Data Hub Catalog: Single Data Source to Search Registered Assets

Data Hub Catalog is the critical element of Mendix Data Hub that helps find shared registered assets from an organization’s OData services. Businesses can thus use a single data source across various applications. It will ensure those apps have the latest data from the source.

A data hub also acts as a single point of contact for all your IT systems. You are thus wasting money and missing out on the benefits of a contemporary data center if you still utilize point-to-point connectors to transport data around your IT system.

Data Hub Catalog acts as a comprehensive data tool that has several business benefits on offer. Let us look at them in detail in this article.

You can access Data Hub’s main functions from the Data Hub home screen. The Data Hub Catalog’s search functionality makes it easy to find the correct data for your app development. The Asset Details screen displays information about registered data assets.

You may access the data source endpoints using the Copy Data Source URI or Download Contract buttons, which you can utilize to connect registered data sources into your corporate applications. You can start searching from the Data Hub Home page or proceed to the Search pane and Asset Details screen by clicking the Catalog tab.

In the Data Hub Catalog, there are three ways to register exposed OData services.

• By Mendix cloud
  Congratulations if you have an exposed OData service deployed to the Mendix Cloud. The Data Hub Catalog already has your service listed. It is the Mendix Data Hub’s power.
• By API
  You can register one or multiple exposed OData services by using the Data Hub Catalog Registration APIs. To use the Data Hub Catalog APIs, you need to create an authentication token. The Data Hub Catalog Registration API requires a Personal Access Token for authentication. Include the following key-value combination in your headers for every API request to a Data Hub Catalog API: Authorization: MxToken
• By Catalog UI form
  A UI form in the Data Hub Catalog allows you to register a single exposed OData service. Make sure you have the necessary information before you begin.
  • OData v4 metadata contract file in XML format, or ZIP if numerous files are required.
  • Name, Version, and Path of Data Source
  • Name of the application
  • Name, address (URL), and type of environment

The Catalog search details screen in the Data Hub Catalog displays all of the information for registered assets. This data comes from metadata included in the OData service contract and additional metadata provided when registered assets get curated. Owners, Data Hub curators, and the Data Hub Admin can curate registered assets.

The following is the information registered for data sources and exposed datasets:

• Endpoints (URLs)
  In the Catalog, all registered assets are endpoints (URLs). The consuming app connects to the service’s endpoint.
• Environment
  The endpoints get published to an environment to complete the asset’s location. The OData service’s location also contains the environment in which the publishing app gets installed. It’s critical to connect to a data source in the right setting.

  When designing an app, you may want to connect to test data from an app deployed to a non-production test or acceptance environment. The final production app will need to access datasets from the production environment. It can be real-time or working data.

• Published OData service
  The OData service metadata contract files that specify the service lie at the service endpoint. By exposing datasets in the published OData service, available data sources get registered in the Data Hub Catalog. The disclosed properties and associations relevant to connect to the data they specify also get included in this service document or metadata contract.
• Versions
  The asset registration additionally includes the OData service contracts’ version number. The service owner may update the contract exposed at a single endpoint. With best practices, these changes get communicated by version number changes. Every published OData service has a version number. Apps that consume a service will do so from a specific version deployed to the environment.

Data hubs have been around for a long time in the IT industry. Data hub solutions have only lately become crucial pieces of the IT operational fabric, thanks to the growing adoption of cloud services and enterprises confronting hybrid data difficulties (data split across cloud and on-premise settings).

As data hubs offer several benefits, you can no longer afford to give it a miss. If you are looking for reliable support, our Mendix experts can help you. Contact us today to know more details about our services.