A content adapter is a custom record adapter that you write in Java in order to extract data from a data source and load it into Forge.

You need your own content adapter in cases when you cannot use any of the standard record adapters for data extraction. For instance, you may decide to create your own content adapter if your data is in the format that is not supported by any of the record adapters shipped with the Endeca software.

Content adapters extract data from other formats. Adding your own content adapters results in improved integration with a wider variety of enterprise content sources.

For example, if you want to access Lotus Notes data, you could write and compile a NotesAdapter, and then deploy it in a Forge pipeline by harnessing it in a record adapter. The content adapter code parses the source data, allowing the record adapter to feed the parsed data into the pipeline.

The illustration below shows how enterprise data is transformed into Endeca records using the content adapter: