VOOZH about

URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/mocean-odbc-coldfusion.rst

⇱ Import Real-Time Mocean Data via ODBC in ColdFusion to Build Applications

Import Real-Time Mocean Data via ODBC in ColdFusion to Build Applications

👁 Dibyendu Datta
Dibyendu Datta
Lead Technology Evangelist
Use CData ODBC drivers to import and use Mocean data in ColdFusion.

Adobe ColdFusion is a web and mobile application development platform. It uses its own scripting language, ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML), to create data-driven websites as well as generate remote services, such as REST. When ColdFusion is paired with the CData API Driver for ODBC, you can link your ColdFusion web and mobile applications to operational Mocean data. This allows for your applications to be more robust and complete. This article details how to use the ODBC driver to create a table populated with Mocean data from within a ColdFusion markup file.

To follow along with this tutorial, you need to install the CData API Driver for ODBC and Adobe ColdFusion.

Configuring the Connection

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 process. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

Using API Key Authentication

Mocean uses API key authentication to control access to the API. To obtain an API Key:

  1. Log in to your Mocean account at https://dashboard.moceanapi.com
  2. Navigate to your account settings or API credentials section
  3. Copy your API Key

After obtaining your API Key, set the following connection properties:

  • AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
Set the following in the ProfileSettings connection property:
  • APIKey: Set this to your Mocean API Key. This is transmitted as a Bearer token in the Authorization header.

Example Connection String

Profile=C:\profiles\Mocean.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key';

Connecting to Mocean

Once the authentication is configured, you can connect to Mocean and query data from any of the available tables such as AccountBalance, AccountPricing, MessageStatus, and NumberLookup.

Adding a Data Source and Creating a Table

After creating a DSN, follow the steps below to add a new data source, test our connection to it, create a ColdFusion markup file, and, finally, import Mocean Data and display it in a table in ColdFusion:

  1. From the ColdFusion administrator interface, choose Data & Services. 👁 Selecting Data & Services
  2. Here, click "Add New Data Source". The data source name can be any name, provided it conforms to the ColdFusion variable naming conventions. For our ODBC driver, choose "ODBC Socket", then click the "Add" button. 👁 Adding Data Source Name
  3. From the ODBC DSN Dropdown menu select CData Mocean Sys. Under the Advanced Settings section, leave the Connection String blank. Note that any properties specified in this input field will override the ones specified in the DSN Configuration. 👁 Populating driver properties
  4. Now, test the connection by pressing the check mark to the left of the CDataMoceanODBC data source you just created. When the data source reports an "OK" status, it is ready for use. 👁 Testing the connection
  5. Next, create a new ColdFusion Markup file (.cfm) and place it in the wwwroot directory ("C:\ColdFusion2021\cfusion\wwwroot") for ColdFusion.

    The following code queries the data source: 

     
 <cfquery name="MoceanQuery" dataSource="CDataMoceanODBC"> 
 SELECT * FROM AccountBalance 
 </cfquery>
    And a CFTable can be used to quickly output the table in HTML: 
     
 <cftable 
 query = "MoceanQuery" 
 border = "1" 
 colHeaders 
 colSpacing = "2" 
 headerLines = "2" 
 HTMLTable 
 maxRows = "500" 
 startRow = "1"> 

 <cfcol header="<b></b>" align="Left" width=2 text=""/> 

 <cfcol header="<b></b>" align="Left" width=15 text=""/> 

 ...

 </cftable>
    Full code, including the HTML portion is available below: 
     
 <html> 
 <head><title>CData Software | Mocean AccountBalance Table Demo </title></head> 
 <body> 
 <cfoutput>#ucase("Mocean AccountBalance Table Demo")#</cfoutput> 
 <cfquery name="MoceanQuery" dataSource="CDataMoceanODBC"> 

 SELECT * FROM AccountBalance 

 </cfquery> 
 <cftable 
 query = "MoceanQuery" 
 border = "1" 
 colHeaders 
 colSpacing = "2" 
 headerLines = "2" 
 HTMLTable 
 maxRows = "500" 
 startRow = "1"> 
 <cfcol header="<b></b>" align="Left" width=2 text=""/> 

 <cfcol header="<b></b>" align="Left" width=15 text=""/> 

 ...

 </cftable> 
 </body> 

 </html>
  6. Finally, run the code in a browser. It produces a table populated with Mocean data! 👁 Running the code

As a note, the CData ODBC Drivers also support parameterized queries using the cfqueryparam element. For example: 

SELECT * FROM Account WHERE name =

Get Started Today

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData ODBC Driver for Mocean and start building Mocean-connected applications with Adobe ColdFusion. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.