Call External Services
The Call External Services Step enables communication with third-party applications through API requests, allowing the Workflow to retrieve, create, or update data with these applications.
Requirements
Basic knowledge of APIs and how to build API requests are required.
Make sure that Web Service Client Settings is configured in the Strato Admin Tool.
Functionality
- Integrate with third-party applications to create, read, update, or delete data through APIs
- Upload generated documents to the third-party application
- Handle complex functionalities not covered natively in Strato
Step Properties
Name | The name of the Step as it appears in the Workflow Editor. By default, this is set as Call External Services. |
Description | A short description of the Step. By default, this is set as "Step to call a 3rd party web service." |
3rd Party Application | Select which Workflow to execute. The list of third-party applications comes from the configured Web Service Client Settings in the Strato Admin Tool. |
Method | Select the HTTP method to send to the third-party application:
|
Number of Retries | Set the number of times this Step will re-execute when it encounters an error. |
Time between retries | Set the time delay in seconds between each try. |
API User | Set the user that interacts with the API. Aside from Static Text, Container or Step Export Parameter, and Datasource Field, this property can also be mapped to the following:
|
Asynchronous | If enabled, the Workflow will be paused until a response is received from the API through the callback URL or when a Step Validity has been set. This also enables the Step Validity tab and the Callback Response Parameters section in the Output Parameters tab. |
File Output | If enabled, users can download a file attachment (in PDF format) from the third-party application API. This PDF file can be used in other Workflow Steps. |
HTTP Headers | Set the parameters and context of the API request. |
URL | Shows the base URL of the selected third-party application. Click to add or modify the URL parameters. |
Body | Select how the request body is defined:
|
Input Parameters
Catalog Key | The key ID used when running this Step. |
Output Filename | Allows you to set the file name of the output from this Step. |
Output Parameters
Generic Output Parameters
Regardless of the selected third-party application, all Call External Services Step will have the following generic output parameters:
- Step Status
- Error Message
- HTTP Response Code
- Callback Status
- Validity Messages
- Validity Action
When File Output is enabled, two output parameters are added in the list of generic parameters:
- File
- Filename
Dynamic Output Parameters
However, unlike other Steps, Call External Services allows you to add and define output parameters depending on the API response from the selected third-party application, which may not be covered by the generic ones. This is done through the Dynamic Output Parameters section.
Callback Response Parameters
When Asynchronous is enabled, the Callback Response Parameters section is shown. This allows you to add, define, capture, and retrieve the parameters sent back through the Callback URL.
This section enables admins to set up the Source (either URL or Body) and the Body Format (either JSON or XML) for the parameters retrieved from the Callback URL.
Conditions can also be added to this section through the Add Conditions button.
Error Handling
The Error Handling tab allows you to define the actions to be executed when an error occurs in this Step.
Step Delay
The Step Delay tab allows you to set a specific time for the Step to execute.
Step Validity
The Step Validity tab allows you to set until when the Step is available, and define the actions to be executed afterwards.