IBMIoTConnector

Categories

Web

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Connects to IBM’s Watson IoT Platform through the MQTT protocol. Supports sending (producing) and receiving (consuming) messages.

Jump to Configuration

Typical Uses

  • Connect and control IoT devices
  • Manage device data for use on Watson IoT platform and other services
  • Interoperability with Big Data analytics platforms

Configuration

Input Ports

This transformer accepts any feature.

Output Ports

The output of this transformer will vary depending on the action performed. Message data and metadata are presented as feature attributes.

  • After a Subscribe action, output features represent messages received from IBM Watson IoT Platform.
  • After a Publish action, output features represent messages sent to IBM Watson IoT Platform.

The incoming feature is output through this port.

Features that cause the operation to fail are output through this port. An fme_rejection_code attribute, having the value ERROR_DURING_PROCESSING, will be added, along with a more descriptive fme_rejection_message attribute which contains more specific details as to the reason for the failure.

Note: If a feature comes in to the IBMIoTConnector already having a value for fme_rejection_code, this value will be removed.

Rejected Feature Handling: can be set to either terminate the translation or continue running when it encounters a rejected feature. This setting is available both as a default FME option and as a workspace parameter.

Parameters

Credential Source

Using a web connection integrates best with FME, but in some cases, you may wish to use one of the other sources.

  • Web Connection - use an IBM IoT web connection stored in the FME web connections database
  • Embedded - embed organization ID, API key, and Authentication token as parameters in the transformer
Account

Available when the credential source is Web Connection. To create an IBM IoT connection, click the 'Account' drop-down box and select 'Add Web Connection...'.

The connection can then be managed via Tools -> FME Options... -> Web Connections.
Organization ID Available when the credential source is Embedded. The organization ID to use when connecting to IBM Watson IoT Platform. This is a globally unique ID assigned when first registering for IBM Watson IoT Platform.
API Key, Authentication Token Available when the credential source is Embedded. The API key and Authentication token to use when connecting to IBM Watson IoT Platform. The API key has the form a-{orgId}-{apiKeySuffix}
CA Certificate

Root CA certificate for broker.

Optional.
Client Certificate

Certificate for client authentication.

Optional.
Client Private Key

Private key for client authentication.

Optional.
Action

The type of operation to perform. Choices are:

  • Publish command to device
  • Publish event as device
  • Subscribe to application status
  • Subscribe to commands
  • Subscribe to device status
  • Subscribe to events
QoS Level

The MQTT protocol allows a Quality of Service (QoS) level to be set. The following levels are available:

  • At most once (level 0)
  • At least once (level 1)
  • Exactly once (level 2)

The QoS guarantees are achieved by performing differing levels of client-server handshake. As a result, higher QoS levels are expected to lower throughput.

The remaining parameters available depend on the value of the Request > Action parameter. Parameters for each Action are detailed below.

Send Options

Device type

The type of device to publish command to. The device type is used to identify and group devices with similar characteristics.

Device ID

The ID of the device to publish command to. The device ID is used to uniquely identify a device within a particular device type.

Command ID

The ID of the command to publish to a device. The command ID can be any valid string accepted in the MQTT protocol. The device subscribing to the command can either subscribe to the command with the same string or the wildcard value `+`.

Format string

A string to identify the content type of the payload. Most commonly `json` but can be any string that is valid in MQTT.

Payload

The content of the message. This is often JSON, but can be any string, binary, integer or floating-point value.

Send Options

Device type

The type of device to publish an event as. The device type is used to identify and group devices with similar characteristics.

Device ID

The specific device to publish an event as. The device ID is used to uniquely identify a device within a particular device type.

Event ID

The ID of the event to publish as a device. The event ID can be any valid string accepted in the MQTT protocol.

Format string

A string to identify the content type of the payload. Most commonly `json` but can be any string that is valid in MQTT.

Payload

The content of the message. This is often JSON, but can be any string, binary, integer or floating-point value.

Subscription Options

App ID

The ID of the application to monitor the status of. To subscribe to the status of all applications, set the app ID to the wildcard value `+`.

Receive Mode

Two message receiving options are available:

  • Stream: The connector continues to receive messages indefinitely. The translation needs to be terminated in order to stop reception.
  • Batch: Only a given number of messages are received before the connection is closed.

Batch Size

In Batch mode, specifies the number of messages to read per batch.

Subscription Options

Device type

The type of device to subscribe to commands to. The device type is used to identify and group devices with similar characteristics. To subscribe to commands for all device types use the wildcard value `+`.

Device ID

The specific device to subscribe to commands to. The device ID is used to uniquely identify a device within a particular device type. To subscribe to commands for more than a single device, use the wildcard value `+`.

Command ID

The ID of the command to subscribe to. The command ID can be any valid string accepted in the MQTT protocol. The device or application subscribing to the command can either subscribe to the command with the same string or the wildcard value `+`.

Format string

A string to identify the content type of the payload. Most commonly `json` but can be any string that is valid in MQTT. To subscribe to multiple formats, use the wildcard value `+`.

Receive Mode

Two message receiving options are available:

  • Stream: The connector continues to receive messages indefinitely. The translation needs to be terminated in order to stop reception.
  • Batch: Only a given number of messages are received before the connection is closed.

Batch Size

In Batch mode, specifies the number of messages to read per batch.

Subscription Options

Device type

The type of device to monitor the status of. The device type is used to identify and group devices with similar characteristics. To subscribe to the status for all device types use the wildcard value `+`.

Device ID

The specific device to monitor the status of. The device ID is used to uniquely identify a device within a particular device type. To subscribe to the status for more than a single device, use the wildcard value `+`.

Receive Mode

Two message receiving options are available:

  • Stream: The connector continues to receive messages indefinitely. The translation needs to be terminated in order to stop reception.
  • Batch: Only a given number of messages are received before the connection is closed.

Batch Size

In Batch mode, specifies the number of messages to read per batch.

Subscription Options

Device type

The type of device to subscribe to events to. The device type is used to identify and group devices with similar characteristics. To subscribe to events for all device types use the wildcard value `+`.

Device ID

The specific device to subscribe to events to. The device ID is used to uniquely identify a device within a particular device type. To subscribe to events for more than a single device, use the wildcard value `+`.

Event ID

The ID of the event to subscribe to. The event ID can be any valid string accepted in the MQTT protocol. The device or application subscribing to the event can either subscribe to the event with the same string or the wildcard value `+`.

Format string

A string to identify the content type of the payload. Most commonly `json` but can be any string that is valid in MQTT. To subscribe to multiple formats, use the wildcard value `+`.

Receive Mode

Two message receiving options are available:

  • Stream: The connector continues to receive messages indefinitely. The translation needs to be terminated in order to stop reception.
  • Batch: Only a given number of messages are received before the connection is closed.

Batch Size

In Batch mode, specifies the number of messages to read per batch.

The following attributes can be selected for inclusion on the output features. Each output feature represents a message that was either sent or received.

_message_id

The sequential identifier for the message.

_payload

The message payload. UTF-8 string if possible to decode, otherwise binary or numeric.

_topic

The topic the message received from or sent to.

_qos

The quality of service level with which the message was sent or received.

Editing Transformer Parameters

Using a set of menu options, transformer parameters can be assigned by referencing other elements in the workspace. More advanced functions, such as an advanced editor and an arithmetic editor, are also available in some transformers. To access a menu of these options, click beside the applicable parameter. For more information, see Transformer Parameter Menu Options.

Defining Values

There are several ways to define a value for use in a Transformer. The simplest is to simply type in a value or string, which can include functions of various types such as attribute references, math and string functions, and workspace parameters. There are a number of tools and shortcuts that can assist in constructing values, generally available from the drop-down context menu adjacent to the value field.

Using the Text Editor

The Text Editor provides a convenient way to construct text strings (including regular expressions) from various data sources, such as attributes, parameters, and constants, where the result is used directly inside a parameter.

Text Editor

Using the Arithmetic Editor

The Arithmetic Editor provides a convenient way to construct math expressions from various data sources, such as attributes, parameters, and feature functions, where the result is used directly inside a parameter.

Arithmetic Editor

Conditional Values

Set values depending on one or more test conditions that either pass or fail.

Parameter Condition Definition Dialog

Content

Expressions and strings can include a number of functions, characters, parameters, and more.

When setting values - whether entered directly in a parameter or constructed using one of the editors - strings and expressions containing String, Math, Date/Time or FME Feature Functions will have those functions evaluated. Therefore, the names of these functions (in the form @<function_name>) should not be used as literal string values.

String Functions

These functions manipulate and format strings.

Special Characters

 A set of control characters is available in the Text Editor.

Math Functions

Math functions are available in both editors.
Date/Time Functions Date and time functions are available in the Text Editor.

Math Operators

These operators are available in the Arithmetic Editor.

FME Feature Functions

These return primarily feature-specific values.

FME Parameters

FME and workspace-specific parameters may be used.
Creating and Modifying User Parameters Create your own editable parameters.

Dialog Options - Tables

Transformers with table-style parameters have additional tools for populating and manipulating values.

Row Reordering

Enabled once you have clicked on a row item. Choices include:

  • Add a row
  • Remove a row
  • Move current row up one
  • Move current row down one
  • Move current row to top
  • Move current row to bottom

Cut, Copy, and Paste

Enabled once you have clicked on a row item. Choices include:

  • Cut a row - delete and copy to clipboard
  • Copy a row to the clipboard
  • Paste a row from the clipboard

Cut, copy, and paste may be used within a transformer, or between transformers.

Filter

Start typing a string, and the matrix will only display rows matching those characters. Searches all columns. This only affects the display of attributes within the transformer - it does not alter which attributes are output.

Import

Import populates the table with a set of new attributes read from a dataset. Specific application varies between transformers.

Reset/Refresh

Generally resets the table to its initial state, and may provide additional options to remove invalid entries. Behavior varies between transformers.

Note: Not all tools are available in all transformers.

Reference

Processing Behavior

Feature-Based

Feature Holding

No
Dependencies  
FME Licensing Level FME Base Edition and above
Aliases  
History Released FME 2019.0

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Examples may contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver and/or the Open Government Licence – Canada.