Forum Discussion
kc_analytics
Sep 27, 2024Copper Contributor
Integrate logic apps rules engine with Microsoft fabric
Hi, I have a requirement where I need to integrate logic apps rules engine with fabric data pipelines.
When I run an ETL pipeline, it has to pick up the business logic from rules engine and transform the data in fabric data pipeline. Is this achievable? Need suggestions please?
- kyazaferrIron ContributorLogic Apps: Azure Logic Apps are used to automate workflows and integrate various systems using triggers and connectors.
Rules Engine: This could be a custom business rules engine or an Azure-based solution such as Azure API Management with policies or an external rules service.
Microsoft Fabric Data Pipelines: Fabric’s data pipelines provide orchestration for ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes.
Step 1: Trigger the Data Pipeline:
Start with a trigger in your Fabric pipeline that will kick off the process when new data arrives or a scheduled time is met.
Fabric’s Data Factory-like orchestration can trigger the ETL pipeline that needs to fetch business logic from the rules engine.
Step 2: Call Logic Apps with Rules Engine:
In the ETL pipeline, create an activity to call the Azure Logic App. This Logic App will:
Accept the incoming data.
Send the data to the rules engine (either a custom API or a service like Azure Functions running your business logic).
Receive the transformed or processed rules-based logic output.
Step 3: Process Data in Fabric:
The response from the Logic App (after applying the business rules) can then be fed back into the Fabric pipeline for further data transformations, cleansing, or loading into your target database (e.g., SQL, Synapse, or Data Lake).
Steps to Implement:
Step 1: Configure the Rules Engine:
If you are using a custom rules engine (either as an API or a microservice), ensure that it:
Can process the data passed from the Logic App.
Returns the necessary business logic or transformed data.
Alternatively, you can use Azure API Management or an Azure Function to run the rules.
Step 2: Set up Logic App:
Create a Logic App that takes data from the pipeline. For example:
The Logic App receives input data from the ETL pipeline (triggered from Microsoft Fabric).
It sends the data to the rules engine for processing via an HTTP call (REST API).
Once the business logic is applied, the transformed data is returned to the pipeline.
Logic Apps can call the rules engine using:
HTTP actions (to interact with APIs or custom logic).
Function Apps (if you are processing complex business logic).
Step 3: Build Fabric Data Pipeline:
In Microsoft Fabric, use a Data Pipeline to orchestrate the ETL process:
Add activities like Copy Data, Data Flow, and custom activities to manage your data extraction and transformation.
In the pipeline, use Web activities to call the Logic App as part of the transformation process.
Alternatively, you could use Azure Functions activities in the pipeline if your business rules are encapsulated in serverless functions.
Step 4: Integrate Data Flow with Business Rules:
The data flow within the pipeline can apply additional transformations or prepare data for the next stage.
Use the output from the Logic App (processed with business rules) and continue the ETL process:
Load the transformed data into Microsoft Fabric storage, SQL databases, or other data sinks.
4. Key Considerations:
Performance: Ensure that your rules engine is optimized for performance, especially if the ETL pipeline processes large volumes of data.
Latency: Logic Apps introduces some latency due to the round-trip communication with the rules engine. You may want to batch process data to reduce the number of calls to the Logic App.
Scalability: Both Logic Apps and Azure Functions scale well, so ensure that your rules engine is equally scalable to handle large workloads from Fabric’s data pipelines.
Error Handling: Implement robust error handling in both the Logic Apps and Fabric pipelines to manage failures during the rules evaluation or data transformation stages.
5. Example Workflow:
Data Pipeline Trigger: A new file or data is ingested into the Fabric data pipeline.
Send to Logic App: The pipeline sends the data to a Logic App, which then forwards the data to the rules engine (e.g., via an API call or Azure Function).
Process Business Logic: The rules engine applies business logic and returns the processed data.
Continue ETL Process: The pipeline continues to transform and load the processed data into the final destination.- kc_analyticsCopper Contributor
Thanks so much for your timely response 🙂
Do we have any sample pipeline that I can refer to?
Also, Is there a way where I can call logic apps rules engine in my dataflow rather than calling in a pipeline?
I will try to implement this and come back with more questions if I have any.