Connect to Dynamics NAV Data in Ruby

The CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics NAV makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live Dynamics NAV data in Ruby. This article shows how to create a simple Ruby app that connects to Dynamics NAV data, executes a query, and displays the results.

Create an ODBC Connection to Dynamics NAV Data

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.

Before you can connect, OData Services will need to be enabled on the server. Once OData Services are enabled, you will be able to query any Services that are published on the server.

The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid Dynamics NAV user credentials. In addition, specify a URL to a valid Dynamics NAV server organization root and a ServerInstance. If there is not a Service Default Company for the server, set the Company as well.

Installing Ruby and Necessary Gems

If you do not have Ruby installed, refer to the Ruby installation page. With Ruby installed, you will need to install the ruby-dbi, dbd-odbc, and ruby-odbc gems:

gem install dbi
gem install dbd-odbc
gem install ruby-odbc

Create a Ruby App with Connectivity to Dynamics NAV Data

Create a new Ruby file (for example: DynamicsNAVSelect.rb) and open it in a text editor. Copy the following code into your file:

#connect to the DSN
require 'dbi'
cnxn = DBI.connect('DBI:ODBC:CData DynamicsNAV Source','','')

#execute a SELECT query and store the result set
resultSet = cnxn.execute("SELECT Name, Prices_Including_VAT FROM Customer")

#display the names of the columns
resultSet.column_names.each do |name|
 print name, "\t"
end
puts

#display the results
while row = resultSet.fetch do
 (0..resultSet.column_names.size - 1).each do |n|
 print row[n], "\t"
 end
 puts
end
resultSet.finish

#close the connection
cnxn.disconnect if cnxn

With the file completed, you are ready to display your Dynamics NAV data with Ruby. To do so, simply run your file from the command line:

ruby DynamicsNAVSelect.rb

Writing SQL-92 queries to Dynamics NAV allows you to quickly and easily incorporate Dynamics NAV data into your own Ruby applications. Download a free trial today!