DC 5.5 Integration Toolbox & Patterns

The Digizuite DAM comes with a toolbox of functionality that allows you standardize the integration process following certain patterns. Do you need 100% control and access to all functionality then you can choose our great open API or our SDK that is documented further down. Before going down that route it might be well worth investigating the standard toolbox that Digizuite already provides

The below patterns can be supported but not necessarily with out-of-box capabilities. Some require custom implementation using the SDK whereas others can be taken 80% out of the way using for instance Integration Endpoints or Automation in combination with the SDK or custom code.

Patterns that are very common in the Enterprise Ecosystem would be

Broadcast or one-way Data Exchange
A form of integration where (based on some business logic within DAM), data is send to a receiving system. It be very specific business logic that triggers it such as certain metadata fields changing and has a certain value, or it can be all creates, modifications and deletes of assets that must flow to the receiving end. Easily supported by out-of-box Digizuite capabilities such as Automation or Integration Endpoint. Easily extend by the use of your own service or a simple Azure function which is described here on this page.
Bi-directional Data Exchange
It is a combination of the above, but where either certain must be broadcasted but then based on the response something updated in the broadcasting end (Digizuite). Here it could more complicated where certain changes in the receiving system must trigger updates in the Digizuite platform. Here, the question is the amount of data but often Digizuite API or SDK would be a great fit for the data coming in whereas the broadcast elements is as stated in 1.
Correlation Data Exchange
Data from the integrated systems must be correlated in certain ways. An example could be a PIM platform that must not only receive assets but those assets must automatically be linked to a product based on the Product ID on a metadata field on the asset in Digizuite. Here the recommendation is to extend the platform with Azure Functions or your own 3rd party service that is called by Automation or Integration Endpoint.
Enhanced UI with an Asset Picker (On-demand)
An integration pattern that does not as such move data around is enhancing a 3rd party UI with more capability coming from another system. An asset picker from Digizuite which is being popped on a certain action. When an asset is selected or clicked in the asset picker then at that time it must be integrated into the 3rd party platform (could be adding the assets into a media library, or adding it to an email template for adding it for your product in a PIM as done with our InRiver connector)
Combined Data Exchange and UI
This one combines both data exchange (where assets are moved back and forth) with having UI capability in the 3d party platform as described above. Essentially, you have flow of data that is then further complimented with a UI that allows you handle assets in Digizuite right there when needed. An example is making a crop that is then automatically flowing from Digizuite to the receiving system. It could be updating metadata such as assigning a product ID without leaving your host platform which will then trigger the integration in real time.

Automation Flows

Digizuite has a very powerful automation engine which allows customers to construct business logic in a drag & drop fashion (no code). The logic consists of a number of steps that can either be a trigger, an action, a filter or for-loop (iterating elements). So an automation could be triggered based on metadata changes on an asset, or an asset arriving at a certain state in a workflow, and then the steps can filter if that change is relevant and if it is then perform certain actions within the DAM or externally. Full docs are here: DC 5.6 Automations.

It comes out-of-box with your Media Manager:

In this context, it is the ‘externally' part that is interesting to integration. An automation has an action which can invoke an external endpoint with values from the current automation (could be an asset ID or workflow ID) as query parameters. The external system could be simply utilizing a 3rd party service but it could also be a data integration where a downstream system must be notified (broadcast).

Many 3rd party platforms have APIs which could be triggered directly with these invoke endpoints but in many cases you would need to extend the integration with more. The Digizuite Automation could handle all business logic to narrow down what should be triggering the Integration but then the Invoke Endpoint could call a service that simply takes care of transporting what is received to the downstream platform.

One way to extend the Automation is by using own services or maybe creating small purpose-built Azure Functions. For a simple teams or slack integration, or if you wish to extend the platform to talk to your favorite Task & Project Management Software then simply add that API logic in an an Azure Function with 4-5 lines of code and let it be invoked from automation as described above.

If you need to synchronize certain elements from a downstream system (two-way) then an option could be to use a scheduler that would trigger external logic to handle the fetch. Could be an azure function using the SDK to update metadata or similarly but always be careful with data heavy integrations.

Integration Endpoints

Integration Endpoints makes it simple to be notified on all asset changes (create, modify, delete) and then any metadata definition within the platform. The main difference is its sole focus on outbound integration and making that as easy and centralized as possible to create, maintain and monitor an integration that requires a middle-layer to handle what should happens to those assets as they are changing. The endpoints are listening to events in real-time but end up on a queue to keep it asynchronous.

Use automation when you have the need to construct business logic in a no-code fashion and have a more lightweight integration such as Teams, Slack or maybe even Project Management tools since you can easily tie it together with the Digizuite Workflows by using out-of-box. Integration Endpoints is the go-to for data heavy integrations where volume is high and any errored asset must always be retried if it fails.

So for any integration endpoint, it can be clicked and the below notification overview is shown for you to easily ensure that all failed can be retried and delivered.

The Integration Endpoint can similarly to the Invoke Endpoint in Automation, invoke any external service with URL and custom headers for authorization.

In the service, then all the custom integration logic can be placed. Again, this could an Azure Function that acts as the connection to your downstream platform.

You would then in your service receive as a body:

{
  data: {
    itemId: 1234
  } 
}

Extensions with Azure Functions (or own Service)

A simple approach to extending integration capabilities is using the Azure Platform and more specifically Azure Functions (have in mind this is just an example and it would work just as well by using any service that exposes an API endpoint). It provides an on-demand cloud service (serverless compute) where the focus is on pieces of code that matter to your infrastructure and then the Functions handle the rest and it will scale.

A simple example would be needing a teams integration that must trigger based on certain things happening in a workflow or maybe metadata changing so that you must be notified.

A simple azure function that could be deployed within your own infrastructure in minutes is:

        [FunctionName("TriggerTeamsIntegration")]
        [OpenApiOperation(operationId: "TeamsIntegration", tags: new[] { "Teams", "Integration" })]
        [OpenApiSecurity("function_key", SecuritySchemeType.ApiKey, Name = "code", In = OpenApiSecurityLocationType.Query)]
        [OpenApiParameter(name: "title", In = ParameterLocation.Query, Required = true, Type = typeof(string), Description = "The **Title** parameter")]
        [OpenApiParameter(name: "text ", In = ParameterLocation.Query, Required = false, Type = typeof(string), Description = "The **Text ** parameter")]
        [OpenApiParameter(name: "color", In = ParameterLocation.Query, Required = true, Type = typeof(string), Description = "The **Color** parameter")]
        [OpenApiParameter(name: "assetId", In = ParameterLocation.Query, Required = true, Type = typeof(string), Description = "The **Color** parameter")]
        [OpenApiResponseWithBody(statusCode: HttpStatusCode.OK, contentType: "text/plain", bodyType: typeof(string), Description = "The OK response")]
        public async Task<IActionResult> RunTeams(
            [HttpTrigger(AuthorizationLevel.Function, "post", Route = null)] HttpRequest req)
        {
            _logger.LogInformation("C# HTTP trigger function processed a request.");

            string title = req.Query["title"];
            string text = req.Query["text"];
            string color = req.Query["color"];
            string assetId = req.Query["assetId"];
            var assetUrl = $"https://demo-dam-dam-dam.my-domain.com/asset/{assetId}/asset";

            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(title) || string.IsNullOrEmpty(text) || string.IsNullOrEmpty(color))
            {
                return new BadRequestErrorMessageResult("Invalid Query parameters. Title, text and color are all mandatory");
            }
            
            // Adding get asset name to title
            var asset = await GetAssetById(assetId);
            if (asset != null)
            {
                title += $" ({asset.Name})";
            }

            // Let us try it out!
            var url = "<INSERT WEBHOOK URL HERE>";
            var client = new TeamsNotificationClient(url);

            var message = new MessageCard();
            message.Title = title;
            message.Text = text;
            message.Color = color;
            message.Sections = new List<MessageSection>();
            message.PotentialActions = new List<PotentialAction>();
            message.PotentialActions.Add(new PotentialAction()
            {
                Name = "Open Asset in Media Manager",
                Targets = new List<PotentialActionLink>()
                {
                    new()
                    {
                        Value = assetUrl
                    }
                }
            });
            await client.PostMessage(message);
            
            _logger.LogInformation($"Good to go {JsonConvert.SerializeObject(new { message })}");


            return new OkObjectResult(message);
        }

The Azure Functions can also use the Digizuite SDK if there is a need for fetching more information about the assets. It can be done by getting our Digizuite SDK (Digizuite C# SDK ) and then using simple dependency injection as described here Use dependency injection in .NET Azure Functions. Then asset information (and all other availble functions in the SDK) can be fetched like this:

.....
public async Task<Asset> GetAssetById(string assetId)
{
    var parameters = new SearchParameters("GetAssets")
    {
        {"sAssetId", assetId}
    };
    
    var response = await _searchService.Search<Asset>(parameters);
    var listOfAssets = response.Items.ToList();
    return listOfAssets.Count > 0 ? listOfAssets.First() : null;
}

Adding the above to automation or an Integration Endpoint would be a simple exercise. Specifically for automation, one would go and add the following URL:
https://integration-functions.azurewebsites.net/api/TriggerTeamsIntegration?title=myTitle&text=myText&color=f0ad4e&assetId=123

To the Invoke Endpoint as made above then simply take the URL and add it here (remembering to add the right asset ID parameter):

Custom Integration using our API or SDK

Please read here for more: DC 5.5 API & SDK