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

Configure a Connection to ConvertAPI

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.

ConvertAPI uses API Secret Key authentication. Your ConvertAPI Secret is used to authenticate requests. You can find your API Secret in the ConvertAPI dashboard under your account settings.

Using APIKey Authentication

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

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
• APIKey: Set this to your ConvertAPI API secret key.

Example connection string:

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

Connecting to ConvertAPI Data Using Data Explorer

You can create a simple application for displaying ConvertAPI data by utilizing the CData FireDAC Components for ConvertAPI 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 ConvertAPI. 👁 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: User) onto the form.

   👁 Placing the View on the Form. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
8. Select the UserView 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 User 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 ConvertAPI Data in C++Builder
• DataBind Controls to ConvertAPI Data in Delphi
• Build a Simple VCL Application for ConvertAPI Data