Getting started
- About Financials and Force.com REST API
- Start using Force.com REST API
- Authentication
- Available REST resources
- Working with large sets of data
About Financials and Force.com REST API
Financials (formerly Sage Live) is a web application built on the Force.com platform developed by Salesforce. As a result, you can use the Force.com REST API to manipulate data in Financials and integrate with other applications and websites.
NOTE: Before you start, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the key concepts of Financials and Force.com REST API. For more information, see Tools & Learning resources.
Using the Force.com REST API, you can programmatically create, retrieve, update, and delete data in Salesforce and Financials. To do so, you need to send an HTTP request to a REST resource exposed via the Force.com API and parse the HTTP response.
Each REST resource represents a specific object. These objects can be specific to Financials or general objects also used by Salesforce. This allows you to manipulate that object through the REST API. You can access a REST resource via its URL path using standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE). An HTTP method specifies what you want to do with the REST resource, such as create, retrieve, update, or delete. For more information about the REST resources you can use, see Available REST resources.
The use of HTTP makes the Force.com REST API programming language agnostic, because to send an HTTP request and parse the response you can use any modern programming language and development platform.
Start using Force.com REST API
We presume that you already have a Salesforce organization where Financials is deployed. To start using Financials via the Force.com REST API, complete the steps in the Quick Start section of the Force.com REST API Developer Guide. Quick Start provides important information about configuring your Salesforce environment and protecting your organization’s live data before you start using the Force.com REST API.
We also recommend the following:
- Before making any changes to your production organization in Salesforce, test them in a sandbox first. For more information, see Develop with Sandbox and Quick Start: Using a Sandbox and Change Sets in the Salesforce Development Lifecycle Guide.
- Learn about the key concepts of Financials, the Force.com platform, and the Force.com REST API. For details, see Tools & Learning resources.
- Install tools for working with REST APIs. For details, see Tools & Learning resources.
Authentication
Before sending an HTTP request via the Force.com REST API, you must authenticate with the API. Financials relies on the authentication mechanism implemented in the Force.com platform. For details, see Understanding Authentication in the Force.com REST API Developer Guide.
Available REST resources
To work with Financials, you can use the following resources exposed via the Force.com REST API:
- Native Force.com REST resources. They are developed, documented, and supported by Salesforce. You can use these resources to work with standard and custom Salesforce objects in the organization where your instance of Financials is deployed. For details, see the following sections in the Force.com REST API Developer Guide:
- Additional REST resources specific to Financials. They are provided by Sage. These resources extend the standard functionality of the Force.com REST API, allowing you to work with objects specific to Financials, such as Dimension, Tag, Journal, Bank Account, Company, Tax Treatment, and more. For detailed information about the additional REST resources, see API Reference.
Working with large sets of data
If you need to create, delete, or update a large number of records in Financials, you can use the Force.com REST Bulk API. It allows you to perform operations on objects asynchronously. For details, see the following: