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URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/jotform-odbc-active-query-builder.rst

โ‡ฑ Rapidly Develop JotForm-Driven Apps with Active Query Builder


Rapidly Develop JotForm-Driven Apps with Active Query Builder

๐Ÿ‘ Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Leverage the Active Query Builder SQL interface and .NET data access to create data-driven WinForms and ASP.NET apps backed by JotForm.

Write standard .NET to expose JotForm data through an SQL interface: Active Query Builder helps developers write SQL interfaces; the CData ODBC Driver for JotForm enables standards-based access to JotForm. This integration uses the Microsoft ADO.NET Provider for ODBC as a bridge between the ODBC Driver and the Active Query Builder objects to build a visual SQL composer.

Connect to JotForm 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.

Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the JotForm Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\JotForm.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for JotForm (see below).

JotForm API Profile Settings

Find your JotForm API Key in order to authenticate. To obtain an API Key, go to 'My Account' > 'API Section' > 'Create a New API Key'. Once you've created your new API Key, you can set it in the ProfileSettings connection property.

Custom Enterprise API Domains

Enterprise customers of JotForm are given custom API domains to connect to, rather than the default 'api.jotform.com' domain. If you are an enterprise JotForm customer, then set Domain to you custom API hostname, such as 'your-domain.com' or 'subdomain.jotform.com', inside the ProfileSettings connection property. Conversely, if you do not have a custom domain and still need to connect to 'api.jotform.com', then leave Domain undefined and set only APIKey.

Use SQL to Interact with JotForm

Follow the steps below to create a WinForms visual query builder.

  1. Open Active Query Builder for .NET WinForms. ๐Ÿ‘ Opening Active Query Builder.
  2. In the new Windows Forms project go to the "File" menu and click "Connect..."
  3. Under Database Connections, click "Add..." ๐Ÿ‘ Adding a new Connection.
  4. Set your desired Connection Name (e.g. CData JotForm), set Connection Type to "ODBC" and locate your previously configured DSN in the "User/System" DSN dropdown. ๐Ÿ‘ Selecting a previously configured DSN (Amazon Athena is shown).
  5. Click "OK" to save the new connection.
  6. Back in the Database Connection wizard, select the newly created connection and click "OK." ๐Ÿ‘ A newly added Connection (Amazon Athena is shown).
  7. Click "File" > "New Query" to create a QueryBuilder

You can now build queries visually: Double-click a table in the Columns Pane Area and an entity/relationship diagram is displayed in the Query Building Area. Columns that you select in the diagram are added to the query.

๐Ÿ‘ Building queries interactively with Active Query Builder.