Whitepaper
Overview of Connectors

Introduction to Mindbreeze InSpire Connectors

Mindbreeze InSpire Connectors serve as the primary interface between the core Mindbreeze InSpire product and various external data sources, as displayed in the following graphic: Semantic Pipeline.

Mindbreeze InSpire Connectors are designed to ingest and synchronize diverse data types, providing the system with essential document content and contextual metadata, like “title”, “author”, “URL”, “tags” and the creation date, in flexible, arbitrary complex structures. Depending on the specific data source, connectors can also map complex relationships by referencing linked documents.

To ensure up-to-date data and system efficiency, Mindbreeze InSpire Connectors offer a suite of advanced synchronization and management features:

Real-Time Synchronization

Many connectors support near-real-time change detection by leveraging the native Change APIs of the underlying data source. This includes changes to document content, metadata and access management data.

Decoupled Access Management (Early Binding)

Security is handled via a decoupled architecture for document Access Control Lists (ACLs) and principal group memberships. This allows for flexible updates, for example, changes to the group memberships of a user can be processed without requiring a full update of the document object.

Life Access Check if Needed (Late Binding)

Connectors provide additional Plugins such as the Authorization Service in order to reauthorize indexed objects using the datasource key and the given user (if supported by the datasource API)

Version Control Integration

Connectors can be configured to handle versioned data sources, allowing administrators to choose between indexing the latest released versions, draft versions, or multiple versions simultaneously. By utilizing metadata referencing, connectors can create document graphs that support complex versioning lifecycles, ensuring users are provided with the correct version for their specific use case.

Granular Updates

To reduce overhead, connectors can perform targeted updates, such as modifying only metadata or ACLs, rather than re-indexing the entire document.

Advanced State Management

Managed by the Index, sophisticated state tracking simplifies complex operational workflows, such as migrating configuration and data between QA and Production environments.

From a deployment perspective, Connectors are implemented as plugins. This modular architecture ensures rapid deployment of new Connector versions and maintains both upward and downward compatibility with the core Mindbreeze InSpire product.