Create Blackbaud FE NXT-Connected Enterprise Applications in OutSystems

OutSystems is a low-code platform which provides the tools for companies to developer, deploy, and manage omnichannel enterprise applications. When paired with CData Connect AI, you get instant, cloud-to-cloud access to Blackbaud FE NXT data for business applications. This article shows how to create a virtual database for Blackbaud FE NXT in Connect AI and build a simple app from Blackbaud FE NXT data in OutSystems.

The CData Connect AI provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for Blackbaud FE NXT, allowing you to build reports from live Blackbaud FE NXT data in OutSystems — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you create applications to work with data, OutSystems generates SQL queries to gather data. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to Blackbaud FE NXT, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return the requested Blackbaud FE NXT data.

Configure Blackbaud FE NXT Connectivity for OutSystems

Connectivity to Blackbaud FE NXT from OutSystems is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Blackbaud FE NXT data from OutSystems, we start by creating and configuring a Blackbaud FE NXT connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
👁 Adding a Connection

2. Select "Blackbaud FE NXT" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Blackbaud FE NXT.

   Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, create an app to obtain the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL connection properties.

   See the Getting Started guide in the CData driver documentation for more information.

   👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Blackbaud FE NXT Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 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.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create. 👁 Creating a new PAT
   
4. 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 Blackbaud FE NXT data from OutSystems.

Connect to Blackbaud FE NXT from OutSystems

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect AI from OutSystems to create a new Blackbaud FE NXT database connection.

1. Open OutSystems Service Studio
2. Click the gear icon to open Environment Management in the Service Center 👁 Opening the Service Center
   
3. Click Administration and select "Database Connections"
4. Click "New Database Connection"
5. Configure the database connection:
   • Name: name the connection (e.g. CData Connect AI Blackbaud FE NXT)
   • DBMS: SQL Server / Azure SQL
   • Username: a Connect AI user (e.g. [email protected])
   • Password: the PAT for the Connect AI user
   • Server: tds.cdata.com,14333
   • Schema: the name of your Blackbaud FE NXT connection (e.g. FinancialEdgeNXT1)
   👁 Connecting to the Connect AI
   
6. Click "Test Connection"
7. Click "Create"

Map Blackbaud FE NXT Tables or Views to Entities in an Extension Module

Once you create the database connection for Blackbaud FE NXT, you can create an extension that maps the tables or views to OutSystems entities. If you have not already done so, create an Application in Service Studio.

1. Open the Service Studio and open the existing Application
2. Click "Add Module," set the "Module Name" (e.g. financialedgenxt_db_extension), set "Module Type" to "Extension," and click "Create Module" 👁 Creating a new extension module
   
3. In Integration Studio, connect to your environment
4. Right-click "Entities" in the extension tree and select "Connect to External Table or View..." 👁 Connecting to external tables or views
   
5. Follow the steps in the wizard, selecting the tables and views you wish to work with
6. In the Integration Studio, click "1-Click Publish"
7. In the "1-Click Publish" wizard, click "Configure" when the process completes
   • In the Service Center, associate the logical database name of the extension to the database connection that the extension will use and click "Apply" 👁 Configuring the external extension
     
8. In your application, click "Manage Dependencies..."
9. Add a dependency to the Extension and select the Entities that you will use in your application 👁 Adding a dependency to the extension
   

At this point, you can access and work with Blackbaud FE NXT data just like you would with the standard OutSystems entities.

Get CData Connect AI

With Connect AI and OutSystems, you can easily build Blackbaud FE NXT-connected applications. Request a free trial of Connect AI and start working with Blackbaud FE NXT data in OutSystems today.