--- title: "HR Integration" url: "https://dev.4hse.com/guides/people-sync" description: "How to integrate and synchronize HR data with 4HSE using APIs and sample scripts." --- # HR Integration 4HSE provides tools for managing personnel records. However, it is increasingly common for structured companies to continue using their own HR software and integrate it with a safety management system like 4HSE. This need arises both during the project start-up phase and in subsequent daily operations, where it is essential to maintain solid alignment between the two systems. We will see how to develop software that, by leveraging the APIs provided by 4HSE, allows any HR software to integrate with 4HSE, keeping personnel records always synchronized. We will not focus on a specific HR software, but will take a generic approach to the problem, developing an integration script that can be easily adapted to various HR solutions on the market. ## Prerequisites [Section titled “Prerequisites”](#prerequisites) What do you need to develop an HR integration script? - Data source: we will use a simple CSV file as the data source, which we imagine is periodically exported from the HR software database to be aligned with 4HSE every 24 hours. - `project_id`: you must have an active project on 4HSE and know its ID. The ID is visible in the “info” section of the project window. - `access_token`: you need an active user with admin role for the specified project, as this user will perform the synchronization. To authenticate this user via API, you need their access token, provided by 4HSE upon client request. ## Data Source [Section titled “Data Source”](#data-source) To prepare the CSV file extracted from the data source, you must always follow these simple rules: 1. The file follows a column structure predefined by 4HSE. 2. The file always contains the entire, updated dataset of employees. 3. The field values for each employee in the dataset overwrite the values of the same employee in 4HSE. 4. Employees present in 4HSE but not in the source will be deactivated in 4HSE. 5. Employees present in the source but not in 4HSE will be added to 4HSE. The CSV file consists of the following columns: field required code no first\_name yes last\_name yes street no locality no postal\_code no region no sex no country no birth\_date no birth\_place no tax\_code no note no is\_employee yes Among these fields, you need to identify a key field, i.e., a field whose value uniquely identifies an employee. It can be any of these fields, usually `code` or the tax code `tax_code`. ## 4HSE REST API [Section titled “4HSE REST API”](#4hse-rest-api) 4HSE provides a standard OpenAPI REST API to perform and monitor synchronization. The `create` endpoint receives a request containing an input CSV and creates a task on the 4HSE processing servers. The service responds immediately if the creation is successful, providing the unique task identifier. The task will be processed as soon as possible. The `view` endpoint returns the processing status of the task identified by its ID. The complete API documentation is available here: [PeopleSync API](/api/peoplesync). ## Example [Section titled “Example”](#example) In this example, we want to perform periodic synchronization between the data extracted from our HR system and the “La mia azienda” project on 4HSE. Suppose the CSV file `employees-1.csv` has been exported from our HR software and properly transformed to follow the column structure required by 4HSE. The file contains 7 employees. code first\_name last\_name street locality postal\_code region sex country birth\_date birth\_place tax\_code note is\_employee 1 John Doe 123 Main St Anytown 12345 CA M USA 1980-05-15 Anytown ABC123456 Note for John Doe 1 2 Jane Smith 456 Oak St Someville 67890 NY F USA 1985-08-21 Someville DEF789012 Note for Jane Smith 1 3 Robert Johnson 789 Pine St Another City 54321 TX M USA 1972-11-03 Another City GHI345678 Note for Robert Johnson 1 4 Emily Davis 101 Elm St Yourtown 98765 FL F USA 1992-04-18 Yourtown JKL901234 Note for Emily Davis 1 5 Michael Miller 202 Cedar St Cityville 13579 IL M USA 1988-07-27 Cityville MNO567890 Note for Michael Miller 1 6 Sophia Brown 303 Maple St Smalltown 24680 GA F USA 1995-02-09 Smalltown PQR123456 Note for Sophia Brown 1 7 Daniel Wilson 404 Birch St Newtown 86420 WA M USA 1983-09-12 Newtown STU789012 Note for Daniel Wilson 1 Our project, identified by `project_id` `41ec7395-eeda-4c8e-bc73-5585d48e5161`, does not yet contain any people. It includes a project admin user `john@4hse.com` identified by the access token `test-key-1`. The first synchronization we perform is therefore a sort of “onboarding” or “zero point” on which all subsequent synchronizations will be based. Now let’s write the import script in Java. We create a `Main` class that will be instantiated when the script starts. Let’s start by defining the constants within the class with the input parameters required for the request. ``` public class Main { private final static String ACCESS_TOKEN = "test-key-1"; private final static String PROJECT_ID = "41ec7395-eeda-4c8e-bc73-5585d48e5161"; private final static String PRIMARY_KEY = "tax_code"; private final static int MAX_CHANGES = 150; private final static boolean EMULATION = true;} ``` - `ACCESS_TOKEN`: The token that identifies the 4HSE user who will perform the operation, a project admin. - `PROJECT_ID`: The ID of the project we just created. - `PRIMARY_KEY`: The column in the CSV that uniquely identifies an employee. We chose “tax\_code.” - `EMULATION`: Allows you to run the request in emulation mode. This means you can run the synchronization and get the results without actually making any changes. This allows you to test the outcome of the operation before applying it. Initially, we set this value to `TRUE`. - `MAX_CHANGES`: A safety parameter that controls the maximum number of changes that can be applied in the request. If the total number of changes exceeds this value, we will be notified and the request will be rejected. Initially, we set it to `150`. Now let’s define the `createTask` method, which will be used to create the synchronization task at the `people-sync` service of 4HSE. Creating the task is a simple `HTTP POST` request to the server, which responds with a `task_id`. The task ID is an identifier for the task that allows us to query the server to know its progress status (queued, executed, etc.). The method only requires the input of the file name to be synchronized and returns the ID of the created task. ``` private static String createTask(String filePath) throws IOException { ...} ``` The first thing to do is to instantiate an HTTP client to send the request. ``` private static String createTask(String filePath) throws IOException { HttpClient httpClient = HttpClients.createDefault(); HttpPost httpPost = new HttpPost("https://service.4hse.com/people-sync/create");} ``` Since you need to send a file, the data must be transmitted in multipart format. We populate the multipart request body by providing the file and the remaining input parameters: ``` private static String createTask(String filePath) throws IOException { HttpClient httpClient = HttpClients.createDefault(); HttpPost httpPost = new HttpPost("https://service.4hse.com/people-sync/create"); MultipartEntityBuilder builder = MultipartEntityBuilder.create(); // Add the file parameter builder.addBinaryBody("file", new File(filePath), ContentType.APPLICATION_OCTET_STREAM, "file.csv"); // Add other parameters builder.addTextBody("access-token", ACCESS_TOKEN); builder.addTextBody("project_id", PROJECT_ID); builder.addTextBody("pk", PRIMARY_KEY); builder.addTextBody("emulation", String.valueOf(EMULATION)); builder.addTextBody("max_changes", String.valueOf(MAX_CHANGES)); HttpEntity multipart = builder.build(); httpPost.setEntity(multipart);} ``` Finally, we execute the request. If successful, the server will respond with a JSON that must be parsed to obtain the `task_id`, which we will return as output. In case of error, we print the error to the screen. ``` private static String createTask(String filePath) throws IOException { HttpClient httpClient = HttpClients.createDefault(); HttpPost httpPost = new HttpPost("https://service.4hse.com/people-sync/create"); MultipartEntityBuilder builder = MultipartEntityBuilder.create(); // Add the file parameter builder.addBinaryBody("file", new File(filePath), ContentType.APPLICATION_OCTET_STREAM, "file.csv"); // Add other parameters builder.addTextBody("access-token", ACCESS_TOKEN); builder.addTextBody("project_id", PROJECT_ID); builder.addTextBody("pk", PRIMARY_KEY); builder.addTextBody("emulation", String.valueOf(EMULATION)); builder.addTextBody("max_changes", String.valueOf(MAX_CHANGES)); HttpEntity multipart = builder.build(); httpPost.setEntity(multipart); // Execute the request HttpResponse response = httpClient.execute(httpPost); // Parse the JSON response JSONParser parser = new JSONParser(); try (InputStream content = response.getEntity().getContent()) { JSONObject jsonResponse = (JSONObject) parser.parse(new InputStreamReader(content)); return (String) jsonResponse.get("task_id"); } catch (Exception e) { e.printStackTrace(); return null; }} ``` Now, let’s define a `readTask` method that, using the `task_id`, will get the current status of the task and print it to the screen. ``` private static void readTask(String taskId) throws IOException { ...} ``` Similarly to the previous method, we instantiate an HTTP client that, this time, makes a request using the `GET` method, providing the `task_id` and the `access-token` for user identification. ``` private static void readTask(String taskId) throws IOException { HttpClient httpClient = HttpClients.createDefault(); HttpGet httpGet = new HttpGet("https://service.4hse.com/people-sync/view?id=" + taskId + "&access-token=" + ACCESS_TOKEN);} ``` We execute the request, parse the JSON response, and print the `task_id` to the screen. ``` private static void readTask(String taskId) throws IOException { HttpClient httpClient = HttpClients.createDefault(); HttpGet httpGet = new HttpGet("https://service.4hse.com/people-sync/view?id=" + taskId + "&access-token=" + ACCESS_TOKEN); // Execute the request HttpResponse response = httpClient.execute(httpGet); // Parse and print the JSON response JSONParser parser = new JSONParser(); try (InputStream content = response.getEntity().getContent()) { JSONObject jsonResponse = (JSONObject) parser.parse(new InputStreamReader(content)); System.out.println("Task: " + jsonResponse.toJSONString()); } catch (Exception e) { e.printStackTrace(); }} ``` Finally, let’s define the main method, which will be the entry point of our script. The available commands for the script will be: - `create` to create the task java -jar your-jar-file.jar create filename.csv - `read` to read the task java -jar your-jar-file.jar read task-id We then check that the input parameters are provided; otherwise, we display a message on the screen. ``` public static void main(String[] args) { String command = args[0]; //create or read if (args.length < 2) { System.out.println("Usage:"); System.out.println("java -jar your-jar-file.jar create file.csv"); System.out.println("java -jar your-jar-file.jar read task-id"); return; }} ``` We then check if the first parameter passed to the command is `create` or `read` and call the respective methods, passing the CSV file name as an argument for creation or the task ID for reading. ``` public static void main(String[] args) { String command = args[0]; //create or read if (args.length < 2) { System.out.println("Usage:"); System.out.println("java -jar your-jar-file.jar create file.csv"); System.out.println("java -jar your-jar-file.jar read task-id"); return; } try { if ("create".equals(args[0])) { String taskId = createTask(args[1]); System.out.println("Created Task ID: " + taskId); } else if ("read".equals(args[0])) { readTask(args[1]); } else { System.out.println("Action must be 'create' or 'read'"); } } catch (IOException e) { e.printStackTrace(); }} ``` Now let’s run the script by starting the task creation with the command: Terminal window ``` java -jar target/my-java-project-1.0-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies.jar create employees2-1.csv ``` In response, we get the created task ID: Created Task ID: be9eec92-621c-31b1-a525-7df391f599bf After waiting a few seconds, we run the command to read the status of the created task: Terminal window ``` java -jar target/my-java-project-1.0-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies.jar read be9eec92-621c-31b1-a525-7df391f599bf ``` In response, we get the complete report of the server actions: - `task_id`: Task ID - `entity_id`: Project ID - `user_id`: the user who created the task - `status`: indicates whether the task was successfully executed or not - `created_at`, `updated_at`: provide timestamps for task creation and update - `response.result`: is a history of the operations performed for each record in our CSV file. In this case, since they were new employees, each employee, identified by their `tax_code`, was added to the project. - `response.changes`: is a summary of all operations performed. In this case, the task resulted in a total of 7 changes, all “add”. - `log`: the server log recorded during the execution of the task. It is useful for identifying problems in case of errors. ``` { "task_id": "a386a5bf-5bc4-3be7-9392-c81c69918bfc", "entity_id": "41ec7395-eeda-4c8e-bc73-5585d48e5161", "user_id": "john@4hse.com", "status": "DONE", "created_at": "2024-01-11 08:14:53", "updated_at": "2024-01-11 08:15:07", "response": { "result": { "ABC123456": [ { "action": "add", "id": "ABC123456" } ], "PQR123456": [ { "action": "add", "id": "PQR123456" } ], "DEF789012": [ { "action": "add", "id": "DEF789012" } ], "STU789012": [ { "action": "add", "id": "STU789012" } ], "MNO567890": [ { "action": "add", "id": "MNO567890" } ], "GHI345678": [ { "action": "add", "id": "GHI345678" } ], "JKL901234": [ { "action": "add", "id": "JKL901234" } ] }, "log": [ { "level": "INFO", "text": "Task a386a5bf-5bc4-3be7-9392-c81c69918bfc executed", "timestamp": 1704960907 }, { "level": "INFO", "text": "Executing task a386a5bf-5bc4-3be7-9392-c81c69918bfc in emulation mode", "timestamp": 1704960906 } ], "changes": { "add": 7, "total": 7, "activate": 0, "update": 0, "deactivate": 0 } }} ``` At this point, change the emulation parameter to `false` and rerun the creation command. private final static boolean EMULATION = false; You will receive the same response as before, but in this case, the changes have actually been made and you will have 7 employees in the “La mia azienda” project. Now, suppose that in the company, 2 people have retired. As a result, our HR has created a new file `employees2-2.csv` containing only the 5 remaining individuals. Also, for “John Doe”, the `NOTE` field has been updated. In total, there are 3 differences compared to the `employees2-1.csv` file. code first\_name last\_name street locality postal\_code region sex country birth\_date birth\_place tax\_code note is\_employee 1 John Doe 123 Main St Anytown 12345 CA M USA 1980-05-15 Anytown ABC123456 Updated note for John Doe 1 2 Jane Smith 456 Oak St Someville 67890 NY F USA 1985-08-21 Someville DEF789012 Note for Jane Smith 1 3 Robert Johnson 789 Pine St Another City 54321 TX M USA 1972-11-03 Another City GHI345678 Note for Robert Johnson 1 4 Emily Davis 101 Elm St Yourtown 98765 FL F USA 1992-04-18 Yourtown JKL901234 Note for Emily Davis 1 5 Michael Miller 202 Cedar St Cityville 13579 IL M USA 1988-07-27 Cityville MNO567890 Note for Michael Miller 1 The file now contains only active employees, and for some of them, the `NOTE` field has been updated. There have been no changes to the tax codes. Now proceed with the synchronization by uploading the new file. Since the number of changes exceeds the `MAX_CHANGES` value set to 150, the request will be rejected and you will receive an error message. Therefore, reduce the number of changes to 50 to allow the request to be applied. private final static int MAX\_CHANGES = 50; Repeat the task creation command. java -jar target/my-java-project-1.0-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies.jar create employees2-2.csv After obtaining the task ID, read its status. java -jar target/my-java-project-1.0-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies.jar read task-id The result will show that 2 employees have been removed (deactivated) and 3 have been updated. Now, prepare a new file `employees2-3.csv` in which all employees have been deactivated. The file will therefore contain only the `TAX_CODE` column with the respective tax codes. tax\_code ABC123456 DEF789012 GHI345678 JKL901234 MNO567890 PQR123456 STU789012 Set the `MAX_CHANGES` parameter to 150 and upload the new file. ``` private final static int MAX_CHANGES = 150; ``` Run the creation command and then read the task status. Terminal window ``` java -jar target/my-java-project-1.0-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies.jar create employees2-3.csv java -jar target/my-java-project-1.0-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies.jar read task-id ``` The result will show that 7 employees have been deactivated. Finally, prepare a last file `employees2-4.csv` in which all employees have been reactivated. The file will therefore contain only the `TAX_CODE` column with the respective tax codes. tax\_code ABC123456 DEF789012 GHI345678 JKL901234 MNO567890 PQR123456 STU789012 Set the `MAX_CHANGES` parameter to 150 and upload the new file. ``` private final static int MAX_CHANGES = 150; ``` Run the creation command and then read the task status. Terminal window ``` java -jar target/my-java-project-1.0-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies.jar create employees2-4.csv java -jar target/my-java-project-1.0-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies.jar read task-id ``` The result will show that 7 employees have been reactivated. ## Conclusions [Section titled “Conclusions”](#conclusions) We have seen how to develop an integration script between a generic HR software and 4HSE. Using the standard 4HSE APIs, we created a Java software capable of uploading a CSV file with employee data and synchronizing it with the 4HSE safety management system. The script was designed to be easily adaptable to different HR software solutions by simply modifying the format of the input CSV file. In this example, we used a CSV file as the data source. However, it is possible to adapt the script to extract data directly from a database or other data sources, depending on specific integration needs. In addition, we implemented an emulation mode that allows you to test the outcome of the synchronization without making actual changes to the data. This is especially useful during the development and testing phase of the integration script. Finally, it is important to emphasize that, although the script provides an automated solution for synchronizing HR data with 4HSE, it is always advisable to perform periodic manual checks and verifications to ensure the accuracy and consistency of data between the two systems. 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