FileMaker Pro is a cross-platform relational database application that allows users to visually modify a database.
When paired with CData Connect AI, FileMaker Pro gets access to live ADP data. This article demonstrates
how to connect to ADP using Connect AI and query ADP data in FileMaker Pro.
CData Connect AI provides a pure SQL Server interface for ADP, allowing you to query data from
ADP without replicating the data to a natively supported database.
Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations
(filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to ADP, leveraging server-side processing to return the
requested ADP data quickly.
Configure ADP Connectivity for FileMaker Pro
Connectivity to ADP from FileMaker Pro is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with ADP data from FileMaker Pro, we start by creating and configuring a ADP connection.
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Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
π Adding a Connection
- Select "ADP" from the Add Connection panel
π Selecting a data source
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Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to ADP.
Connect to ADP by specifying the following properties:
- OAuthClientId: The client Id of the custom OAuth application you obtained from ADP.
- OAuthClientSecret: The custom OAuth application's client secret.
- SSLClientCert: Set this to the certificate provided during registration.
- SSLClientCertPassword: Set this to the password of the certificate.
- UseUAT: The connector makes requests to the production environment by default. If using a developer account, set UseUAT = true.
- RowScanDepth: The maximum number of rows to scan for the custom fields columns available in the table. The default value will be set to 100. Setting a high value may decrease performance.
The connector uses OAuth to authenticate with ADP. OAuth requires the authenticating user to interact with ADP using the browser. OAuth access can be configured in ADP through ADP API Central. For more information, refer ADP's API Central Quick Start Guide and the OAuth section in CData's Help documentation.
π Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
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Click Save & Test
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Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add ADP Connection page and update the User-based permissions.
π Updating permissions
Add a Personal Access Token
When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.
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Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
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On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
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Give the PAT a name and click Create.
π Creating a new PAT
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The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.
With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to ADP data from Filemaker Pro.
Connect to ADP from FileMaker Pro using Connect AI
To establish a connection from FileMaker Pro to the CData Connect AI Virtual SQL Server API, follow these steps.
Configure the ODBC Connection to CData Connect AI
- Download and install the Actual ODBC Driver for SQL Server (actualtech.com)
- Configure a DSN for the Actual ODBC driver by setting the following properties:
- URL: tds.cdata.com
- Port: Change the port from 1433 to 14333
- Username: Your Connect AI email address
- Password: the PAT you created earlier
Query ADP from FileMaker Pro
- In the SQL Query Builder "SELECT" tab, select the columns to include as part of the query.
π Configuring the query by selecting columns.
- Open the "WHERE" tab of the SQL Query Builder and select "Show only selected columns."
- In "Table.Column,"" select a table and a column name.
- Set the "Operator" to =.
- Select "Column," and then select the same table and column name as "Table.Column."
- Click "Insert into SQL Query."
π Configuring the query by setting the WHERE clause.
- If no other modifications to the SQL query are required, click "Execute."
Get CData Connect AI
To get live data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your SQL Server database,
try CData Connect AI today!