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Types of Remote Data

If you integrate Yesplan with a ticketing system, you can display data from your ticketing system in Yesplan via a custom data field of type “Remote Data”:

  • Before Yesplan 28, the content of one of these fields was always “Single-Line Text”, even if the field actually contained a number. As a result, you couldn’t easily use the content for calculations if you exported it to an Excel file, for example.
  • Since Yesplan 28, you can explicitly specify that the data type of one of these fields must be “Number”. Then it’s also easier to perform calculations on it.

Remark

For the transition period, we have added a setting that will still return remote data of the datatype “Number” in the API as “Single-Line Text”, so that existing integrations won’t run into problems. You can enable and disable this setting in “System Settings” > “System Preferences” > “Deprecated Functionality”. See Deprecated Functionality for more information.

This guide describes the steps you need to take to easily use the new data types.

No Integration§

If you aren’t using integration with a ticketing system currently, you can switch directly to the data type “Number”:

  • Go to “System Settings” > “System Preferences” > “Deprecated Functionality”.
  • Select “No” in the drop-down menu next to “Values of Remote Data fields of data type ‘Number’ are wrapped in strings in REST API.”

You don’t have to do anything else.

New Integration§

Are you creating a new integration with a ticketing system? Then you can immediately use the data type “Number”:

  • Use the correct data type if you create custom data fields of the type “Remote data” (e.g. “Number” for numbers, “Date” for dates etc.). See Remote Data for more information.
  • Go to “System Settings” > “System Preferences” > “Deprecated Functionality”.
  • Select “No” in the drop-down menu next to “Values of Remote Data fields of data type ‘Number’ are wrapped in strings in REST API.”

The fields will always be stored in the correct data type and will also be sent accordingly via the API.

Existing Integration§

If you have an existing integration with a ticketing system, chances are that you are using custom data fields of type “Remote Data”, and that the type of these fields is “Single-Line Text”, even if they contain a number. We therefore recommend following the steps below and converting these fields to the data type “Number” where necessary.

Make a List§

First make a list of fields of type “Remote Data” that contain a number and of their corresponding fields in the ticketing system:

  • For Yesplan it is best to use the keyword, e.g. ‘ticketing_external_number_sold’.
  • Use the technical name for the field in the ticketing system.

You can find this information on the configuration page of your integration in “System Settings” > “Integrations”.

Request the Conversion§

Once you are sure that your ticketing system can send values as numbers, you can ask Yesplan to convert the fields. Send your request to support@yesplan.be.

Ask Yesplan to convert the existing fields to the data type “Number”:

  • Fields with numbers will have the correct data type: “Number”.
  • You don’t have to change the configuration of your integration.
  • We will check if the fields are used in reports and adjust them if necessary.

Attention

We will only convert the fields that are actually linked in the integration at the moment of the conversion:

  • Fields for remote data that aren’t linked at the time of the conversion won’t be converted and will retain the data type “Single-Line Text”. If you link them after the conversion, they will have the wrong type.
  • For that reason, we advise to always create a new custom data field if you want to display additional remote data in Yesplan after the conversion. After all, you can assign them the correct data type.

Check Your Integration§

The database in Yesplan now contains values of the datatype “Number” for the fields in question. However, via the API, these values are still displayed as a JSON string and you need to change this.

Check which integrations use the fields in question:

  • This relates to your ticketing integrations, but other integrations can also use these fields (e.g. for data analysis, the website etc.).
  • Ask the developers of these integrations to test whether they can send/receive values as data type “Number”. The section For Developers below explains exactly how they can check this.
  • Only go to the next step when you’re sure that your integrations support the new data types.

Switch Over§

Once you’re sure that all integrations are compatible with the datatype “Number”, you must ensure that the API also sends values in this format:

  • Go to “System Settings” > “System Preferences” > “Deprecated Functionality”.
  • Select “No” in the drop-down menu next to “Values of Remote Data fields of data type ‘Number’ are wrapped in strings in REST API.”

Once you’ve done that, Yesplan contains values of type “Number” for the fields in question and the API actually forwards these values as numbers. Are there nonetheless problems with it? Then you can set it back to “Yes” while you solve the problem.

For Developers§

Yesplan changes the way values from ticketing systems are stored in custom data fields for remote data:

  • Before Yesplan 28, the content of one of these fields was always “Single-Line Text”, even if the field actually contained a number.
  • From Yesplan 28, you can select different data types for these values. This is mainly relevant for values of type “Number” (number of tickets available, number of tickets sold etc.).

From Yesplan 28 onward, the values that can be returned or retrieved via the API are no longer limited to the datatype “Single-Line Text” for custom data fields of type “Remote Data”. See Datatypes of Remote Data and Integration Data for the new options.

For the transitional period, we have created a setting in Yesplan to always send these values as a string in the API, even if the field contains a number (and is therefore of data type “Number”). Once this setting is disabled, the values will be returned as a JSON number instead of a JSON string.

This can have consequences for your integration: whereas you always received a string for such fields before, it can now also be a number (or another datatype). How can you be sure that your integration is compatible with the new situation?

Generic Ticketing Module§

Does your integration use the Generic Ticketing Module and custom data fields of type “Remote data”? Then the JSON value that Yesplan retrieves from your API:

  • Can also provisionally be a number for the datatype “Single-Line Text”.
  • Can also provisionally be a JSON string that contains a number for the datatype “Number”.

Via the REST API§

Do you request or send values via the REST API for custom data fields of type “Remote Data”? Then you have to take the following steps:

  • The deprecated functionality setting ensures that the values of all fields of type “Remote Data” are returned as a JSON string, even if the data type is “Number”.
  • You can test whether a change of data type (from string to number) has an impact on your integration by embedding a special HTTP Header in your requests to the Yesplan API. See Datatypes of Remote Data and Integration Data for more information.
  • Once each integrator has confirmed to a client that the integration is compatible with the new data types, the client will set the deprecated functionality setting to “No”, whereby values in the API are sent in the correct datatype.