Viewing Azure Table Data in RAD Studio Data Explorer

Embarcadero RAD Studio provides a development environment for Delphi and C++Builder applications. With the CData ODBC Driver for Azure Table, you gain access to live Azure Table data within RAD Studio, abstracting the data into tables, views, and stored procedures that can be used to both retrieve and update Azure Table data. This article will walk through connecting to Azure Table using the Data Explorer.

Configure a Connection to Azure Table

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

Specify your AccessKey and your Account to connect. Set the Account property to the Storage Account Name and set AccessKey to one of the Access Keys. Either the Primary or Secondary Access Keys can be used. To obtain these values, navigate to the Storage Accounts blade in the Azure portal. You can obtain the access key by selecting your account and clicking Access Keys in the Settings section.

Connecting to Azure Table Data Using Data Explorer

You can create a simple application for displaying Azure Table data by utilizing the CData FireDAC Components for Azure Table and a new VCL Forms Application:

1. Open the Data Explorer in RAD Studio and expand FireDAC.
2. Right-click the ODBC Data Source node in the Data Explorer.
3. Click Add New Connection. 👁 Adding a New Connection. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
4. Enter a name for the connection.
5. In the FireDAC Connection Editor that appears, set the DataSource property to the name of the ODBC DSN for Azure Table. 👁 Setting the Connection Parameters. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
6. Back in the Data Explorer, expand the tables for the connection.

7. Create a new VCL Forms application and drag a table (for example: NorthwindProducts) onto the form.

   👁 Placing the Table on the Form. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
8. Select the NorthwindProductsTable object on the form and set the Active property to true.

9. Right-click on the object, bind visually, and link everything (*) to a new control (TStringGrid).

   👁 Visually Binding the Table. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

10. Arrange the TStringGrid on the form and run the application to see the NorthwindProducts data.

    👁 The Table data on a Form. (Salesforce is shown.)
    

Related Articles

Below you can find other articles for using the CData ODBC Driver with RAD Studio, Delphi, and C++ Builder.

• DataBind Controls to Azure Table Data in C++Builder
• DataBind Controls to Azure Table Data in Delphi
• Build a Simple VCL Application for Azure Table Data