Connect to Discourse Data in DBArtisan

The CData ODBC Driver for Discourse seamlessly integrates Discourse data into database management tools like DBArtisan by enabling you to access Discourse data as a database. This article shows how to create an data source for Discourse in DBArtisan and execute queries. You can then edit data visually and execute standard SQL.

Integrate Discourse Data into DBArtisan Projects

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.

The Discourse API uses API Key authentication.

Using API Key Authentication

Discourse requires API Key and Username for authentication. API Keys are generated in the Discourse Admin panel under the API section. You can create user-specific API keys or all-users API keys. Once you have obtained the API Key, set it along with the Domain and Username in the ProfileSettings connection property.

Example Connection string

Profile=C:\profiles\Discourse.apip;ProfileSettings='Domain=forum.example.com;APIKey=your_api_key;Username=your_username;'AuthScheme=APIKey;

You can then follow the steps below to register Discourse data as a database instance in your project:

1. In DBArtisan, click Data Source -> Register Datasource.
2. Select Generic ODBC.
3. Enter a name for the data source and select the DSN. 👁 The DSN of the data source to be registered. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
4. Finish the wizard to connect to Discourse data. Discourse entities are displayed in the Datasource Explorer. 👁 The Datasource Explorer. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

You can now work with Discourse data as you work with any other database. See the driver help documentation for more information on the queries supported by the Discourse API.