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URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/dynamicscrm-odata-powerbuilder.rst

⇱ Consume Dynamics CRM OData Feeds in PowerBuilder

Consume Dynamics CRM OData Feeds in PowerBuilder

👁 Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
This article demonstrates how to consume Dynamics CRM data as OData feeds from PowerBuilder using the API Server.

The CData API Server produces secure feeds of Dynamics CRM data that you can consume in PowerBuilder DataWindows. The API Server supports the major Web services, including OData, Atom, JSON, HTML, CSV, TSV, and RSS. It also supports the major authentication schemes and SSL.

This article shows how to create a DataWindow that uses the CData API Server to execute reads and writes.

About Dynamics CRM Data Integration

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

  • Read and write data in the Dynamics CRM 2011+ Services and Dynamics CRM Online.
  • Extend the native features of Dynamics CRM with customizable caching and intelligent query aggregation and separation.
  • Authenticate securely with Dynamics CRM 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.

CData customers use our Dynamics CRM 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 CRMa data from their preferred data tools inside the Microsoft ecosystem (Power BI, Excel, etc.) or with external tools (Tableau, Looker, etc.).


Getting Started


Set Up the API Server

Follow the steps below to begin producing secure Dynamics CRM OData services:

Deploy

The API Server runs on your own server. On Windows, you can deploy using the stand-alone server or IIS. On a Java servlet container, drop in the API Server WAR file. See the help documentation for more information and how-tos.

The API Server is also easy to deploy on Microsoft Azure, Amazon EC2, and Heroku.

Connect to Dynamics CRM

After you deploy the API Server, provide authentication values and other connection properties needed to connect to Dynamics CRM by clicking Settings -> Connections and adding a new connection in the API Server administration console.

The connection string options meet the authentication and connection requirements of different Dynamics CRM instances. To connect to your instance, set the User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, to valid Dynamics CRM user credentials and set the Url to a valid Dynamics CRM server organization root. Additionally, set the CRMVersion property to 'CRM2011+' or 'CRMOnline'. IFD configurations are supported as well; set InternetFacingDeployment to true.

Additionally, you can provide the security token service (STS) or AD FS endpoint in the STSURL property. This value can be retrieved with the GetSTSUrl stored procedure. Office 365 users can connect to the default STS URL by simply setting CRMVersion.

You can then choose the Dynamics CRM entities you want to allow the API Server access to by clicking Settings -> Resources.

Additionally, click Settings -> Server and change the following settings for compatibility with PowerBuilder:

  • Default Format: Select XML (Atom) in the menu.
  • Default Version: Select 2.0 in the menu.

Authorize API Server Users

After determining the OData services you want to produce, authorize users by clicking Settings -> Users. The API Server uses authtoken-based authentication and supports the major authentication schemes. Access can also be restricted based on IP address; by default, only connections to the local machine are allowed. You can authenticate as well as encrypt connections with SSL.

Create a Profile for Dynamics CRM

Follow the steps below to use the Database Painter tool to create a database profile for the OData API of the API Server. In the Database Painter, you can graphically manipulate data as well as execute SQL queries.

  1. Click Tools -> Database Painter.
  2. Right-click the OData node and click New Profile.
  3. In the Database Profile Setup dialog, enter the following:
    • Profile Name: Enter a user-friendly name for the profile.
    • URI: Enter the URL to the OData endpoint of the API Server. This URL will resemble the one below: 
      http://MyServer:8080/api.rsc
    • Supply User Id and Password: Click this option to use HTTP Basic authentication. Note that the API Server also supports Windows authentication.
    • User Id: Enter the name of an user in the API Server.
    • Password: Enter the authtoken of an user in the API Server.
    👁 The profile for the OData feed. (Salesforce is shown.)
  4. To view and modify a table, right-click a table and then click Edit Data -> Grid.
👁 Modify database objects in the Database Painter. (Salesforce is shown.)

Using Dynamics CRM Data with PowerBuilder Controls

You can use standard PowerBuilder objects to connect to OData feeds and execute queries. The following example shows how to retrieve Dynamics CRM data into a DataWindow.

You can add the following code to the open method:

SQLCA.DBMS = "ODT"
SQLCA.DBParm = "ConnectString='URI=http://MyServer:8080/api.rsc;UID=MyAPIUser;PWD=MyAuthtoken'";
CONNECT USING SQLCA;
dw_account.SetTransObject(SQLCA);
dw_account.Retrieve();