System integration

• 2 minutes to read

Often a system integration approach will use the Number fields (for example, Contact.Number1 or Project.Number).

If the identifier is too complex or if there are more systems than there are number fields, then the Foreign Key system is worth checking out.

It is more complex than the number fields, but it is much more flexible.

Example

We have an ERP system that we want to synchronize with SuperOffice.

First, we need to create a foreign key application for the ERP system.

foreignapp_id	name	registered	registered_associate_id
167	CRM Mailbox	28.02.2019 11:27:39	1001
446	Handshake	24.05.2020 14:36:11	2707
461	erp	03.05.2021 20:12:02	152

Then we create a dummy device - since the ERP system does not travel around on mobile phones.

foreigndevice_id	name	device_id	foreignapp_id	owner_id	lastsynced
461	erp		461	0

Finally, we add a foreign key entry for the ERP ID for the contact

foreignkey_id	foreigndevice_id	table_id	record_id	subkey	subvalue
96734	461	5	56200	erp-id	1234

We can retrieve the SuperOffice contact ID using the ERP ID 1234 like this:

SELECT record_id FROM foreignkey
WHERE foreigndevice_id = 461 AND table_id = 5 AND subkey='erp-id' AND subvalue='1234'

We can find the ERP ID using the SuperOffice contact ID 56200 like this:

SELECT subvalue FROM foreignkey
WHERE foreigndevice_id = 461 AND table_id = 5 AND record_id = 56200 AND subkey = 'erp-id'