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URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/dynamics365-odbc-coldfusion.rst

⇱ Import Real-Time Dynamics 365 Data via ODBC in ColdFusion to Build Applications

Import Real-Time Dynamics 365 Data via ODBC in ColdFusion to Build Applications

👁 Dibyendu Datta
Dibyendu Datta
Lead Technology Evangelist
Use CData ODBC drivers to import and use Dynamics 365 data in ColdFusion.

Adobe ColdFusion is a web and mobile application development platform. It uses its own scripting language, ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML), to create data-driven websites as well as generate remote services, such as REST. When ColdFusion is paired with the CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics 365, you can link your ColdFusion web and mobile applications to operational Dynamics 365 data. This allows for your applications to be more robust and complete. This article details how to use the ODBC driver to create a table populated with Dynamics 365 data from within a ColdFusion markup file.

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


To follow along with this tutorial, you need to install the CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics 365 and Adobe ColdFusion.

Configuring the Connection

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 process. 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

Adding a Data Source and Creating a Table

After creating a DSN, follow the steps below to add a new data source, test our connection to it, create a ColdFusion markup file, and, finally, import Dynamics 365 Data and display it in a table in ColdFusion:

  1. From the ColdFusion administrator interface, choose Data & Services. 👁 Selecting Data & Services
  2. Here, click "Add New Data Source". The data source name can be any name, provided it conforms to the ColdFusion variable naming conventions. For our ODBC driver, choose "ODBC Socket", then click the "Add" button. 👁 Adding Data Source Name
  3. From the ODBC DSN Dropdown menu select CData Dynamics 365 Sys. Under the Advanced Settings section, leave the Connection String blank. Note that any properties specified in this input field will override the ones specified in the DSN Configuration. 👁 Populating driver properties
  4. Now, test the connection by pressing the check mark to the left of the CDataDynamics 365ODBC data source you just created. When the data source reports an "OK" status, it is ready for use. 👁 Testing the connection
  5. Next, create a new ColdFusion Markup file (.cfm) and place it in the wwwroot directory ("C:\ColdFusion2021\cfusion\wwwroot") for ColdFusion.

    The following code queries the data source: 

     
 <cfquery name="Dynamics 365Query" dataSource="CDataDynamics 365ODBC"> 
 SELECT * FROM GoalHeadings 
 </cfquery>
    And a CFTable can be used to quickly output the table in HTML: 
     
 <cftable 
 query = "Dynamics 365Query" 
 border = "1" 
 colHeaders 
 colSpacing = "2" 
 headerLines = "2" 
 HTMLTable 
 maxRows = "500" 
 startRow = "1"> 

 <cfcol header="<b>GoalHeadingId</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="GoalHeadingId"/> 

 <cfcol header="<b>Name</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="Name"/> 

 ...

 </cftable>
    Full code, including the HTML portion is available below: 
     
 <html> 
 <head><title>CData Software | Dynamics 365 GoalHeadings Table Demo </title></head> 
 <body> 
 <cfoutput>#ucase("Dynamics 365 GoalHeadings Table Demo")#</cfoutput> 
 <cfquery name="Dynamics 365Query" dataSource="CDataDynamics 365ODBC"> 

 SELECT * FROM GoalHeadings 

 </cfquery> 
 <cftable 
 query = "Dynamics 365Query" 
 border = "1" 
 colHeaders 
 colSpacing = "2" 
 headerLines = "2" 
 HTMLTable 
 maxRows = "500" 
 startRow = "1"> 
 <cfcol header="<b>GoalHeadingId</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="GoalHeadingId"/> 

 <cfcol header="<b>Name</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="Name"/> 

 ...

 </cftable> 
 </body> 

 </html>
  6. Finally, run the code in a browser. It produces a table populated with Dynamics 365 data! 👁 Running the code

As a note, the CData ODBC Drivers also support parameterized queries using the cfqueryparam element. For example: 

SELECT * FROM Account WHERE name =

Get Started Today

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics 365 and start building Dynamics 365-connected applications with Adobe ColdFusion. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.

Ready to get started?

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

 Download Now

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.