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URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/dynamics365-odbc-access-linked-tables.rst

⇱ How to Use a Microsoft Access Database to Update Dynamics 365 Data in Real Time

How to Use a Microsoft Access Database to Update Dynamics 365 Data in Real Time

👁 Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Update Dynamics 365 data by creating a linked table in Microsoft Access with the CData Dynamics 365 ODBC Driver.

CData ODBC drivers connect your data to any database management tool that supports Open Database Connectivity (ODBC). This includes many of the most popular productivity tools, adding new capabilities for document sharing and collaboration. Using the CData ODBC driver for Dynamics 365, you can update live Dynamics 365 data in Microsoft Access; for example, you can make updates that can be immediately seen by other users.

About Dynamics 365 Data Integration

CData simplifies access and integration of live Microsoft Dynamics 365 data. Our customers leverage CData connectivity to:

  • Read and write data in the full Dynamics 365 ecosystem: Sales, Customer Service, Finance & Operations, Marketing, and more.
  • Extend the native features of Dynamics CRM with customizable caching and intelligent query aggregation and separation.
  • Authenticate securely with Dynamics 365 in a variety of ways, including Azure Active Directory, Azure Managed Service Identity credentials, and Azure Service Principal using either a client secret or a certificate.
  • Use SQL stored procedures to manage their Dynamics 365 entities - listing, creating, and removing associations between entities.

CData customers use our Dynamics 365 connectivity solutions for a variety of reasons, whether they're looking to replicate their data into a data warehouse (alongside other data sources) or analyze live Dynamics 365 data from their preferred data tools inside the Microsoft ecosystem (Power BI, Excel, etc.) or with external tools (Tableau, Looker, etc.).


Getting Started


Connect to Dynamics 365 as an ODBC Data Source

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.

Edition and OrganizationUrl are required connection properties. The Dynamics 365 connector supports connecting to the following editions: CustomerService, FieldService, FinOpsOnline, FinOpsOnPremise, HumanResources, Marketing, ProjectOperations and Sales.

For Dynamics 365 Business Central, use the separate Dynamics 365 Business Central driver.

OrganizationUrl is the URL to your Dynamics 365 organization. For instance, https://orgcb42e1d0.crm.dynamics.com

Create a Linked Table to GoalHeadings Data

Follow the steps below to create a linked table, which enables you to access live GoalHeadings data.

  1. On the External Data tab in Access, click ODBC Database. 👁 Use the Get External Data wizard to work with ODBC data sources in Access.
  2. Select the option to link to the data source. A linked table will enable you to read from and write data to the GoalHeadings table. 👁 Linked Tables enable you use the live connection to Dynamics 365 that is provided by the driver.

  3. Select the CData Dynamics 365 data source from the Machine Data Source tab.

    👁 DSNs listed in the Get External Data wizard.
  4. Select the GoalHeadings table. For more information on this table, see the "Data Model" chapter in the help documentation. 👁 Available tables. (Google is shown.)

  5. Double-click the linked table to make edits. The linked table will always have up-to-date data and any changes will be reflected back to the underlying table.

    👁 A linked table to the live data. (Google is shown.)

Ready to get started?

Download a free trial of the Dynamics 365 ODBC Driver to get started:

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Learn more:

👁 Dynamics 365 Icon
Dynamics 365 ODBC Driver

The Dynamics 365 ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live data from Dynamics 365, directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity.

Access Dynamics 365 data like you would a database - read, write, and update Dynamics 365 Leads, Contacts, Opportunities, Accounts, etc. through a standard ODBC Driver interface.