Vault REST Services question

[Neil_Cross]

Question on behalf of a developer that I'm sort of but sort of not working with.  They're not in the ADN and I don't think they have any prior Autodesk experience, but regardless my client has hired them to write a Vault to ERP connector.

I'm translating here so apologies if this doesn't make sense. 

Originally they planned on using the REST services through the thin client to connect to the ERP system (cloud system), but they have hit a dead end and can't proceed due to a bearer token issue.

These are the questions from the dev (ERP system is called IFS):

1. We think IFS Rest Service accepts authentication token 'Bearer' but in the vault, Rest Service provides 'Bearer V'. Is there any possibility to vault to provide  'Bearer' for us to retest it to check whether we can overcome this authentication error?
2. Is there any other Rest Service we can use to access Vault data other than the Thin Client?
3. Is there any possibility for Vault to push data to IFS Rest endpoints? 

Any pointers greatly appreciated.  

[Markus.Koechl]

The REST API that Thin Client leverages is not for public consumption today. To get the latest information on future changes, your client's developer needs to join the Autodesk feedback portal at minimum and, best, also ADN.

Anyway, there are existing Vault to IFS connections; coolOrange is one of several partners that can help here.

[steven_t_gunderson]

we are currently on a path to connect vault pro to IFS ERP via REST. im not sure if there is some conflict with using pro / thick client instead of the web client but it seems to me that whatever the middleware, it should be able to handle doing auth to each system independently. we haven't figured out yet how to pass the AD creds from the logged in user / vault directly to IFS but that is the direction we are aiming.

currently we are using AD authentication with vault and REST calls are connected to IFS via OIDC but the user has to enter creds into a webform. our solution is an add-in to the thick client.

[Neil_Cross]

Thanks for the info Steven.  I'm not a developer so I can't really engage much further on this topic, but it's good to know it's possible to achieve this either way.

Are you the service provider for this project or the client?

[steven_t_gunderson]

I work for an OEM as a CAD Coordinator. We have partnered with a consulting firm to change our existing add-ins to use REST. The consultants are helping with the IFS configuration and providing some guidance on REST while myself and a couple other internal resources are overhauling the add-in code to integrate the REST calls.

Our add-ins from CAD to IFS are pretty extensive, including all of the business logic to verify we aren't entering bad data into ERP. We are new to REST but well versed in the Autodesk API in Vault and Inventor. As it's going right now, it seems it is just a matter of formatting the necessary information into a proper URL and sending it on its way.

For reference we are sending multiple property values to various sections of ERP, BOM data, and viewables (DWFs) in addition to querying ERP for information. Both the REST API for IFS and the Autodesk APIs are well documented. It should just be a matter of working through the problems and learning how it can be put together. Easier said than done I know.