Mutators (write APIs)

Introduction

Mutators are configurable APIs that allow a client to write data to the User Store. Mutators (setters) can be thought of as the complement to accessors (getters).

Mutators are intended to capture and store purpose alongside the sensitive data. The mutator will save a configurable set of purposes alongside the data, such as operations, personalization or marketing.

How Mutators Work

1. An application or client requests a write by sending a set of user record selector values (which define which user records should be edited), context and raw data to the store
2. The mutator's access policy is evaluated for each user record, using the data passed in context and data in the User Store
3. For records where write access is granted, the mutator validates and transforms the inbound data
4. The transformed data is saved to the store

Structure of a Mutator

At creation time, each mutator is associated with a user record selector, a set of columns, a set of data transformers and an access policy.

• The record selector is a SQL-like clause that specifies which records the mutator should edit data for, based on an array of values that are passed at execution time.
• The columns indicate which data field the mutator will edit.
• The transformers validate the data structure and may transform the data before saving it to the store.
• The access policy determines the circumstances in which the write is allowed. Access policies run on each user record and prevent writes to user records which fail the access policy.

Learn More

For more info on mutators, see:

• Creating a mutator
• Executing a mutator