FileMaker Pro is a cross-platform relational database application that allows users to visually modify a database.
When paired with CData Connect AI, FileMaker Pro gets access to live Epicor Kinetic data. This article demonstrates
how to connect to Epicor Kinetic using Connect AI and query Epicor Kinetic data in FileMaker Pro.
CData Connect AI provides a pure SQL Server interface for Epicor Kinetic, allowing you to query data from
Epicor Kinetic without replicating the data to a natively supported database.
Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations
(filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to Epicor Kinetic, leveraging server-side processing to return the
requested Epicor Kinetic data quickly.
Configure Epicor Kinetic Connectivity for FileMaker Pro
Connectivity to Epicor Kinetic from FileMaker Pro is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Epicor Kinetic data from FileMaker Pro, we start by creating and configuring a Epicor Kinetic connection.
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Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
π Adding a Connection
- Select "Epicor Kinetic" from the Add Connection panel
π Selecting a data source
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Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Epicor Kinetic.
To successfully connect to your ERP instance, you must specify the following connection properties:
- Url:the URL of the server hosting your ERP instance. For example, https://myserver.EpicorSaaS.com
- ERPInstance: the name of your ERP instance.
- User: the username of your account.
- Password: the password of your account.
- Service: the service you want to retrieve data from. For example, BaqSvc.
In addition, you may also set the optional connection properties:
- ApiKey: An optional key that may be required for connection to some services depending on your account configuration.
- ApiVersion: Defaults to v1. May be set to v2 to use the newer Epicor API.
- Company: Required if you set the ApiVersion to v2.
π Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
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Click Save & Test
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Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Epicor Kinetic Connection page and update the User-based permissions.
π Updating permissions
Add a Personal Access Token
When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.
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Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
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On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
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Give the PAT a name and click Create.
π Creating a new PAT
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The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.
With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to Epicor Kinetic data from Filemaker Pro.
Connect to Epicor Kinetic from FileMaker Pro using Connect AI
To establish a connection from FileMaker Pro to the CData Connect AI Virtual SQL Server API, follow these steps.
Configure the ODBC Connection to CData Connect AI
- Download and install the Actual ODBC Driver for SQL Server (actualtech.com)
- Configure a DSN for the Actual ODBC driver by setting the following properties:
- URL: tds.cdata.com
- Port: Change the port from 1433 to 14333
- Username: Your Connect AI email address
- Password: the PAT you created earlier
Query Epicor Kinetic from FileMaker Pro
- In the SQL Query Builder "SELECT" tab, select the columns to include as part of the query.
π Configuring the query by selecting columns.
- Open the "WHERE" tab of the SQL Query Builder and select "Show only selected columns."
- In "Table.Column,"" select a table and a column name.
- Set the "Operator" to =.
- Select "Column," and then select the same table and column name as "Table.Column."
- Click "Insert into SQL Query."
π Configuring the query by setting the WHERE clause.
- If no other modifications to the SQL query are required, click "Execute."
Get CData Connect AI
To get live data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your SQL Server database,
try CData Connect AI today!