Viewing Microsoft Project Data in RAD Studio Data Explorer

Embarcadero RAD Studio provides a development environment for Delphi and C++Builder applications. With the CData ODBC Driver for Microsoft Project, you gain access to live Microsoft Project data within RAD Studio, abstracting the data into tables, views, and stored procedures that can be used to both retrieve and update Microsoft Project data. This article will walk through connecting to Microsoft Project using the Data Explorer.

Configure a Connection to Microsoft Project

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.

The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid Microsoft Project user credentials. In addition, specify a URL to a valid Microsoft Project server organization root or Microsoft Project services file.

Connecting to Microsoft Project Data Using Data Explorer

You can create a simple application for displaying Microsoft Project data by utilizing the CData FireDAC Components for Microsoft Project and a new VCL Forms Application:

1. Open the Data Explorer in RAD Studio and expand FireDAC.
2. Right-click the ODBC Data Source node in the Data Explorer.
3. Click Add New Connection. 👁 Adding a New Connection. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
4. Enter a name for the connection.
5. In the FireDAC Connection Editor that appears, set the DataSource property to the name of the ODBC DSN for Microsoft Project. 👁 Setting the Connection Parameters. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
6. Back in the Data Explorer, expand the tables for the connection.

7. Create a new VCL Forms application and drag a table (for example: Projects) onto the form.

   👁 Placing the Table on the Form. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
8. Select the ProjectsTable object on the form and set the Active property to true.

9. Right-click on the object, bind visually, and link everything (*) to a new control (TStringGrid).

   👁 Visually Binding the Table. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

10. Arrange the TStringGrid on the form and run the application to see the Projects data.

    👁 The Table data on a Form. (Salesforce is shown.)
    

Related Articles

Below you can find other articles for using the CData ODBC Driver with RAD Studio, Delphi, and C++ Builder.

• DataBind Controls to Microsoft Project Data in C++Builder
• DataBind Controls to Microsoft Project Data in Delphi
• Build a Simple VCL Application for Microsoft Project Data