Introduction

This extension is designed to fetch data from external sources and store them into tables of the TYPO3 CMS database. The mapping between this external data and the TYPO3 CMS tables is done by extending the syntax of the TCA. A backend module provides a way to synchronize any table manually or to define a scheduling for all synchronizations. Synchronizations can also be run using the command-line interface. Automatic scheduling can be defined using a Scheduler task.

The main idea of getting external data into the TYPO3 CMS database is to be able to use TYPO3 CMS standard functions on that data (such as enable fields, for example, if available).

Connection to external applications is handled by a class of services called “connectors”, the base of which is available as a separate extension (svconnector).

Data from several external sources can be stored into the same table allowing data aggregation.

The extension also provides an API for sending it data from some other source. This data is stored into the TYPO3 CMS database using the same mapping process as when data is fetched directly by the extension.

This extension contains a number of hooks as well as the possibility to call user-defined functions during the import process or to create custom steps, which makes it a quite flexible tool. However it was not designed for extensive data manipulation. It is assumed that the data received from the external source is in “palatable” format. If the external data requires a lot of processing, it is probably better to put it through an ETL or ESB tool first, and then import it into TYPO3 CMS.

Please also check extension externalimport_tut which provides a tutorial to this extension.

More examples can be found in extension “externalimport_test”, which is used for testing purposes. The setup is not documented, but can be interesting to look at. This extension is distributed only via Github: https://github.com/fsuter/externalimport_test

Questions and support

If you have any questions about this extension, use the TYPO3 Slack workspace or the issue tracker on GitHub (https://github.com/cobwebch/external_import/issues).

Keeping the developer happy

Every encouragement keeps the developer ticking, so don’t hesitate to send thanks or share your enthusiasm about the extension.

If you appreciate this work and want to show some support, please check https://www.monpetitcoin.com/en/support-me/.

Participating

This tool can be used in a variety of situations and all use cases are certainly not covered by the current version. I will probably not have the time to implement any use case that I don’t personally need. However you are welcome to join the development team if you want to bring in new features. If you are interested use GitHub to submit pull requests.

Sponsoring

You are very welcome to support the further development of this extension. You will get mentioned here.