What is a Connector?

Connectors are software components designed to pull data from various data sources (e.g. file system, SharePoint) into Aspire. Typically, they are built using APIs provided by the repository vendor. These APIs are used to connect and extract data from their corresponding sources.

  • The exact data extracted by a connector depends on the data source; it usually includes titles, authors, modification times, and access control lists.
  • Files/media/attachments can also be accessed, pulled, and processed for text extraction as configured and required.
  • Connectors obtain lists of users and groups stored in the data source for subsequent access control processing.

Configuring Connectors

Connectors can be configured to target a subset of a data source; they can also be set to return all results of a configured set or just items that have changed since the last time the connector ran.

  • The method used to detect changes varies by data source API, but includes comparisons of data signatures or use of data source change logs. 
  • Connectors can be invoked manually or can be set to run at pre-determined intervals.


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