Query Microsoft Dataverse Data in ColdFusion

The CData JDBC driver for Microsoft Dataverse seamlessly integrates connectivity to Microsoft Dataverse data with the rapid development tools in ColdFusion. This article shows how to connect to Microsoft Dataverse data in ColdFusion and query Microsoft Dataverse tables.

Getting Started

---

Create a JDBC Data Source for Microsoft Dataverse in ColdFusion

The JDBC data source enables you to execute SQL from standard ColdFusion tags like cfquery and CFScript like executeQuery.

1. Copy the driver JAR and .lic file from the installation directory onto the ColdFusion classpath. For example, copy the files into C:\MyColdFusionDirectory\cfusion\wwwroot\WEB-INF\lib. Or, open the Java and JVM page in the ColdFusion Administrator and enter the path to the files in the ColdFusion Class Path box.

   The JAR and license for the driver are located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.

   Restart the server after this step.

2. Add the driver as a data source:

   From the ColdFusion administrator interface, expand the Data & Services node and click Data Sources. In the Add New Data Source section, enter a name for the data source and select Other in the Driver menu.

   👁 Adding a JDBC data source to ColdFusion. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

3. Populate the driver properties:

   • JDBC URL: Enter connection properties in the JDBC URL. The JDBC URL begins with jdbc:cds: and is followed by the connection properties in a semicolon-separated list of name=value pairs.

     You can connect without setting any connection properties for your user credentials. Below are the minimum connection properties required to connect.

     • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
     • OrganizationUrl: Set this to the organization URL you are connecting to, such as https://myorganization.crm.dynamics.com.
     • Tenant (optional): Set this if you wish to authenticate to a different tenant than your default. This is required to work with an organization not on your default Tenant.

     When you connect the Common Data Service OAuth endpoint opens in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions. The OAuth process completes automatically.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Microsoft Dataverse JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.cds.jar
     

     Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

     👁 Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)
     

     A typical JDBC URL is below:

     jdbc:cds:OrganizationUrl=https://myaccount.crm.dynamics.com/;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;

   • Driver Class: Enter the driver class. The driver class is cdata.jdbc.cds.CDSDriver.
   • Driver Name: Enter a user-defined name for the driver.
   • Username: Enter the username used to authenticate.
   • Password: Enter the password used to authenticate.

You can now test the connection by enabling the CData Microsoft Dataverse data source in the Actions column. After reporting a status of OK, the Microsoft Dataverse data source is ready for use.

Execute Queries

The cfquery tag can pass SQL statements to Microsoft Dataverse, including INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE.. Use the cfqueryparam tag to create parameterized queries and prevent SQL injection through the query string.

Note: To use the cfquery and cfscript, create a .cfm file. Inside the .cfm file, write the code to execute the query (see below). Place the file directly in the root directory of your web server (e.g., wwwroot in Adobe ColdFusion). Restart the service after placing the file for the changes to take effect.

<cfquery name="CDSQuery" dataSource="CDataCDS">
 SELECT * FROM Accounts WHERE Name = <cfqueryparam value="#Name#" cfsqltype="cf_sql_varchar">
</cfquery>
<cfdump var="#CDSQuery#">

Below is the equivalent in CFScript:

<cfscript>
result = queryExecute(
 "SELECT * FROM Accounts WHERE Name = ?", 
 [
 { value="MyAccount", cfsqltype="cf_sql_varchar" }
 ],
 { datasource="CDataCDS" }
);

writeDump( var= result );
</cfscript> 

You can then make requests to your .cfm like the following:

http://MyServer:8500/query.cfm?Name=MyAccount