Viewing Blackbaud FE NXT 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 Blackbaud FE NXT, you gain access to live Blackbaud FE NXT data within RAD Studio, abstracting the data into tables, views, and stored procedures that can be used to both retrieve and update Blackbaud FE NXT data. This article will walk through connecting to Blackbaud FE NXT using the Data Explorer.

Configure a Connection to Blackbaud FE NXT

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.

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.

Connecting to Blackbaud FE NXT Data Using Data Explorer

You can create a simple application for displaying Blackbaud FE NXT data by utilizing the CData FireDAC Components for Blackbaud FE NXT 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 Blackbaud FE NXT. 👁 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: Accounts) onto the form.

   👁 Placing the Table on the Form. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
8. Select the AccountsTable 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 Accounts 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 Blackbaud FE NXT Data in C++Builder
• DataBind Controls to Blackbaud FE NXT Data in Delphi
• Build a Simple VCL Application for Blackbaud FE NXT Data