VOOZH about

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

⇱ Connect to Dynamics 365 Data from PowerBuilder via ODBC

Connect to Dynamics 365 Data from PowerBuilder via ODBC

👁 Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
This article demonstrates how to use the CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics 365 to connect to Dynamics 365 data and execute queries in PowerBuilder.

The CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics 365 can be used from any platform or development technology that supports ODBC, including PowerBuilder. This article shows how to connect to Dynamics 365 data and execute queries from the Database Painter and controls such as the DataWindow.

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 Profile for the ODBC Driver for Dynamics 365

Follow the steps below to use the Database Painter tool to create a database profile based on an ODBC DSN (data source name) for Dynamics 365. In the Database Painter, you can use wizards and the UI to work with Dynamics 365 data.

  1. In PowerBuilder, click Tools -> Database Painter.
  2. In the Objects window in the Database Painter, right-click the ODBC node and click New Profile.
  3. On the Connection tab, enter a name for the profile and select the Dynamics 365 DSN in the Data Source menu. 👁 The ODBC DSN, required to create the Database Profile. (Salesforce is shown.)
  4. To view and modify a table, right-click a table and then click Edit Data -> Grid.
👁 Live data accessible from an editable grid. (Salesforce is shown.)

Using Dynamics 365 Data with PowerBuilder Controls

You can use standard PowerBuilder objects to connect to ODBC data sources and execute queries. The following example shows how to retrieve Dynamics 365 data into a DataWindow. You can add the following code to the open method: 

SQLCA.DBMS = "ODBC"
SQLCA.DBParm = "ConnectString='DSN=CData Dynamics365 Source'"
CONNECT USING SQLCA;
dw_goalheadings.SetTransObject(SQLCA);
dw_goalheadings.Retrieve();

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.