Usage Introduction

Function Description

APIC is the API integration component of ROMA Connect. It encapsulates APIs, data sources, and custom functions into standard RESTful APIs, and then exposes them to external systems. ROMA Connect has the following advantages for service integration:

• Convenient API management

  ROMA Connect provides full-lifecycle management for APIs, including creating, debugging, publishing, taking offline, authorizing, editing, and deleting APIs.

• Custom API backend services

  ROMA Connect provides two types of backends.

  • Data backends, where data sources are exposed as APIs. For details about the supported source types, see Data Sources Supported by APIC.
  • Function backends, where function capabilities are exposed as APIs.
• API monitoring portal

  ROMA Connect provides a visualized dashboard for API calling and analysis of the performance metrics related to API calling and identifies potential risks that may affect services.

• Multi-layer security protection

  ROMA Connect provides multiple authentication modes, refined request throttling, and strict access control for secure API calling.

Process Flow

The following figure shows how ROMA Connect integrates services.

Figure 1 Process of using ROMA Connect for service integration

1. You have created an instance and integration application.
2. Expose an API.
   • Exposing APIs
     1. Create an API group.

        Each API belongs to an API group, so create one before creating an API.

     2. Create an API.

        Encapsulate existing backend services into standard RESTful APIs and expose them to external systems.

     3. Debug the API.

        Verify that the API service functions are normal using the ROMA Connect debugging function.

     4. Publish the API.

        Publish an API in an environment so that it can be called.

     5. Bind a domain name to the API group.

        Before exposing an API, bind an independent domain name to the API group so that users can access the API.

        (Optional) Before binding an independent domain name to an API, use the default subdomain name to test API calling. ROMA Connect limits the number of times that this default subdomain name can be accessed (1000 times a day).

     6. (Optional) Authorize integration applications to access the API.

        For APIs that use App authentication: After an API is authorized to a specified integration application, the key and secret of the authorized integration application authenticate API requests as a security measure.

   • Creating and exposing a data API
     1. Connect to a data source.

        Connect to a data source to ensure that data can be read from the data source.

     2. Create a data backend.

        Define a data source as a backend service to read and write data from the data source.

     3. Publish a data API.

        Publish the data backend, generate a data API, and expose the API externally.

     4. Bind a domain name to the API group.

        Before exposing an API, bind an independent domain name to the API group so that users can access the API.

        (Optional) Before binding an independent domain name to an API, use the default subdomain name to test API calling. ROMA Connect limits the number of times that this default subdomain name can be accessed (1000 times a day).

     5. (Optional) Authorize integration applications to access the API.

        For APIs that use App authentication: After an API is authorized to a specified integration application, the key and secret of the authorized integration application authenticate API requests as a security measure.

   • Creating and exposing a function API
     1. Create a function backend.

        Define custom functions as backend services.

     2. Publish a function API.

        Publish the function backend, generate a function API, and expose the API externally.

     3. Bind a domain name to the API group.

        Before exposing an API, bind an independent domain name to the API group so that users can access the API.

        (Optional) Before binding an independent domain name to an API, use the default subdomain name to test API calling. ROMA Connect limits the number of times that this default subdomain name can be accessed (1000 times a day).

     4. (Optional) Authorize integration applications to access the API.

        For APIs that use App authentication: After an API is authorized to a specified integration application, the key and secret of the authorized integration application authenticate API requests as a security measure.

3. Call the API.

   Obtain the API and its access address to call the API. This step requires different authentication operations depending on the authentication mode.