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StarRez Data Source

The StarRez connector enables you to access StarRez REST API endpoints to retrieve student housing data, manage residential records, and integrate housing information with other systems. This connector is particularly useful for applications that need to extract student housing data, integrate housing management with student information systems, build analytics and reporting solutions, or automate residential community workflows. Follow the instructions below to create a new data flow that ingests data from a StarRez source in Nexla.
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StarRez

Create a New Data Flow​

  1. To create a new data flow, navigate to the Integrate section, and click the New Data Flow button. Then, select the desired flow type from the list, and click the Create button.

  2. Select the StarRez connector tile from the list of available connectors. Then, select the credential that will be used to connect to the StarRez API, and click Next; or, create a new StarRez credential for use in this flow.

  3. In Nexla, StarRez data sources can be created using pre-built endpoint templates, which expedite source setup for common StarRez REST API endpoints. Each template is designed specifically for the corresponding StarRez API endpoint, making source configuration easy and efficient.
    • To configure this source using a template, follow the instructions in Configure Using a Template.

    StarRez sources can also be configured manually, allowing you to ingest data from StarRez API endpoints not included in the pre-built templates or apply further customizations to exactly suit your needs.
    • To configure this source manually, follow the instructions in Configure Manually.

Configure Using a Template​

Nexla provides pre-built templates that can be used to rapidly configure data sources to ingest data from common StarRez REST API endpoints. Each template is designed specifically for the corresponding StarRez API endpoint, making data source setup easy and efficient.

Endpoint Settings​

  • Select the endpoint from which this source will fetch data from the Endpoint pulldown menu. Available endpoint templates are listed in the expandable boxes below. Click on an endpoint to see more information about it and how to configure your data source for this endpoint.

    Get Tables

    This endpoint fetches all tables that can be used by the web services. Use this endpoint when you need to discover available tables, explore the StarRez database schema, or identify tables for data extraction.

    • This endpoint automatically retrieves all available tables from your StarRez instance. No additional configuration is required beyond selecting this endpoint template.

    The Get Tables endpoint uses GET requests to retrieve table information from the StarRez REST API. The endpoint returns XML data containing a list of all tables available for use with the web services. For more information about the Get Tables endpoint, refer to the StarRez Documentation.

    Get Columns For Table

    This endpoint fetches all columns that are present in a specified table. Use this endpoint when you need to discover table structure, explore column definitions, or identify fields for data extraction.

    • Enter the table name in the Table Name field. This is the name of the StarRez table for which you want to retrieve column information.

    The Get Columns For Table endpoint uses GET requests to retrieve column information from the StarRez REST API. The endpoint returns XML data containing column definitions for the specified table. For more information about the Get Columns For Table endpoint, refer to the StarRez Documentation.

    Fetch All Records From Table

    This endpoint fetches all records from a table. This endpoint performs a Select * from <Table> StarQL query on the selected table. Use this endpoint when you need to extract all records from a StarRez table, perform full table exports, or retrieve complete datasets.

    • Enter the table name in the Table Name field. This is the name of the StarRez table from which you want to fetch all records.

    The Fetch All Records From Table endpoint uses POST requests with StarQL queries to retrieve all records from the specified table. The endpoint returns JSON data containing all records from the table. For more information about the Fetch All Records From Table endpoint, refer to the StarRez Documentation.

Endpoint Testing​

Once the selected endpoint template has been configured, Nexla can retrieve a sample of the data that will be fetched according to the current settings. This allows users to verify that the source is configured correctly before saving.

  • To test the current endpoint configuration, click the Test button to the right of the endpoint selection menu. Sample data will be fetched & displayed in the Endpoint Test Result panel on the right.

  • If the sample data is not as expected, review the selected endpoint and associated settings, and make any necessary adjustments. Then, click the Test button again, and check the sample data to ensure that the correct information is displayed.

Configure Manually​

StarRez data sources can be manually configured to ingest data from any valid StarRez REST API endpoint. Manual configuration provides maximum flexibility for accessing endpoints not covered by pre-built templates or when you need custom API configurations.

With manual configuration, you can also create more complex StarRez sources, such as sources that use custom StarQL queries to fetch specific data, sources that access multiple tables, or sources that require custom authentication headers or request parameters.

API Method​

  1. To manually configure this source, select the Advanced tab at the top of the configuration screen.

  2. Select the API method that will be used for calls to the StarRez API from the Method pulldown menu. The most common methods are:

    • GET: For retrieving data from the API (table and column information endpoints use GET)
    • POST: For executing StarQL queries (data retrieval endpoints use POST)

API Endpoint URL​

  1. Enter the URL of the StarRez API endpoint from which this source will fetch data in the Set API URL field. This should be the complete URL including the protocol (https://) and any required path parameters. StarRez REST API endpoints typically follow the pattern https://{domain_url}/StarRezREST/services/{endpoint}, where {domain_url} is your StarRez domain URL configured in the credential.

Ensure the API endpoint URL is correct and accessible with your current credentials. You can test the endpoint using the Test button after configuring the URL. The endpoint URL should use the domain URL configured in your credential. Common StarRez endpoints include /StarRezREST/services/databaseinfo/tablelist for listing tables, /StarRezREST/services/databaseinfo/columnlist/{table} for column information, and /StarRezREST/services/query for executing StarQL queries.

Path to Data​

Optional

If only a subset of the data that will be returned by API endpoint is needed, you can designate the part(s) of the response that should be included in the Nexset(s) produced from this source by specifying the path to the relevant data within the response. This is particularly useful when API responses contain metadata, pagination information, or other data that you don't need for your analysis.

For example, when a request call is used to fetch records from a table, the API will typically return data along with metadata. By entering the path to the relevant data, you can configure Nexla to extract the specific records you need.

Path to Data is essential when API responses have nested structures. Without specifying the correct path, Nexla might not be able to properly parse and organize your data into usable records. For StarRez API responses, common paths include $[*] for arrays of records from StarQL queries, */entry/content/Tables for XML table lists, or */entry/content/{table} for XML column lists.

  • To specify which data should be treated as relevant in responses from this source, enter the path to the relevant data in the Set Path to Data in Response field.

    • For responses in JSON format enter the JSON path that points to the object or array that should be treated as relevant data. JSON paths use dot notation (e.g., $[*] to access all array elements).

    • For responses in XML format enter the XPath expression that points to the relevant data. XPath expressions use path notation (e.g., */entry/content/Tables to access table data).

Request Headers​

Optional

  • If Nexla should include any additional request headers in API calls to this source, enter the headers & corresponding values as comma-separated pairs in the Request Headers field (e.g., header1:value1,header2:value2). Additional headers are often required for API versioning, content type specifications, or custom authentication requirements.

    You do not need to include any headers already present in the credentials. Common headers like Authorization, Content-Type, and Accept are typically handled automatically by Nexla based on your credential configuration. For StarRez, the Authorization header with Basic Authentication is automatically included from your credential, and Accept headers may be set to application/json or application/xml depending on the endpoint.

Request Body​

Optional

  • If the API endpoint requires a request body (which is common for POST requests to StarRez for StarQL queries), enter the request body in the Request Body field. For StarQL queries, the request body should contain the StarQL query statement (e.g., SELECT * FROM {table_name}).

    For StarRez StarQL query endpoints, the request body typically contains the StarQL query statement. StarQL is similar to SQL and allows you to query StarRez tables. Refer to the StarRez documentation for the complete list of supported StarQL syntax and table names.

Endpoint Testing​

After configuring all settings for the selected endpoint, Nexla can retrieve a sample of the data that will be fetched according to the current configuration. This allows users to verify that the source is configured correctly before saving.

  • To test the current endpoint configuration, click the Test button to the right of the endpoint selection menu. Sample data will be fetched & displayed in the Endpoint Test Result panel on the right.

  • If the sample data is not as expected, review the selected endpoint and associated settings, and make any necessary adjustments. Then, click the Test button again, and check the sample data to ensure that the correct information is displayed.

Save & Activate the Source​

  1. Once all of the relevant steps in the above sections have been completed, click the Create button in the upper right corner of the screen to save and create the new StarRez data source. Nexla will now begin ingesting data from the configured endpoint and will organize any data that it finds into one or more Nexsets.