Connector schemas

A connector schema is a type of i2 Analyze schema that is provided by a connector that defines some or all of the item types the connector can return. Connector schemas allow for connectors to be added to, or removed from, i2 Analyze deployments more easily without the need to change the existing Information Store or gateway schemas. They also make it easier for connectors to be shared and used by multiple deployments.

To create a connector schema, use i2 Analyze Schema Designer, which provides an interface for creating the XML file containing the schema and, optionally, an additional XML file containing the charting schemes. To learn more about how to develop i2 Analyze schemas, see Designing an i2 Analyze schema.

Configuring a connector schema

A connector schema is provided by the connector itself. To supply a schema, a connector must provide:

  • An endpoint that returns the schema in its XML form from a GET request.
  • The URL for the endpoint. The URL is provided in the schemaUrl field of its configuration, and it must be relative to the connector's base URL.

A connector schema can be supplemented with a charting scheme. To supply a charting scheme, a connector must provide:

  • An endpoint that returns the charting scheme in its XML form from a GET request.
  • The URL for the endpoint. The URL is provided in the chartingSchemesUrl field of its configuration, and it must be relative to the connector's base URL.

For example, if a connector's base URL is http://exampleconnector.com:3700, the schema and charting schemes endpoints might be available at the following URLs:

  • http://exampleconnector.com:3700/schema
  • http://exampleconnector.com:3700/charting-schemes

Then, you add the schemaUrl and chartingSchemesUrl fields to the object that is returned from the configuration endpoint. For example:

{
  "schemaUrl": "/schema",
  "chartingSchemesUrl": "/charting-schemes",
  "defaultValues": {
    ...
  },
  "services": [
    ...
  ],
  "clientConfigs": [
    ...
  ]
}

Connector schema short names

All connector schemas have a short name that is displayed to analysts in i2 Analyst's Notebook when they interact with entity and link types from that schema. The short name of a connector schema must be unique within the i2 Analyze deployment. It can be configured in two ways:

  • The connector can specify the short name of the configuration that is returned from its configuration endpoint.
  • You can specify the short name of the schema when defining the connector in the i2 Analyze topology (topology.xml).

The short name that is supplied in the topology takes precedence over the one supplied in the connector configuration. If a short name is not specified in either location, then the identifier of the connector in the topology is used.

Connector configuration

To specify the short name in the return value from the configuration endpoint, use the schemaShortName field of the ConnectorConfig object. For example:

{
  "schemaUrl": "/schema",
  "chartingSchemesUrl": "/chartingschemes",
  "schemaShortName": "Social Media",
  "defaultValues": {
    ...
  },
  "services": [
    ...
  ],
  "clientConfigs": [
    ...
  ]
}

For more information about the ConnectorConfig object, see the i2 Connect gateway REST SPI.

i2 Analyze topology

To specify the short name in the i2 Analyze topology, use the schema-short-name attribute of the <connector> element. For example:

<connector id="example-connector"
           name="Example Connector"
           base-url="http://localhost:3700/"
           schema-short-name="Social Media"/>