SmartConnector Design Best Practices

Audience: Administrators, Developers, Integrators, Solution Architects

Purpose: Introduces the four areas of SmartConnector design best practices: SQL design, execution variable design, load step sequencing, and running and testing.

Overview

A SmartConnector that is configured thoughtfully in development is far more likely to behave predictably in production. The practices in this section reflect patterns that experienced teams use to ensure data integrity, correct Record sequencing, and reliable credential management across their SmartConnector pipelines.

The best practices guide is organized into four areas. Work through them in order when building a new SmartConnector, or use them as a reference when reviewing an existing one.

Section	What it covers
SQL Design	Structuring SQL output tables to ensure column mappings are correct, values are typed accurately, and output is clean before it reaches variable mapping
Execution Variable Design	Defining and referencing execution variables so values pass correctly between the SQL processor and downstream steps
Load Step Design	Sequencing load steps and configuring matching rules so Records are written to the correct destination in the correct order
Running and Testing	Validating SmartConnector behavior against real data before committing to a live run and interpreting results with confidence

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What's Next

The next topic is SmartConnector SQL Design Best Practices, which covers the practices that prevent data integrity problems at the source. SQL Design explains why SELECT * should never appear in a SmartConnector output table, why transformation logic belongs in the SQL script rather than chained load steps, and how to validate SQL output before configuring load steps

Related Topics

• SmartConnector Execution Variable Design Best Practices
• SmartConnector Load Step Design Best Practices
• SmartConnector Running and Testing Design Best Practices