Live data??

[bwhelan]

Hi,

Can anyone point me in the right direction regarding the creation of Templates and Things in the Composer?

I am at the stage where I would like to try to incorporate simple live streaming data from an external source into the Composer to display on some published projects as proof of concept. While the tutorial videos are wonderful, it is the final part of the procedures regarding live data that elude me: they seem to have been glossed over in the tutorials, such as using pre-prepared Templates and Things in Composer and not much information as to how to get external data into Composer. I would love to see a separate tutorial or written procedure for this last step in the process. Also what type of external data is supported or allowed into the Composer? Are there limitations?

I am obliged in advance for any assistance!

Regards,

Brian

[jamesm1 · Accepted solution]

Hey Brian,

The reason it is glossed over is because it is extremely dependent on the use case and the source of the external data. A few (limited) examples might include:

• Properties updates via the RESTful api
  • All Thingworx Things expose a rest api as you create properties and services. You can view the endpoints via a browser at [thingworServeruri]/Thingworx/Server and you can put property values directly via an HTTP PUT to the address, such as [thingworxServerUri]//Thingworx/Things/[ThingName]/Properties/[PropertyName]
  • More details about the REST API can be found here: REST API Guide
• Remote Bound Properties using the EMS or Edge SDK
  • See: Edge Help Center
• Property updates via a Service
  • Such as a database query using our jdbc connectors, puling from a REST API via the CotentLoaderFunctions in the snippet library, etc
• Extensions
  • Such as the MQTT connector which allows you to configure TWX to subscribe to a MQTT channels

If you have a few more details on where your data is sourced I may be able to provide some more detailed advice on the specific use case.

[bwhelan]

Hi James,

Many thanks for that very comprehensive answer. I guess that I have a little more reading to do based on the info you have supplied!!

We are just using "baby steps" so far in trying to apply the amazing ThingWorx Experience to various projects to see what it can do in real terms. So far, the whole pilot is being viewed very favourably indeed in my workplace. Perhaps I may contact you again in the very near future regarding more specific use of our data in the Experiences following discussions with our own software applications engineers?

In the meantime, many thanks for such a prompt answer to my query James!

Best regards for now,

Brian