[development] Map a webservice object with dynamic fields to a Drupal node

[Matt Chapman]

I'd explore your hunch about Feeds module. A custom Importer plugin
should do the job:

http://drupal.org/node/622700

You just tell it how to get the data, and Feeds provides a slick UI
for mapping incoming data to CCK fields.

All the Best,

Matt Chapman
Ninjitsu Web Development



On Thu, Jul 1, 2010 at 9:21 AM, Sven Decabooter <sdecabooter at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
> I am working on a module that will integrate an external opensource project
> with Drupal. The idea is that the other project manages the data, while
> Drupal is responsible for the visualisation. I am retrieving the data
> through webservices (SOAP or REST).
> The fields that are coming in from the external system are not fixed (i.e.
> the person setting up an instance of the system defines the fields), and I
> want to make the integration module generic enough to be able to deal with
> different configurations of fields.
> The aim is to make a Drupal node for each object that is coming in through
> the webservice. However I'm not sure what the best way would be to link /
> map the incoming data to the Drupal node. The fields will be fixed per
> installation of the Drupal module
> Right now I have spotted a few possible roads:
> - attach the data object to the $node object via nodeapi. This will however
> limit the flexibility for visualisation a lot (apart from having a theme
> function for it)
> - use the http://drupal.org/project/data module. Haven't delved a lot into
> it, and I'm not sure if it will do everything I want
> - Use / create a system that can map the incoming fields with cck fields.
> Not sure if anything like that exists. Feeds module does something in that
> direction if i recall correctly.
> Does anyone have any ideas or pointers on how I could go about tackling this
> problem?
> Thanks i advance.
> Sven