Over 14,000 APIs are available publicly, making it easier than ever to connect to open data, applications, and business systems. Learn how to access, move, and integrate data using APIs with FME. No coding required.

1. How to Connect to Any API
(Without Writing Any Code)
Stewart Harper and Don Murray

2. Who are we and what are we about?

3. What is an Application
Programming Interface (API)?
An API is a programmatic interface that
allows companies to serve their tools and
services in a stable and secure way.
It is now so competitive, cloud companies success
may depend on how usable and intuitive their API is.

4. Why are APIs becoming
so popular?
1. Infrastructure and data shifting to the cloud
2. Easy to build and consume
3. Rise of Mobile and IoT
4. Modern enterprise demands agility
5. API first strategy has disrupted entire sectors

5. What comprises an API?
● API management and security
● The interface itself (resources, methods etc).
● The business logic that is tied to each resource.

6. Why should you care?
The future belongs to razor focused applications.
The challenge is connecting these applications so that
they work in unison. API’s make this possible.
We are going to show how connecting and creating
these API’s is easier than ever.

7. API Challenges

8. API Challenges
Different implementations
Constant evolution
Error handling
and......

9. Authentication Challenges
● Many standards exist:
OAuth2, Basic, Token ...
● Standards provide loose
guidelines with many
different interpretations.

10. Data Integration
Challenges
Bulk migration
Application
Integration

11. Bulk Migration Challenges
How to get data from an on-premise source into
the cloud, or move data between cloud services.
Considerations include:
● Renaming attributes
● Cleaning and validating data
○ Removing duplicates
○ Truncating data
○ Removing special characters
● Merging data from multiple sources into one
new schema

12. Application Integration Challenges
The following are important when
integrating services:
● Scheduling that automates your
connection workflows
● Event driven support
● Cloud based so you don’t worry
about managing infrastructure
● Fault tolerance and monitoring
Connect new services with existing business processes.

13. How FME helps solve
these problems?
Constant API Evolution
Error Handling
Authentication
Bulk Migration
System Integration

14. FME Readers and Transformers
Authentication
Constant Evolution
Bulk Migration
System Integration

15. New in FME 2016.1
Transformers
DropboxConnector
KinesisReceiver
KinesisSender
MapboxStyler
SlackConnector
Readers/Writers
Portal for ArcGIS
IBM Cloudant
Microsoft Azure DocumentDB
MongoDB
SAP HAN
Tableau (Writer only)

16. Connect to any API with HTTPCaller
Authentication
Bulk Migration
System Integration
● Much more power, you can connect to
thousands of APIs.
● You need to understand how APIs work

17. Web Connections in FME 2016.1
Authentication
Bulk Migration
System Integration
✓ OAuth
✓ Token
✓ Basic
Connect
once,
then
reuse
across
FME.

18. Web Connections in FME 2016.1
Authentication
Constant Evolution
Bulk Migration
System Integration
Upload to FME Server.

19. FME Hub
Authentication
Constant Evolution
Transformers
ArcGISOnlineGeoenricher
GoogleGeocoder
StaticMapFetcher
TwilioCaller
TwitterProfileFetcher
Whats3WordsDecoder
Whats3WordsEncoder
Named Connections
Asana
Bitly
Digital Ocean
Instagram
MailChimp
Netatmo
Slack
30+ community-contributed web
transformers and web connections.

20. Data transformation is easy in FME Bulk Migration
System Integration

21. Event Driven Processing
Data flows between
connected
applications using
API’s
Connected
applications provides
higher value
Event happens
(web hook)
(data arrival)

22. Fault Tolerant Enterprise Features
Error Handling
System Integration
Schedule jobs to run for system integration tasks.
Define logic that retries the request if there is a
network issue or if the service is unavailable.
Receive a notification if a job cannot be completed.

23. Case Study 1: Data Access

24. Devon Energy: Wildfire Monitoring - Mark Giesbrecht

25. Data Sources - All Accessed over HTTP
NASA MODIS/VIRS
British Columbia (KML)
Background Mapping
Wildfire Locations
Alberta (CSV and ESRI FS)
HTTP
ESRI Feature Service
ESRI Geodatabase

26. Example - Alberta Active Fires

27. Case Study 2: Data Migration

28. Overview

29. General Challenges
Connecting to the APIs
API Errors
Creating Repeatable
Migration Process

30. Loading Users

31. Loading Ideas

32. Loading QnA
● Multi-step workflow: Replies had to be
associated with questions, and questions
had to be associated with users, so it was
not possible to load all content at once.
● Loading attachments: Many questions
and replies had images or other files
attached. These needed to be loaded to
Amazon S3, and the URLs integrated into
the content HTML.

33. Solution
Key Transformers
HTTPCaller
JSONTemplater
FeatureMerger
S3Uploader
StringSearcher

34. Case Study 3: Application Integration

35. Automating Workflows

36. Automating Workflows

37. Automating training
signups

38. Update GoTo Attendance time in Salesforce

39. Update GoTo Attendance time in Salesforce

40. Update GoTo Attendance time in Salesforce

41. Summary

42. APIs are the key to your
application integration
strategy.

43. Next Webinar: Creating an
API without writing any code.
Join us for a technical deep dive to learn
how to create an API on top of a database.
(No coding involved — we’ll be using AWS
API Gateway and FME Cloud.)

44. Q&AChat your questions into the GoToWebinar control panel.

45. Thank you!
Live chat with us at
www.safe.com
Free Resources:
API Blog Series
FME Desktop Training (June 7-8)
FME Server Training (June 14-15)
The FME Knowledge Center