External data sources for data types

Pega Platform™ applications collect, consume and process data that is important to a case. Data types define the data that an application needs. Data types can obtain data that is entered or changed during application processing that is not associated with any system of record. However, you can also source data types from a Pega system of record (locally) or from an external system of record.

For example, an order management application handles employee purchases. The product system of record and inventory is maintained in an external system. Your application sources the product and inventory data from the external system of record.

Source data can be used in the user interface as a field that provides options for the user. The input field can limit the set of permissible values defined by the source data. Limiting the input values to valid options reduces errors, promotes reuse, and automation. For example, a drop-down list limits the valid values a user can select from a list of store branches that is retrieved from an external system.

In the following image, click the + icons to learn more about each data source.

Sourcing a data type with an external system of record requires a service. In App Studio, you can source a data type with an external system of record that exposes a REST service with GET or POST methods.

For example, an HR Specialist interviews a candidate. The Candidate application must access data hosted on an external vendor system, such as the candidate name, address, and email.

Given the Candidate ID, the onboarding business process invokes the Candidate API REST Service. The Candidate API then returns a response containing the candidate name, address, and email.

In the following image, click the + icons to learn more about configuring a data type with a REST API.