I can think of several reasons why an intermediate form is better, but here are a few:
You can do better error handling when you have an intermediate form. For example, if a field is left off that is required, you can set a field called "Errors" or something similar and set all the values of the error messages there, and send that back to the person that entered the request. You can also let the web service create the record in the intermediate form with a Status of "Error" (I tend to use "New","Processed","Error" for my statuses) that make it easier to see what problems are happening before they even make it to the destination form. Another advantage is that you can do more formatting and logic that you probably wouldn't want to stick on your destination form. Since the web service is more likely to have freeform text or things in a format other than what you are used to, it gives you more leeway in formatting the data. The other main advantage is that you generally can reduce the fields that need to be entered to simplify things. This goes in with the second item as well, but generally you won't require every single field to be present when you interact through an integration, so it can be nicer to maintain an integration with a simpler form rather than the main one. It makes it faster to build and troubleshoot new integrations, in my opinion. There are more, but these are the three key ones for me. Also I wouldn't just look at it for web services integration, it would also be useful for API integrations, email templates, etc. Thanks, Shawn Pierson Remedy Developer | Southern Union -----Original Message----- From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:arslist@ARSLIST.ORG] On Behalf Of Sean O'Sullivan Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2012 10:54 AM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Web Services for Integration Hello Everyone, We're integrating our home grown Problem Management/Helpdesk application with an external Helpdesk application (Service Now), We're planning to use Web Services for the first time with our Remedy app. My question is around how folks are using Web Services. For creating new tickets in Remedy, Is it better to create a web service directly against the helpdesk schema, or is it better to create an intermediate schema where the data gets dropped off and then use workflow to validate and move it over to the main schema? It seems that having an intermediate schema is safer...but the downside is we might not get a ticket number back immediately. I'm sure others have set up integrations with web services. So I thought I would ask how others have done this and what challenges have you faced? What does your integration look like? Thanks for any advice you can provide. Sean O'Sullivan Prudential Financial _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org attend wwrug12 www.wwrug12.com ARSList: "Where the Answers Are" Private and confidential as detailed here: http://www.sug.com/disclaimers/default.htm#Mail . If you cannot access the link, please e-mail sender. _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org attend wwrug12 www.wwrug12.com ARSList: "Where the Answers Are"
