Infor ION introduction
The Infor applications can either be in Infor Cloud or on premises. Typically, Infor applications use standard Business Object Documents (BODs), and third-party applications do not.
Each third party application has its own data structure; you require mapping to transform the data from the third party application to the data as expected by other connection points.
These are typical examples of using the third party connector. A database is used for illustrating a third party destination.
![Customer data flow diagram](lsm1436532342986.png)
Document flow to send order data from the database to the Infor application.
![Data flow from database to Infor application diagram](lsm1436532343202.png)
Connectivity options to connect to Infor applications are explained in the Infor ION User Guide. This guide explains the connectivity options in ION to connect to locally deployed third-party applications using technology connectors.
File connection point
Defines a connection from ION to a local application that cannot send or receive BODs, but can create/process files. The connection is made from the file connection point through the Enterprise Connector to the local file application. It supports connecting to a local file server using FTP or SFTP and to a local Windows shared folder.
File (SFTP from Cloud) connection point
Defines a connection from ION Cloud Edition to an external SFTP server. The communication is direct and does not involve an Enterprise Connector. You can create this connection point by providing the URL and credentials of the external SFTP file directory. Configurations in this connection point to send and receive documents are same as the File connection point. Details about these connection points are explained in this guide.
For information about connection points in general and how to create and use document flows, see Infor ION User Guide.
Database connection point
Defines a connection from ION to a third-party application that cannot send or receive BODs, but has a database available. In this way, you can retrieve data from a database and send it to one or more Infor applications. Or you can use data from Infor BODs to update your database. The connection is made from the database connection point through the Enterprise Connector to the local database application.
Message Queue connection point
Connectivity through message queues is offered. In ION you can create a connection point to read or write a message queue. In ION JMS (Java Messaging Standard) queues are used. You can send or receive messages to or from ION. The connection is made from the message queue connection point through the Enterprise Connector to the local JMS application.
ION API connection point
Defines a connection from ION to a REST API interface of application. You can send data to the application, retrieve data from an application and send it to one or more applications. Or you can use data from ION to retrieve appropriate response data.