Create Dynamics 365 Business Central-Connected Business Apps in AppSheet

Google AppSheet is a no-code development platform for application software, enabling users to design mobile, tablet, and web applications. When combined with CData Connect AI, you gain immediate cloud-to-cloud access to Dynamics 365 Business Central data for business applications. This article outlines the process of connecting to Dynamics 365 Business Central using Connect AI and constructing a basic app from Dynamics 365 Business Central data within AppSheet.

CData Connect AI offers a dedicated cloud-to-cloud interface for Dynamics 365 Business Central, enabling the creation of reports directly from live Dynamics 365 Business Central data within AppSheet, all without the need for data replication to a native database. When you design applications that interact with data, AppSheet formulates SQL queries to retrieve the required information. With its inherent optimized data processing capabilities, CData Connect AI efficiently channels all supported SQL operations, including filters and JOINs, directly to Dynamics 365 Business Central. This leverages server-side processing to swiftly deliver the requested Dynamics 365 Business Central data.

Configure Dynamics 365 Business Central Connectivity for AppSheet

Connectivity to Dynamics 365 Business Central from AppSheet is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Dynamics 365 Business Central data from AppSheet, we start by creating and configuring a Dynamics 365 Business Central connection.

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

2. Select "Dynamics 365 Business Central" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Dynamics 365 Business Central.

   To authenticate to Dynamics 365 Business Central, you must select an AuthScheme and provide the required properties (OAuth by default).

   All Methods

   Specify the . If you have multiple companies in your organization, you must also specify the to indicate which company you would like to connect to. does not need to be specified if you have only one company.

   Access Key

   To authenticate with an Access Key, set AuthScheme to "AccessKey" and provide the and properties.

   To obtain the and values, navigate to the Users page in Dynamics 365 Business Central and then click on Edit. The User Name and Web Service Access Key values are what you will enter as the and connection string properties. Note that the User Name is not your email address. It is a shortened user name.

   If you wish to authenticate through other methods, refer to the Help documentation.

   👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Dynamics 365 Business Central 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 Dynamics 365 Business Central data from AppSheet.

Connect to Dynamics 365 Business Central from AppSheet

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect AI from AppSheet to create a new Dynamics 365 Business Central data source.

1. Log into AppSheet
2. Click "My account" in the menu
3. Click the Sources tab and add a new data source 👁 Creating a new data source
   
4. Select Cloud Database and set the connection information
   • Type: Sql Server
   • Server: tds.cdata.com,14333
   • Database: the Dynamics 365 Business Central connection, for example, D365BusinessCentral1
   • Username: a Connect AI user, for example, [email protected]
   • Password: the PAT for the above Connect AI user
   • SSL: Require SSL
   👁 Connecting to Connect AI
   
5. Click "Test Connection"
6. Click "Authorize Access"

Create an App

Once you create the data source for Dynamics 365 Business Central, you can start building apps on Dynamics 365 Business Central data. Start by clicking "My apps" in the menu.

1. Click to create a new app and select "Start with your own data"
2. Name the app and select an appropriate category, based on your data
3. Select the newly created data source
4. Select the table or view with the data you want 👁 Selecting a table
   

At this point, you can configure the design of your app, selecting which columns from the selected table to display, use as labels, and more. Preview the app in the preview panel and then publish or share it when ready.

To get live data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, try CData Connect AI today!