Data values

When representing user and event data in a connector, these are mapped to specific Go types based on the data type. For example, in an export, a datetime value is represented in Go as time.Time, and a string value is represented as a string.

Import

During an import, connectors return data to import, such as user information. This data must use specific types according to the data type. Key scenarios for handling data in an application connector include:

• Records method of applications returns properties of users.
• Query method of databases returns the resulting rows from a query.
• Read method of files takes a RecordWriter whose methods return the read records.

Connectors can directly return values deserialized from JSON using the json.Unmarshal function, because the types returned by this function are supported.

The table below shows, for each data type, which Go type a connector can return. Note that in the "Examples" column, the symbol "→" shows how a value returned by a connector is interpreted.

Krenalis type	Go type	Example
boolean	◦bool ◦string1	true "true" → true, "false" → false
int(n) float(n) decimal(p,s) year	◦int ◦int8 ◦int16 ◦int32 ◦int64 ◦uint ◦uint8 ◦uint16 ◦uint32 ◦uint64 ◦float32 ◦float64 ◦decimal.Decimal ◦string2 ◦[]byte	12 // this and the following examples are for the int(n) data type int8(23) → 23 int16(512) → 512 int32(-802) → -802 int64(-1061274994) → -1061274994 uint(3095322305) → 3095322305 uint8(250) → 250 uint16(12000) → 12000 uint32(6038461) → 6038461 uint64(612) → 612 float32(51.0) → 51.0 1048553.0 → 1048553 decimal.MustInt(932811) → 932811 "932811" → 932811 []byte("932811") → 932811
datetime (See Time layouts)	◦time.Time ◦string2 ◦float64	time.Date(2024, 4, 11, 16, 48, 26, 377105982, time.UTC) "2024-04-11 15:59:05" 1712851145.0
date (See Time layouts)	◦time.Time3 ◦string2	time.Date(2024, 4, 11, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC) "2027-09-15"
time (See Time layouts)	◦time.Time4 ◦string2 ◦[]byte	time.Date(1970, 1, 1, 16, 38, 50, 204813055, time.UTC) "16:38:50.204813055" []byte("23:09:26.047126396") → time.Date(1970, 1, 1, 23, 9, 26, 47126396, time.UTC)
uuid5	◦string2 ◦[]byte	"0296345b-23f6-48b4-9547-ff83fb637d0e" []byte{211, 124, 89, 213, 136, 127, 68, 248, 143, 250, 126, 36, 49, 79, 71, 62}
json6	◦json.Value ◦json.Marshaler7 ◦string2 ◦[]byte	json.Value(`{"p": 561}`) json.RawMessage(`{"p": 561}`) → json.Value(`{"p": 561}`) "[1, 2, 3]" → json.Value(`[1, 2, 3]`) []byte(`{"points": 5}`) → json.Value(`{"points": 5}`)
ip	◦string2 ◦net.IP ◦netip.Addr	"192.168.1.1" net.ParseIP("192.168.1.1") netip.MustParseAddr("192.168.1.1") → "192.168.1.1"
string	◦string2 ◦[]byte	"Emily Johnson" []byte("Emily Johnson") → "Emily Johnson"
array(T)	◦[]any ◦[]T ◦string8	[]any{618, 262, 791} []int{19, -67, 8} → []any{19, -67, 8} "[19,-67,8]" → []any{19, -67, 8}
object	map[string]any	map[string]any{"plan": "Premium"}
map(T)	◦map[string]any ◦map[string]T ◦string9	map[string]any{"1": "a", "2": "b", "others": "c"} map[string]int{"a": 1, "b": 2} → map[string]any{"a": 1, "b": 2} "{"a":1,"b":2}" → map[string]any{"a": 1, "b": 2}

Time layouts

By default, values of type datetime, date, and time returned as string are parsed using the ISO 8601 format. The same applies to values of type time returned as []byte.

When registering the application connector, you can specify a different format if the values are not in ISO 8601, using any layout supported by the time.Parse function:

connectors.RegisterApplication(connectors.ApplicationSpec{
    ...
    TimeLayouts: connectors.TimeLayouts{
        DateTime: "2006-01-02T15:04:05.999Z",
        Date:     "2006-01-02",
        Time:     "15:04:05.999Z",
    }
    ...
}, New)

Unix epoch

For the TimeLayouts.DateTime field of connectors.ApplicationSpec, you can also use special layout strings: "unix", "unixmilli", "unixmicro", or "unixnano". With these layouts, values returned as string or float64 are interpreted as the number of seconds, milliseconds, microseconds, or nanoseconds since the Unix epoch (January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC).

Export

During an export, when a connector (whether application, database, or file) receives data to export, such as user information, it receives Go types specific to the data types. This involves methods such as:

• PreviewSendEvents method of applications takes extra event information.
• SendEvents method of applications takes extra event information.
• Upsert method of applications takes properties of a user.
• Merge method of databases takes rows to be added or updated.
• Write method of files takes a RecordReader whose Record method returns the next record to write.

The following table shows, for each data type, what Go type a connector should expect when it receives a value. In the "Examples" column, the symbol "→" illustrates how a connector should interpret a received value.

Krenalis type	Go type	Example
string	string	"Emily Johnson"
boolean	bool	true
int(n)	int	-583
unsigned int(n)	uint	1499
float(n)	float64	21.907305
decimal(p,s)	decimal.Decimal	decimal.MustParse("-123.45")
datetime	time.Time10	time.Date(2024, 4, 11, 16, 48, 26, 377105982, time.UTC)
date	time.Time11	time.Date(2024, 4, 11, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
time	time.Time12	time.Date(1970, 1, 1, 16, 48, 26, 377105982, time.UTC)
year	int	2024
uuid	string	"0296345b-23f6-48b4-9547-ff83fb637d0e"
json	json.Value13	json.Value(`{"p": 561}`)
ip	string	"192.168.1.1"
array(T)	[]any	[]any{618, 262, 791}
object	map[string]any	map[string]any{"plan": "Premium"}
map(T)	map[string]any	map[string]any{"1": "a", "2": "b", "others": "c"}