My latest development adventure has been expanding on text messaging REST services to create a generalized API for Manage 2000 to act as a REST API consumer.
To this end 8.1 sp5 will have a new function named REST.SERVICES which allows naming and configuring access to REST providers.
Perhaps you have an internal system that can be configured to supply a REST provider. Let's say an MES system which lets you publish real time work order activity. You could display that in the work order status portal by configuring a REST.SERVICES item to access the provider and then publish internally as an MSO or news article.
One can envision REST API providers and consumers becoming a critical architecture for accelerating information up and down the supply chain:
"... APIs can make certain that carriers, shippers and 3PLs have access to the same real-time data through the entire lifecycle of a shipment, providing true visibility across the supply chain...One of the greatest benefits of using API technology in a 3PL business is that APIs are capable of transmitting data back and forth across the supply chain in milliseconds, making real-time supply chain management a reality."
Whatever the source, REST.SERVICES, MSO.BUILD, and NEWS.ARTICLES allow you to build a loosely coupled integration of information from disparate sources into displays within Manage 2000.
Related topics coming soon:
- Custom formatter subroutines for rendering JSON responses
- NEWS.ARTICLES templated support for REST providers
- Tools subroutine REST.SERVICE for application specific development of REST provider service based features
