In Application Collaboration, a data source represents one of the following:
- The external system to integrate with InterAction
- A set of data you are converting in a one-time conversion
Create a separate data source for each external system or set of data. For example, if you are integrating with your accounting system and your human resources system, create two data sources. If you then decide to use Application Collaboration to bring in another set of contacts from a different system, create a third data source.
Each data source is also assigned a number, starting with one (1). These numbers are used as part of the table names for all data set tables associated with a data source. The number for a data source is also assigned to the data imported using the data source. Application Collaboration uses this when making subsequent updates. Using separate data sources for separate conversions ensures that ID values remain unique.
Each data source works independently of the others. When using Application Collaboration for ongoing integration, use a single data source for all related data from the same external system. For example, if you use one data source to bring in clients from your accounting system, you normally would not use a different data source to populate their additional fields with data also from the same accounting system. You could, of course, use a different data source to update the contacts with information from a different external system.
After creating a data source, you can create the related data sets as described in Overview of Data Sets.
Each data source displays in the console list in the main view. You can expand and collapse the console list by clicking the plus and minus signs, respectively.