Webhook versus polling

Choose between the webhook API or polling API to receive an order, order response or shipment message

To receive an order, order response or shipment message you can use either:

The Webhook Connector

When an order or shipment has been changed at Tradecloud, we will trigger your webhook realtime.

The webhook is most suitable for companies with real time, high volume orders and having a web server or integration platform, firewall and SSL certificate available.

We will send a POST request to your webhook containing the order or shipment content. See the Webhook Connector Documentation for more information.

POST Request Content

By using the Order Webhook endpoint for orders, you can receive order event messages. The order webhook POST request body sent by Tradecloud contains:

  • eventName: The event name summarizes what has happened.

  • orderEvent: The order event, when using a delivery schedule.

  • singleDeliveryOrderEvent: The order event, when using only one single delivery per order line.

  • orderDocumentsEvent: The order documents event, when using documents.

By using the Shipment Webhook endpoint for shipments, you can receive the shipment contents. The shipment webhook POST request body sent by Tradecloud contains:

  • eventName: The event name summarizes what has happened.

  • shipment: The actual shipment.

Use the webhook when:

  • You want to receive real time order or shipment events.

  • You want to receive the order event or shipment event content.

  • You only want to receive order or shipment events of a specific type.

  • You only need to receive the order lines that are changed, not all the lines of the order.

  • You want to use XML instead of JSON.

Pro's:

  • Real time, receive the order or shipment event within a second.

  • Order or shipment event content included.

  • You can filter on which order or shipment events to receive, in the order & shipment webhook settings in your company settings or filter events yourself in your integration.

  • You can choose to use XML instead of JSON.

  • You do not have to build or configure the polling pattern.

Con's:

  • You need to build or configure a webhook at your side.

  • You need to publish the webhook on the Internet (webserver and firewall required).

  • You need to obtain and configure a public SSL certificate.

Webhook Response

Your webhook is required to return a response with a valid HTTP Status code after processing the incoming request. Based on the HTTP Status code of this response, Tradecloud's Webhook Connector will react as follows:

2xx - Success response Tradecloud considers the event to be successfully processed by your webhook. Commonly used success responses are:

  • 200 - OK: Your webhook has successfully processed the response.

  • 202 - Accepted: Your webhook has verified that the incoming request can be processed and has queued it for processing.

4xx - Client error response Tradecloud considers the event as not successfully processed, but resending the same request is expected to result in the same error. The request will not be retried, the DevOps team will be alerted to investigate the issue. Commonly used client error responses are:

  • 400 - Bad Request: Your webhook found a functional error during the processing of the incoming request.

  • 401 - Unauthorized: The supplied authentication (eg. credentials) are not valid.

  • 403 - Forbidden: Tradecloud is not authorized to perform this action.

  • 404 - Not Found: The requested resource, such as the related order, could not be found.

5xx - Server error response Tradecloud considers the event not successfully processed due to an error in the webhook. Tradecloud will indefinitely retry the request with exponential back-off. The DevOps team is alerted to monitor the issue. Commonly used server error responses are:

  • 500 - Internal Server Error: A technical error occurred in the webhook.

  • 502 - Bad Gateway: The upstream ERP system is not available.

  • 503 - Service Unavailable: The webhook is currently not available.

  • 504 - Gateway Timeout: There was a timeout when connecting to the upstream ERP system.

The polling pattern

The polling pattern is an alternative to the webhook pattern and can be used to receive an order or shipment by polling the Tradecloud API.

Periodically, typically each 5 minutes, check if there are new or updated orders or shipments by using the last updated date time stamp of the last fetched order or shipment.

The polling pattern is most suitable for companies with low volume orders, and not willing to invest in a web server, firewall and SSL certificate.

Pro's:

  • No webhook needed: no web server, firewall or SSL certificate needed.

  • You can use the single delivery per order line feature.

Con's:

  • Not real time, a polling period is typically 5 mins.

  • You need to build or configure a periodic polling pattern at your side.

  • You cannot filter on which order or shipment events to act on, you will receive any order or shipment change, including echoed changes from your ERP system.

  • You cannot see what order or shipment event happened, multiple events may have happened.

  • You cannot choose XML, but must use JSON.

For polling usage see:

For handling echoed changes from your ERP system see:

Previous.NET SDKNextPolling usage

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