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

Configure a Connection to Bright Data

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.

Using API Key Authentication

To use the Bright Data API, you need an API key from the Bright Data Control Panel. Navigate to Account Settings > API to generate or retrieve your API key.

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
• APIKey: Set this to your Bright Data API key from the Control Panel.

Example connection string:

Profile=C:\profiles\BrightData.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings="APIKey=your_api_key"

Connecting to Bright Data Data Using Data Explorer

You can create a simple application for displaying Bright Data data by utilizing the CData FireDAC Components for Bright Data 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 Bright Data. 👁 Setting the Connection Parameters. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
6. Back in the Data Explorer, expand the views for the connection.

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

   👁 Placing the View on the Form. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
8. Select the AccountStatusView 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 View. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

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

    👁 The View 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 Bright Data Data in C++Builder
• DataBind Controls to Bright Data Data in Delphi
• Build a Simple VCL Application for Bright Data Data