Configuring a CMS integration with Asset Picker

You can configure third-party CMS with Asset Picker. Currently, Asset Picker only supports images from the CMS. When you create partitions in Unica Centralized Offer Management, an entry for Asset Picker resides in each partition. For example, if Unica Centralized Offer Management has three partitions, you can configure Asset Picker for all the partitions of Unica Centralized Offer Management.

About this task

To create partitions in Unica Centralized Offer Management, see the Unica Centralized Offer Management Installation Guide.

You can configure a third-party application that contains the artifacts, which can be accessed using the Unica Centralized Offer Management URL picker tool.

To configure a third-party CMS for integration with Asset Picker, complete the following steps:

Procedure

  1. Select Settings > Configuration.
    The Configuration page appears.
  2. From the Configuration categories panel, select Offer > partitions > partition <n> > Asset Picker > Data Sources > (CMS Configuration Template).
    • Offer - The name provided to Unica Centralized Offer Management application.
    • partition <n> - Here <n> represents the number of partitions. For example, if Unica Centralized Offer Management has two partitions, then partition <n> can be partition 1 or partition 2.
    The Create category from template page for (CMS Configuration Template) appears.
  3. Provide values for the following fields:
    • New category name - A name to identify the Asset Picker so that you can categorize the various assets.
    • System Identifier - An internal name for identification.
      Note: The System Identifier name must match the systemId used in the respective Asset Picker plugin. For more information on systemID, see Unica Asset Picker Developer's Guide.
    • User credentials - Specify the user credential selection strategy for the target system. The available options are:
      • Default user - If you select Default user, the data source for defaultUserCredentials account is used while calling APIs of the target CMS.
      • Logged-in user - If you select Logged-in user, the data source of Unica's signed-in user account is used while calling APIs of the target CMS.
      • Hierarchical - If you select Hierarchical, the data source of Unica's signed-in user account is considered first. If the Unica's signed-in user account does not contain a data source, the defaultUserCredentials will be considered.
    • defaultUserCredentials - The default Marketing Platform user having the target CMS credentials. The system uses this configuration when:
      • the User Credential strategy is the Default User.
      • the User Credential strategy is Hierarchical, but the logged-in user does not have the datasource associated. In such a case, the default user will be considered for credential selections.
    • Data source name for credentials - The data source assigned to the Marketing Platform account. This data source authenticates the target system's REST API, database, etc.
    • Anonymous Content Access - Select Yes if the target system accepts anonymous access to content or select No if the target system does not accept anonymous access to content.
      Note:
      • Asset Picker framework works with the protected APIs of the target CMS system. However, in this release, the target CMS should be configured for allowing anonymous guest user access to the content URLs.
      • The 12.0 release only supports images in content type.
  4. Note: If you have not provided credentials for the target system, or if the provided credentials are incorrect, the target system will decline the connection request. Before saving the changes, ensure that you have provided the credentials and that they are accurate.
    Click Save changes.
    A new entry, for example <CMSName>, appears under Data sources for the configured CMS. Expand the entry to see the following entries:
    • <CMSName> | HTTP Gateway - contains a configuration.
    • <CMSName> | HTTP Gateway | REST - contains a configuration.
    • <CMSName> | QOS - does not contain configurations.
    • <CMSName> | QOS | Retry Policy - contains configurations.
  5. To configure HTTP Gateway, complete the following steps:
    1. In the Configuration properties pane, expand <CMSName> and select HTTP Gateway.
      The Settings for 'HTTP Gateway' page appears.
    2. Select Edit settings.
      The (HTTP Gateway) Edit Settings page appears.
    3. For the Base URL field, specify the base location of the target system. Example: http://<hostname>:<port-number>.
    4. Click Save changes.
  6. To configure HTTP Gateway | REST, complete the following steps:
    1. In the Configuration properties pane, expand HTTP Gateway and select REST.
      The Settings for 'REST' page appears.
    2. Select Edit settings.
      The (REST) Edit Settings page appears.
    3. For the Authentication Type field, select from one of the following values:
      • Basic

        Select Basic if the target system’s API needs HTTP Basic Authentication. Credentials need to be set up accordingly under user’s data source.

      • Bearer Token

        Select Bearer Token if target system’s API needs Bearer token authentication. (Bearer token must be configured in the password field of the desired user datasource. Username set up in datasource is ignored for this authentication type.)

      • Unica Token

        The Unica Token option can be used if target system belongs to the Unica Product Suite. The Unica Token adds the necessary API token request headers during HTTP invocation. (User datasource assignment is not required for this authentication type since tokens are system generated.)

      • None

        Select None, if the target system APIs are not protected by authentication, or if the target system uses authentication mechanism other than the supported ones and authentication is completely handled by the plugin implementation.

    4. Click Save changes.
  7. To configure QOS | Retry Policy, complete the following steps:
    1. In the Configuration properties pane, expand QOS and select Retry Policy.
      The Settings for 'Retry Policy' page appears.
    2. Select Edit settings.
      The (Retry Policy) Edit Settings page appears.
    3. Provide values for the following fields:
      • Retry count

        Specify the number of times Asset Picker should attempt to access target system.

      • Initial delay

        Specify the number of milliseconds to wait before making next attempt after failed access.

      • Delay multiplier

        Specify if the delay interval between subsequent attempts should be multiplied. Set this to 1 to keep a consistent delay between each attempt. Setting this value to greater than 1 increases the delay interval between each subsequent attempt. Similarly, setting this value to less than 1 decreases delay interval between subsequent attempts.

      Example

      If you provide the following values:
      • Retry count - 3
      • Initial delay - 1000
      • Delay multiplier - 1.2

      The first attempt will be made immediately to access the target system. If the first attempt fails, Asset Picker will wait for 1000 ms (1 second) before making the second attempt. And if the second attempt also fails, Asset Picker will wait for 1000 * 1.2 milliseconds (1.2 seconds) before making the third attempt. And if the third attempt also fails, Asset Picker will stop making any further attempt and terminate the operation.

      Note:

      The Asset Picker framework understands the settings explained earlier and automatically takes care of authentication, QOS, and other settings when the respective plugin is implemented using RESTful approach. For more information on RESTful approach, see the Unica Asset Picker Developer's Guide.

      The earlier mentioned properties can still be used for non-RESTful implementations. The Plugin developer can access all the settings programmatically and use them for plugin implementation. For example, you can use Base URL to configure any URL, or location, as per the target system type. This allows you to specify jdbc:oracle:thin:@localhost:1521:xe as the Base URL, if the target system is a database and it is used inside the respective Asset Picker plugin, when attempting a database connection.

    4. Click Save changes.

What to do next

Note:
  • If you have made changes to configurations, you should restart the Asset Picker application for the changes to come into effect.
  • Updates to user data source does not require a restart.
  • Configure the out-of-the-box integrations like Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) and HCL Digital Experience (DX or WCM). For more information, see Configuring the out-of-the-box integrations offered by Asset Picker.