Organizer
Connect Organizer Service
Overview
The Organizer Service allows creating collections of tree-like hierarchical groups to organize items with similar characteristics together for different purposes. For example, items being organized could be BIM model objects and they could be placed in the groups based on location, thus creating a location breakdown structure used in construction. However, the Organizer Service API is generic in nature which means that the service leaves a lot of room for the API user to define what the items are and how they are organized into groups.
The Organizer Service stores named hierarchies of nodes. Each node in the tree represents a group of items. It’s important to note that the items are not stored in the Organizer Service. Instead, each item is represented by a link that points to an external resource, linking external items into the hierarchy of nodes. The Organizer Service allows creating detailed access control policies that define the access permission level (for example read/write/no access) on the tree level for different users.
The Organizer Service is a data-level service with REST API capabilities and corresponding SDKs for Javascript and .NET.
Use Cases
The generic nature of the Organizer Service means that it can be used as part of the Trimble Connect platform ecosystem or as a standalone service in a solution-specific context. Note that using the Organizer Service in the Trimble Connect ecosystem context requires using special API and access control policy conventions.
A typical use case within the Trimble Connect ecosystem is grouping construction objects in BIM models into breakdown structures. Examples include:
- Location breakdown structures
- Object property-based breakdown structures (for example, type, material)
- Work packages
Use cases for solution-specific context may include:
- Storing any user-defined hierarchies
- Data discovery: serving as a discovery index for collections of data
Concepts
An organizer tree consists of nodes. Each node can have sub-nodes under it, creating a tree of nodes. Each node can have multiple links in it. The links point to external resources. The link should be formatted according to the FRN notation. A forest presents a collection of trees.
- Forest - Namespace type of the container for a collection of trees
- Tree - Collection of nodes
- Node - Stored as a list, has a name and collection of links
- Link - Pointer to the external resource. Should be formatted using the FRN notation
- Group = Another name for a node. This is specifically used in the Trimble Connect for Browser application’s Organizer panel to denote groups of 3D BIM model objects
Regions
Trimble Connect offers regional API endpoints that you can use to make your requests. The resources in each region are independent of similar resources in other regions. Each Trimble Connect project is hosted in a specific region, therefore, all data in the project must be accessed through that regional API endpoint (see /regions API).
Dependencies
Using the Organizer Service in the Trimble Connect ecosystem context requires using special API and access control policy conventions. If the special conventions are not used, the Organizer trees are not accessible in the Trimble Connect project context using the Trimble Connect applications.
Also, a license for Trimble Connect is required before being able to fully utilize the Organizer in the Trimble Connect applications.
Getting Started
You need to complete the steps in the Getting started guide to be able to call the API.
The authorization to individual Organizer Service resources is defined by Access Control Policies, see the API specification.
API & SDK
See the API specification.
SDKs are available for the following platforms
- Trimble Connect .NET SDK (NuGet) - API client, local data management and synchronization for the Connect Core, Organizer, and Property Set APIs
- Trimble Connect .NET Organizer SDK (NuGet)
- Trimble Connect typescript SDK (npm) - API client for the Connect Core, Organizer, and Property Set APIs