Configure qibb Nodes and Subflows

24 Jan 2023

Introduction

qibb is offering a variety of specialized API nodes to help you automate your media-centric workflows.

Furthermore, our Flows Catalog provides a selection of small workflows that can be combined together to create more complete and tailor-made workflows.

Both the API nodes and the flows are requiring for the user to fill out a couple of configuration parameters, that need to be set beforehand.

Instructions

There are two ways to configure both the API Nodes and the Flows:

1. double-click on the node/sub-flow and fill out the required parameters in the Edit dialogue box

2. or they can pass them programmatically using a Change Node or a Function Node in Node-Red.

Edit Dialogue Box Configuration

The first option is straightforward. You just need to double-click over the node or the sub-flow and fill out the required configuration parameters directly there as shown on the screenshot below.

Programmatic Delivery of Configuration Parameters

Sometimes it makes more sense to pass the configuration parameters programmatically. This can be done either using a Change Node or a Function Node in Node-Red.

For example, the mimir Auth Node requires that the email and password are pre-configured. Normally, the path and the parameter name are shown on the Node/Sub-flow documentation page, as shown below.

So you need to define them either by using a Change Node:

This would create a path in Node-Red with the following format:

msg.auth = {
  "MIMIR_USERNAME": "username",
  "MIMIR_PASSWORD": "password"
}

Alternatively, you can also use a function node to achieve the same and define the structure of the JSON path yourself:

Path, Query, Headers and Body Parameters

You can use the same ways to set-up API path, query, headers and body parameters. For example imagine we have the following API request we want to send: POST /api/teams/{teamId}?{query_param}={query_value} and pass an X-API-Key value in the headers and pass a JSON body.

• path parameter should be passed at msg.parameters.path.teamId = "team ID"

• query parameter should be passed at msg.parameters.query.query_param = "query_value"

• API Key headers msg.headers.X-API-Key = "<jwt_token>"

• JSON body needs to be passed to msg.parameters.body.XXXX = "value", etc.
  Alternatively, for the JSON body, you can use a function node where you need to define it yourself:

  JSON

  msg.parameters.body = {
    "param_name1": "value1",
    "param_name2": "value2",
    ...
  };

Function Node Disclaimer

It is important to note that when using a function node, you cannot simply set msg.auth.MIMIR_USERNAME = "username" as this would throw a Type Error: “ "TypeError: Cannot set properties of undefined (setting ‘username')" as the msg.auth path won’t be initialized. In that case you should use:

• JSON

  msg.auth = {
    "MIMIR_USERNAME": "username",
    "MIMIR_PASSWORD": "password"
    ...
  };

  or:

  JSON

  msg.auth = {};
  msg.auth.MIMIR_USERNAME = "username";
  msg.auth.MIMIR_PASSWORD = "password";