Integrating SalesForce.com with
OpenSocial
Chris Schalk, Google Developer Advocate
11/05/2008

Agenda
• OpenSocial Concepts
• Exploring ways to connect OpenSocial with
SalesForce.com
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Agenda
• OpenSocial Concepts
• Exploring ways to connect OpenSocial with
SalesForce.com
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OpenSocial Concepts
What is OpenSocial?
“OpenSocial defines a common set of APIs based on Open Standards
for building social applications across multiple websites”
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Too many platforms!

Standards based
OpenSocial
Write once…
Deploy everywhere

Massive exposure for
your apps!

Not just Social Network Sites
• Social network sites - Profiles and home pages
ex: MySpace, Hi5
• Personal dashboards – Widgets
ex: iGoogle, My Yahoo
• Sites based around a Social Object
ex: Flickr, YouTube
• Enterprise, Professional
ex: LinkedIn, Oracle, SalesForce.com
• Any web site
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Some OpenSocial Partners

Today: 375 Million User Reach

Where is OpenSocial live today?
Initial Developer Sandboxes: Applications live to Users:
• iGoogle • MySpace
• imeem • orkut
• CityIN • Hi5
• Freebar
• Tianya
• Friendster
• Ning • Webon from Lycos
• Plaxo Pulse • IDtail
• Mail.ru • YiQi
• Netlog
• Hyves
• LinkedIn - New
Individual Developer Links:
http://code.google.com/apis/opensocial/gettingstared.html

OpenSocial today
 375,000,000 users
 150,000,000 installs
 4,500+ apps
 Pipeline of 100+ containers worldwide
 20,000+ developers
 10,000,000 daily app users
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OpenSocial Roadmap
• Version 0.5 was released in a “developer release” on Nov
1st.
• First “sandbox” was made available on Orkut
• Version 0.6 was released in December
• Initial version of Shindig server software was launched as Apache
incubator project
• Other sandboxes came live - Hi5, Ning, Plaxo …
• Version 0.7 (production) was released in January
• MySpace, Hi5, Orkut currently running with 0.7
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OpenSocial Roadmap
• Version v0.8 is current
• Latest evolution of OpenSocial as defined by the
OpenSocial development community
• Updated JavaScript API
• Now contains a RESTful API
• hi5, MySpace, orkut, iGoogle now support 0.8
• Specification:
http://www.opensocial.org/Technical-Resources/opensocial-spec-v08
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OpenSocial v0.8.1 spec is here
• Specification is now published
• Updates include:
• RESTful Protocol updates
• JSON RPC Protocol
• Specification:
http://sites.google.com/a/opensocial.org/opensocial/Technical-
Resources/opensocial-spec-v081
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OpenSocial 0.9 - Future Directions
• Goal:
– Enable a faster development experience that is both secure and
efficient
• Solution: “Opensocial Templates”!
OS Templates core principles:
• Client-side and server-side processing
• Standard set of tags with extensibility model
– Example: <os:ShowPerson>
• http://groups.google.com/group/opensocial-and-gadgets-
spec/web/opensocial-templates
– Demo: http://ostemplates-demo.appspot.com/
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To follow the progress of the Spec…
http://groups.google.com/group/opensocial-and-gadgets-spec
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Demonstration:
Building OpenSocial Applications
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Agenda
• OpenSocial Concepts
• Exploring ways to connect OpenSocial with
SalesForce.com
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How to connect SFDC with OpenSocial?
?
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How to connect SFDC with OpenSocial?
orkut
REST
0110100101011 hi5
LinkedIn
Option 1: Pull/push data into SFDC using OpenSocial’s
RESTful protocol
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Option 1: Pull/push data into SFDC using OpenSocial’s
RESTful protocol
• Goal: To access data only from OpenSocial sites
• Requirements:
• Read/Write access to data from OpenSocial sites,…
• Integrate into SFDC …
• Implementation
• Use RESTful protocol supported by OpenSocial sites
• Use Apex code to directly access OpenSocial sites
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How to connect SFDC with OpenSocial?
iGoogle
FriendConnect
Option 2: Can pull OpenSocial apps into SalesForce.com
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Option 2: Pulling OpenSocial Apps into SFDC
• Goal: To provide OpenSocial apps from within
SalesForce.com
• Requirements:
• Provide access to OpenSocial apps as they would appear
in iGoogle, or other OpenSocial containers, but from
within a SalesForce.com UI.
• App functionality should not be hindered by being
rendered within SalesForce.com environment.
• Implementation
• Leverage existing ways to publish gadgets/OpenSocial
apps via generated JavaScript snippets.
• For OpenSocial, FriendConnect can be used.
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Demonstration:
Pulling OpenSocial Apps into SFDC
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How to connect SFDC with OpenSocial?
orkut
REST
hi5
LinkedIn
Option 3: Publish SalesForce.com OpenSocial apps to
OpenSocial Sites
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Option 3: Publish SalesForce.com OpenSocial
sites to OpenSocial sites
• Goal: To provide access to SFDC from an OpenSocial
application
• Requirements:
• Read/Write access to SFDC Accounts,Contacts,Leads,…
• Connect OpenSocial contacts with SFDC Contacts/Leads
…
• Implementation
• Use Force.com site to serve as OpenSocial App provider
• Publish static OpenSocial XML app spec
• Build a data gateway for OpenSocial app clients
• Use Apex pages, classes
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Demonstration:
Building an SFDC OpenSocial App
with Force.com Sites
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Summary
It is relatively easy to bridge SFDC with OpenSocial!
• Can use REST protocol for simple communication layer
• For Gadget/App integration an iFrame solution works well
• For OpenSocial SFDC apps, RESTful protocol provides a
solution
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Useful Links
Homepage & specification:
• http://www.opensocial.org
Get on the forums:
• http://groups.google.com/group/opensocial
Subscribe to the Shindig mailing list:
• shindig-dev-subscribe@incubator.apache.org
Help shape the specification:
• http://groups.google.com/group/opensocial-and-gadgets-spec/
Templates:
• http://groups.google.com/group/opensocial-and-gadgets-spec/web/opensocial-templates
Check out Shindig:
• http://incubator.apache.org/shindig
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Questions - Contact Info
Q&A
chrisschalk.com
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