Which terms should I know?

DistributionGate

The product data of distributors (resellers) or directly selling manufacturers are in the DistributionGate. The owners of a DistributionGate can connect DistributionChannels. Each DistributionGate is reached via a separate URL.

Using the URL you can:

• Search for products and
• and get properties (UniversalTypes), images, specifications and
• prices and availability.

BookingGate

When products are placed in the shopping cart, the BookingGate comes into play. It manages the order process and is reached via a separate URL which is the same for all distributors. The authorization token obtained for the DistributionGate is valid for the BookingGate as well.

BusinessManager

The BusinessManager is the frontend for our partners. If you are the creator of a DistributionChannel, send a request to the BusinessManager backend to get a list of connected DistributionGates.

API

Short for: application programming interface.

We provide APIs for our products so you can make use of the possibilities of our network.

Request

This is how we call sending a query to our API. A request is answered by the server.

GraphQL

For our API, we use GraphQL as query langauge. For the different Gates we use different endpoints but for each Gate you use the same endpoint. This differentias GraphQL from REST which uses a separate endpoint for each ressource.

Define the data to be requested in the body of the request. You define the structure and the content of the answer; thus at one go you get all necessary data and no superflous data is returned.

You don't need a separate documentation for our GraphQL because the documentation is already part of the API as you can see when using GraphiQL or when fetching the GraphQL schema in your tool of choice (Postman, Insomnia).

GraphiQL

GraphiQL is a browser-based tool through which you can try the API. It includes the documentation, highlights errors and helps with syntax completion.

Authentication

Our APIs are not publicly accessible but require an authentication: We want to know WHO is attempting to use the API. Our Authentication provider returns a JWT token upon successful authentication which is to be included in every request to our API.

Token

We use JWT Tokens: https://jwt.io/