Anypoint Connectors

All connectors can function as endpoints by sending and receiving messages between flows or between a flow and some other data source outside of Mule. Some connectors are endpoint-based, meaning that you configure them either as inbound or outbound endpoints in your flow, then specify other operation logic within the configuration of that endpoint. Some connectors are operation-based, meaning that they allow you to invoke specific actions against an API, Web service, or database.

Connectors in Anypoint Exchange:

While there are exceptions, the following table summarizes the major differences between endpoint-based and operation-based connectors in Mule.

See the Connector Configuration Reference for instructions for configuring connectors for endpoint functions or for operations

Terminology

In previous versions of Mule, endpoint-based connectors were sometimes referred to as transports. Also the term connectors was used for both the global connection configuration for an endpoint and for Mule-specific extensions (also called Cloud Connectors) for third-party APIs.

As of Mule 3.5, we are clarifying the terminology as follows.

Transport: Transports provide connectivity to a data source or message channel by implementing one of a variety of standard connection protocols that are bundled with Mule. Endpoint-based connectors are often constructed around a transport.

Connector: A connector is a Mule-specific connection to an external resource of any kind, whether it is a generic protocol such as HTTP, FTP, or a Java-based database, or a specific third-party API, such as Salesforce or Workday. Connectors may be operation-based or endpoint-based, but this distinction refers to a difference in configuration details, not in functionality.

Endpoint: An endpoint is a flow-level element that is configured to receive and/or send messages from and/or to external resources. Any connector (whether endpoint-based or operation-based) can function as an endpoint, but some connectors can only act as inbound endpoints, others can only act as outbound endpoints.

Depending on its location in a flow, a endpoint-based connector may function as an inbound endpoint or outbound endpoint.

Note that an endpoint is a functional concept in Mule, not a rigid category. Endpoint-based connectors are always configured as either an inbound endpoint or an outbound endpoint, but operation-based connectors may also function as endpoints.

Inbound Endpoints

When a connector is configured as an inbound endpoint, it is acting as a message source. A message source receives new messages from a channel or resource, thus triggering the execution of a flow. A connector configured as an inbound endpoint reads the data it receives, packages the content as a message, then passes it to the first message processor in a Mule flow. A message source can receive data by:

Inbound endpoints use one of two message exchange patterns (MEPs) in a Mule flow.

Outbound Endpoints

Outbound endpoints send messages from Mule to an external system or application. Outbound endpoints can exist either in the middle of a flow or at the end of a Mule flow, sending a message out to an external system after Mule has processed the message to transform it, enrich it, or otherwise act upon it.

Outbound endpoints may also use one of two message exchange patterns:

Connectors fall into one of the following categories. See Connector Support Policy for more information.

Anypoint Studio includes a number of bundled connectors in the standard download. See the table below for more information about these connectors.

MuleSoft and members of the Mule community have developed dozens more connectors that you can use in your applications. Refer to the Installing Connectors documentation to learn how to download and install connectors in Anypoint Studio.

The following table lists connectors that are bundled with Anypoint Studio May 2014 and later, and are available for deployment using a Mule 3.5.n runtime . If you intend to deploy your application to an earlier version of Mule, use a Mule 3.4 runtime when you begin a new project in Studio.

MuleSoft and members of the Mule community have developed dozens of additional connectors that you can use in your applications. Refer to the Installing Connectors documentation to learn how to download and install connectors in Anypoint Studio.

If you are developing your applications in an XML editor outside of Anypoint Studio, you can add jars manually or add Anypoint Connectors as Maven dependencies. To make the connector available to a Mavenized Mule application, add the connector repositories to your pom.xml file, add the module as a dependency, and add it to the packaging process of your applications.

You can find the latest installation links and instructions for each connector on the connector-specific reference pages, accessible from the connectors site.

If none of the connectors on the connectors site meet your needs, you have several options:

Note that many connectors facilitate connectivity via a standard format or protocol. For example, if you are connecting to an Oracle database or a MS SQLServer database, you can use the Database Connector, because those databases output their data in a standard format. There is no need for an Oracle-specific or MS SQLServer-specific connector. Similarly, you can use the Web Service Consumer Connector to consume any SOAP-based web service, so you may not need a specific connector if the Web Service Consumer satisfies your use case.

For configuration information specific to individual connectors, refer to the Reference column of the table above. If the connector you are interested in using is not bundled in Studio, refer to the documentation linked on the connectors site.

For general configuration instructions for connectors, see the Connector Configuration Reference.

Operations-Based

Starting with (and including) Mule 3.2, MuleSoft has made all operations-based connectors forward-compatible with all new releases of Mule. This group of connectors, which are referred to as 3.2-compatible or Studio-compatible, can be configured either through the Properties pane in Anypoint Studio’s visual interface or through an XML editor.

Connectors developed prior to Mule ESB 3.2 can be deployed only with the version of Mule for which they were developed. In other words, these legacy operation-based connectors are neither forward nor backward-compatible.

Legacy connectors cannot be configured or deployed using Studio. Instead, you must configure all legacy connectors with an XML editor, then deploy them exclusively with the Mule release for which they are listed as compatible.

Endpoint-Based

Because endpoint-based connectors are constructed around transports that are bundled with the Mule distribution, they are tied directly to a Mule version. When you develop a Mule application for the Mule 3.5.0 Runtime, for example, the endpoint-based connectors included in your project are tied to the Mule 3.5.0 core code.

See Connector Support Policy for more information.

Getting Support for a Connector

If you need help with a connector, search MuleSoft Help Center for solutions and ideas.