jsonpath": "$.body.accesstoken" // $ is the full response object, so you may also access headers
            }
          }
        },
        {
          uri": "https://my-other-server/endpoint?remoteID={{response.body._embedded['beef1337:mymodel'].id}}",
          "headers": {
            "Authorization": "Bearer {{accessToken}}", // the variable set in the previous request
          },
        }
      ]
    }
  }
]

It sends the id, property1 and property2 values of the edited entry to https://my-other-server/endpoint?remoteID=l231ij4. A “before” web hook can also be synchronous:

{
    "hook": "before",
    "type": "web",
    "methods": ["put"],
    "description": "external validation",
    "config": {
        "requests": [
            {
                "uri": "https://my-other-server/endpoint",
                "headers": {
                    "Authorization": "Bearer 1o32iru1oi3rj",
                },
                "method": "get"
                "validate": {
                  "status": 200 // you may enforce a specific http status code from the remote (only in before hooks)
                }
            }
        ],
        "responseMapping": { // the original request body will get those properties assigned additionally
            "property1": {
                "__jsonpath": "$.body.property1" // this is a property of the last request's response body
                "__array": false
            },
            "property2": "hard coded" 
        }
    }
}

The validate property (which is only effective in “before” hooks) can be configured to expect a certain HTTP status of the remote server, in this case the request is only executed if the remote server answers with HTTP status 200. If the target server(s) respond with another status code, the data manager request is rejected with an error. An optional error response of the validating server is sent back to the data manager client.

The responseMapping property in the root level (not the individual requests) can be used to amend the request body with data from a foreign server. Properties can also get hardcoded values. Properties not written remain at the value provided by the original request.

Mail Hook

Note: there are currently two implementations available. The deprecated one sends mails directly. The favored one is event-based and supports custom Domains. The deprecated mail hook is hook type mailgun and should not be used anymore.

The mail hook is neither a before nor an after hook, but an event hook instead. This means that the main data manager process does not execute this hook, but ec.event-hook service does after the desired action produced an event (same behaviour as an after hook). It is not possible to have a mail hook on the get method, because reads do not trigger an event.

{
    "hook": "event",
    "type": "mail",
    "config": {
        "to": "{{data.recipient}}", // if omitted, "to" is set to "undisclosed-recipients:; <no-reply@<domain>>
    "bccToGroup": "77566e8f-399b-4fcf-a968-7d4f148978ac" // send as bcc to all members of ec.account server group with this id
        "from": "{{data.sender}}",
        "text": {
            "__jsonpath": "$.data.content"
        },
        "data": {
            "__jsonpath": "$.data" // to make all loaded data available in ec.mail template
        },
        "subject": "{{data.subject}} ",
        "domain": "entrecode.de",
    "language": "de", // ec.mail supports different language templates
    "template": "order-paid", // ec.mail template name
    "templateSet": "shp", // ec.mail template folder (when missing, it just uses the domain as folder name)
    "__resolve": [ // resolve entry fields so the values are available in data
      "account",
      "shop"
    ],
    "mailgunTemplate": "held-open-merchant", // use a native mailgun template instead of ec.mail - use either this or 'template'
    "h:X-Mailgun-Variables": { // variables for mailgun template
      "__jsonpath": "$.data",
      "__modifier": "stringify"
    }
        // ... more properties, see https://documentation.mailgun.com/api-sending.html#sending
    },
    "methods": [
        "post"
    ],
  "conditions": { // conditions can be used to trigger on certain state changes
    "and": [
      {
        "===": [
          {
            "var": "data.status"
          },
          "paid"
        ]
      },
      {
        "===": [
          {
            "var": "oldEntryData.status"
          },
          "unpaid"
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
    "description": "Simple Mail Hook",
    "hookID": "dd53b7c2-a494-44e6-883a-4269a89022c2"
}

This example builds a simple mail from an entry. Note the use of transjson functionality to build the mail dynamically. The available properties inside config map 1:1 to the properties described in the Mailgun API Documentation. Multiple recipients / multiple values for the same properties can be set as array. The domain property can be used to send via a specific domain; if it is omitted, the default will be taken. Note that the domain has to be registered with mailgun, which is a manual process for now. The property template will make ec.mail use a local template file. If you want to use Mailgun´s templates, use the property mailgunTemplate instead (translates to mailgun template property).

The property __resolve can be used to supply a list of field names which should be loaded. This way, data not included in the event of an updated entry can be used (like linked entries). The 'dm-event-hook-service Mail'-Account needs reading permissions on the data manager for this (hook model and entry target model).

It is recommended to always include a text property, even when a html property is present.

This is an event hook. If the hooks seems not to trigger, the issue is usually fixed by saving the model once again. (Event Hook configuration is stored in etcd, not in PostgreSQL).

CloudFront Invalidation Hook

The cloudfront hook is an event hook that can be used to invalidate an AWS CloudFront distribution after updating an entry (e.g. a CMS page).

Invalidations are not for free! They currently cost $ 0.005 for each path, so they should be used only when necessary. CloudFront Hooks should always be conditional and it is better to disable them when updating a large set of entries.

The AWS IAM user "event-hook-service" should have invalidation rights on the desired CloudFront distribution (all entrecode CloudFronts by default). You then only need the distribution ID for the hook.

{
  "hook": "event",
  "type": "cloudfront",
  "description": "Invalidate page if content or title has changed",
  "config": {
    "paths": [
      "/{{data.seoTitle}}*" // one or more paths to invalidate. Note that the wildcard * can only stand at the end!
    ],
    "distribution": "EWXXXXXXXP93D" // insert your distribution ID here
  },
  "methods": [
    "put" // the hook is only really reasonable for PUT hooks
  ],
  "conditions": { // always recommended
    "!": {
      "missingSome": [
        1, // only triggers, when at least one of the following properties exists
        [
          "oldEntryData.title",
          "oldEntryData.content"
        ]
      ]
    }
  }
}

This is an event hook. If the hooks seems not to trigger, the issue is usually fixed by saving the model once again. (Event Hook configuration is stored in etcd, not in PostgreSQL).

Conditional Event Hooks

Event Hooks like the Mail Hook or CloudFront Hook support conditions. This way, you can make the hook trigger only on events that fulfill a condition (e.g. a value change on a PUT event).

Example:

[
  {
    "hook": "event",
    "type": "mail",
    "config": {
      ... // mail-specific config
    },
    "hookID": "7fbf9e62-9323-4587-8914-e36aea1e325a",
    "methods": [
      "put"
    ],
    "conditions": {
      "and": [
        {
          "===": [
            {
              "var": "data.status"
            },
            "shipped"
          ]
        },
        {
          "===": [
            {
              "var": "oldEntryData.status"
            },
            "pending"
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    "description": "Send Shipped Mail"
  }
]

This hook only fires on PUT events where the status property has been changed from "pending" to "shipped". The conditions object is expected to be parseable by JsonLogic. You can look at the supported Operations here or play with it here. The data input is always the full event, which looks like this:

{
  "entryID": "FkQVvpavsZ",
  "modelID": "6234144e-38e2-414d-97c5-0faf1b671428",
  "private": false,
  "locale": "",
  "data": {
    "title": "current value...",
    ...
    "_creator": null,
    "creator": null
  },
  "syncID": null,
  "entryAndAssetRelations": [],
  "roleRelations": [],
  "uniqueFields": [],
  "readOnlyChecked": true,
  "modelTitle": "mymodel",
  "dataManagerID": "83538731-4ac3-4a1a-b3b5-e31d09e94d42",
  "shortID": "33cc6374",
  "user": {
    "accountID": "c00803fb-46cb-4af0-a745-34758577b78f",
    "userType": "ecUser"
  },
  "oldEntryData": {
    "title": "previous value of the 'title' field"
  },
  "modified": "2018-06-25T12:48:18.580Z",
  "hash": null
}

Most interesting is probably data and oldEntryData, as in the example above.

Synchronization

A Sync configuration can be added to models to synchronize the entries with another API. The Sync is read-only – writing to remote servers is possible using Hooks. The remote API is required to support JSON over HTTP. It is not required to be RESTful. Remote API Resources need to have a unique ID.

Multiple subsequent HTTP requests can be done to get the required data.

Sync is defined in the sync property of a model. It is always a JSON Object. Only one sync setting is available for each model.

Synchronization is triggered using a special request on the generated API. It requires Authentication of an authorized ec user.

Sync Types

There are different types of synchronization with slightly different necessary configuration:

  • Type 1: Full list sync

    This kind of synchronization syncs with a remote API that provides a complete list of resources that map 1:1 on entries. Example: we have a model person, and the remote server provides a resource returning a list of all persons. A sync will create an entry for each person in the remote entry. Subsequent syncs will update changed entries (overwriting changes to the local entries) and also delete entries whose related resources on the remote API are no longer existing.

  • Type 2: Subresource sync

    This kind of synchronization is also a full list sync, but it is done multiple times: for each entry of a parent model. The returned resources are merged into a full list of all resources. The relation to the parent model is set using an entry type field to the parent entry. Example: we have the above model person and also a model task with tasks for each person. The remote API only provides a list of tasks for a single person. The subresource sync is then set to obtain the task list for each entry in the person model (that model does not necessarily need to have a own sync configuration). The synced task entries all have an entry type field pointing to the related person entry.

  • Type 3: Single Resource sync

    This kind of synchronization does not add new entries or delete entries of the model, but merely updates them using data from a remote API. Therefor it does a request for each entry in the model. Properties set to assume a value from the remote server will be overwritten on sync. Example: we have a local model holding user data, users. It is filled when a new user registers for our app. For each user we want to save the profile picture of a social network providing a REST API. Therefor we ask the user to enter his username of the social network. The sync is configured to obtain the profile picture URI for each user from the remote API.

The Request sequence

As mentioned above, multiple successive HTTP requests can be done to get the remote data. It is possible to pass data from request to request. The available data is called the context. By default, the context will contain the old entry (for Single Resource sync) or the properties parentID and parentResource (for subresource sync); as well as the public Data Manager Config (config.publicConfig as config). The full list sync initially has an empty context. Each request can have a responseMapping property containing a JSON Transformation. The returned object's properties will be added to the context and be accessible for subsequent requests. Subsequent requests may overwrite those properties. The context is also available when building the response mapping for the next request, in the JSONPath $.__context.

Supplying a JSON Web Token (JWT)

For authentication of the Data Manager Server against a remote API it is possible to create and sign a JSON Web Token. It can be signed using HMAC with a supplied secret or using RSA with public/private key signing. The public key for validating generated JWTs is:

-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
MIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQCFFGDQFysjXTmiA1vjWTRB9bSy
2SGOPpxMLzetgj1TlWwdzX5GdpooqAjZgJOd4fkXDFUlKKIHukiow1EqYNpxZ60w
7chYF4s40fRGx62G8Qcx7kzrtDBQfC8mVjNUHXTsaYV/AiNb2FhRd3vniYyVqD7X
pKyyITayPNKNHme3SQIDAQAB
-----END PUBLIC KEY-----

The jti is always a newly generated UUIDv4 for each request. Subject, issuer and expiration can optionally be set. The generated JWT is assigned to a context variable and can be used in the requests.

Mapping entry fields

Fields of the type entry can be mapped to entries of another model that is also synced. This means, when the value of the property supplied by the sync remote is the same as the syncID value of an entry in another model, a link to that entry will be inserted in the entry field. To configure that, supply the modelID of the target model to look in. See example below.

Sync object JSON Structure

It is included in the Model JSON Schema. Explanation using an Example:

{
  "locale": "", // locale of all generated entries. MUST be set, but can be empty.
  "createJWT": { // optional. Will create a JWT before syncing
    "variableToSet": "jwt", // required. The context variable that will hold the generated JWT
    "algorithm": "HS256", // required. The algorithm to use: HS256, HS384, HS512 (HMAC) or RS256, RS384, RS512 (RSA)
    "issuer": "entrecode", // optional, can be any string and can use context variables
    "secret": "GQDstcKsx0NHjPOuXOYg5MbeJ1XT0uFiwDVvVBrk", // only needed if the algorithm is HMAC (HS***)
    "subject": "{{username}}", // optional. Can use context variables
    "expiresIn": "5min" // optional. Expiration time in seconds or a timespan according to https://github.com/rauchg/ms.js
  },
  "requests": [ // array of requests to perform. Needs at least one entry. 
    {
      "uri": "https://myapi/myroute", // required: the URI. Can use context variables.
      "method": "post", // HTTP method. Currently supported: get, put, post, delete. Default is get.
      "body": { // available for post and put method. Can use context variables.
        "key": "{{value}}"
      },
      "headers": { // Object to set additional headers. Can use context variables.
        "My-API-Key": "{{jwt}}"
      },
      "responseMapping": { // maps the response to new context variables (optional)
        "accessToken": { // the value of $.body.accesstoken will be available in the next request as {{accessToken}}
          "__array": false,
          "__jsonpath": "$.body.accesstoken"
        }
      }
    }
  ],
  "pathToArray": "$.body.values", // required: path to the resource list to sync (single object in Single Resource Sync)
  "remoteID": {
    "__array": false,
    "__jsonpath": "$.id", // required: path to the unique ID of the remote resource. All JSON Transformations are possible, so you may also build ids out of multiple properties
  },
  "itemMapping": { // Mapping of the final result to properties of the entry
    "name": [ 
          {
            "__array": false,
            "__jsonpath": "$.renewal", // by default, only the value of "pathToArray" of the last request is accessable. 
            "__modifier": "stringify"
          },
          {
            "__modifier": "replace",
            "__arguments": [
              "^(\\d+)$", // remember to escape Regular Expressions
              "P$1M"
            ]
          } 
    ],
    "title": { // in this example, `name` and `title` of the entries will be set.
      "__array": false,
      "__jsonpath": "$.__context.accessToken" // Previous responses can be accessed by setting a context variable and accessing $.__context.
    }
  },
  "entryRelationTargetModelIDs": {
    "country": "17d6e37f-5ab8-46d7-a2f1-a3de1832104c" // country field links to synced entry in other model. Can also be the model title instead of modelID.
  }
  "subResource": { // if this property is set, a sub resource sync (sync Type 2) is done
    "parentModelID": "461bc760-5fb1-47c9-9a81-449f7ae99afd", // required: model ID of the parent model. You can also use the modelTitle instead. However, you should then use the modelTitle everywhere, and not mix the ID notation with the title notation.
    "parentIDForRequests": "$.username", // required: this value of the parent entry will be {{parentID}} in the request context. Either "syncID" (the generated ID of a remote resource), a jsonpath, or a JSON Transformation object.
    "entryFieldForParentRelation": "parentEntry" // required: the entry field that will hold the relation to the parent resource
  },
  "singleResource": { // if this property is set (and not "subResource"), a single resource sync (sync Type 3) is done
    "resourceMapping": { // each of the here defined properties will be available in the request context
      "username": {
        "__array": false,
        "__jsonpath": "$.remoteData.username"
      }
    }
  }
}

JSON Transformations

Hooks and Sync configurations on models allow for JSON transformations.

Basically, a source object gets transformed into a new JSON object using various functions. To transform a JSON object, a transformation definition is needed which holds the basic desired JSON structure and some magic properties that trigger insertion of data from the source object.

Supported transformations are:

  • static values
  • a subset of the whole source JSON structure, using JSON-Mask
  • certain values of the source JSON, using JSONPath
  • modification of values using standard JavaScript functions
  • Concatenation of multiple values

Static values

Values can get fixed, static values (without anything from the source object).

Example:

{
  "property": "value"
}

just stays the same.

JSON-Mask

JSON-Mask is a notation to mask specific parts of a JSON object, hiding the rest. For example, to only pass on the request body of the Web Hook object, the following JSON mask would be used:

request/body

To only pass on the request method/uri and the response status, the following JSON mask would be used:

request(method,uri),response/status

Full Example:

{
  "__jsonmask": "request(method,uri),response/status"
}

This would return an object containing request with method and uri properties, as well as response with status property.

JSON-Mask does not alter the structure of the JSON, it just hides specific parts of it. This means, that the data will always have the request/response root level properties. To get rid of those, you can additionally use JSONPath:

JSONPath

JSONPath can be used to query JSON objects similar to XPath for XML. It returns an array of “matches” and works similar to CSS and JQuery selectors. To only return the actual request body, the following JSONPath expression would be used:

$.request.body

It also lets you get a response body without the HAL container:

$.response.body._embedded['beef1337:mymodel']

Arrays may even be filtered with JSONPath syntax.

Full Example:

{
  "__jsonpath": "$.request.body",
  "__array": true
}

This would return only the request body, put in an array.

Note that by default JSONPath a single object or an array. With the optional __array flag you can instead enforce returning always an array, even if only one object was matched.

This was a change introduced in version 0.7.9. In previous versions, the default value for __array was true.

Modifier functions

Values (typically provided using a __jsonpath property) can be modified using a predefined set of functions. To use this functionality, an additional __modifier property with the desired function name is required. Valid function names are:

parseInt

Parses an Integer value out of a string (using radix 10).

parseFloat

Parses a Float value out of a string. Keep in mind that the . is used as decimal point, not comma.

stringify

Calls JSON.stringify() on the value, returning a string value. Note that calling JSON.stringify on Strings double-escapes the string.

replace

Calls String.replace() on the value. It is required to provide an additional property __arguments containing a two-element array with the search string or regular expression as first element, and the replacement as second element. Important: because of the JSON structure, Regular Expressions have to be supplied as strings. This means that special JSON characters (like \) inside Regular Expressions need to be escaped. Basically, things like \d have to be sent as \\d to work.

uppercase

Make all characters uppercase characters

lowercase

Make all characters lowercase characters

date

Converts a value into a Date. If no value is given (e.g. using __jsonpath), the current timestamp is the value. String values are transformed into a date using Moment.js String parsing. The output value is by default an ISO 8601 String (including time zone). Optionally, formats can be given for parsing and output formatting. The property __arguments can contain a two-element array (both values optional). Optional means that the value may be null or false to be ignored (which falls back to the default). The first argument is the optional string parsing format (see Moment.js doc. Default is String parsing without a specific format, which supports a wide range of formats that are detected automatically. The second argument is output formatting (see Moment.js doc). By default (value null or false) an ISO 8601 Date String is output.

date_add and date_subtract

Allows for manipulation of date values by adding or subtracting values. Other than that, the functions do exactly the same as the date modifier function. However, there are two additional (and required) arguments. Therefor, the __arguments array is always required for these two functions. The first argument is the same as for the date function: a string parsing format or null. The second argument is a number value. The third argument is the unit for the value in the second argument. The fourth argument is the same as for the date function: a string output format or null.

Example 1:

{
  "__modifier": "date_add",
  "__arguments": [null, 7, "days", "YY-MM-DD"]
}

Output: 7 days from now in YY-MM-DD.

Example 2:

{
  "__jsonpath": "$.dateValue",
  "__modifier": "date_subtract",
  "__arguments": ["DD.MM.YYYY", 3, "years", "YY-MM-DD"]
}

Input of the JSONPath function: '19.05.2016'

Output: 13-05-19

Multiple modifiers

Blocks with modifiers can be nested using __value.

Example: take property and replace , with ., then call parseFloat:

{
  "__value": {
    "__jsonpath": "$.path.to.value",
    "__array": false,
    "__modifier": "replace",
    "__arguments": [",", "."]
  },
  "__modifier": "parseFloat",
}

For more modifiers this recursive structure becomes confusing. Because of that, you can also define an array of JSON Transformation objects that will be called in sequence. The example from above in array notation:

[
  {
    "__jsonpath": "$.path.to.value",
    "__array": false
  },
  {
    "__modifier": "replace",
    "__arguments": [",", "."]
  },
  {
    "__modifier": "parseFloat"
  }
]

Concatenation

It is also possible to build new values out of multiple values of the source object. It is done using an array of values (or value definitions) as __composite property, as well as a __modifier function to concatenate.

String concatenation

Example: concatenating street name and house number into one value

{
  "street": {
    "__composite": [
      {
        "__jsonpath": "$.path.to.streetname",
        "__array": false
      },
      " ",
      {
        "__jsonpath": "$.path.to.housenumber",
        "__array": false
      },
    ],
    "__modifier": "stringConcat"
  }
}

Note the fixed value " " for the space between the two values.

Currently only string concatenation is supported, more may come in the future (numerical calculations, array concatenation, …)