DataBind Controls to PingOne Data in C++Builder

The CData ODBC driver for PingOne makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live PingOne data with standard data access components in C++Builder. This article shows how to create a simple visual component library (VCL) application in C++Builder that connects to PingOne data, executes queries, and displays the results in a grid. An additional section shows how to use FireDAC components to execute commands from code.

Create a Connection to PingOne 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.

To connect to PingOne, configure these properties:

• : The region where the data for your PingOne organization is being hosted.
• : The type of authentication to use when connecting to PingOne.
• Either (required when using the default PingOne domain) or , configured as described below.

Configuring WorkerAppEnvironmentId

is the ID of the PingOne environment in which your Worker application resides. This parameter is used only when the environment is using the default PingOne domain (auth.pingone). It is configured after you have created the custom OAuth application you will use to authenticate to PingOne, as described in Creating a Custom OAuth Application in the Help documentation.

First, find the value for this property:

1. From the home page of your PingOne organization, move to the navigation sidebar and click Environments.
2. Find the environment in which you have created your custom OAuth/Worker application (usually Administrators), and click Manage Environment. The environment's home page displays.
3. In the environment's home page navigation sidebar, click Applications.
4. Find your OAuth or Worker application details in the list.
5. Copy the value in the Environment ID field. It should look similar to:
   

   WorkerAppEnvironmentId='11e96fc7-aa4d-4a60-8196-9acf91424eca'

Now set to the value of the Environment ID field.

Configuring AuthorizationServerURL

is the base URL of the PingOne authorization server for the environment where your application is located. This property is only used when you have set up a custom domain for the environment, as described in the PingOne platform API documentation. See Custom Domains.

Authenticating to PingOne with OAuth

PingOne supports both OAuth and OAuthClient authentication. In addition to performing the configuration steps described above, there are two more steps to complete to support OAuth or OAuthCliet authentication:

• Create and configure a custom OAuth application, as described in Creating a Custom OAuth Application in the Help documentation.
• To ensure that the driver can access the entities in Data Model, confirm that you have configured the correct roles for the admin user/worker application you will be using, as described in Administrator Roles in the Help documentation.
• Set the appropriate properties for the authscheme and authflow of your choice, as described in the following subsections.

OAuth (Authorization Code grant)

Set to OAuth.

Desktop Applications

Get and Refresh the OAuth Access Token

After setting the following, you are ready to connect:

• : GETANDREFRESH. To avoid the need to repeat the OAuth exchange and manually setting the each time you connect, use .
• : The Client ID you obtained when you created your custom OAuth application.
• : The Client Secret you obtained when you created your custom OAuth application.
• : The redirect URI you defined when you registered your custom OAuth application. For example: https://localhost:3333

When you connect, the driver opens PingOne's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application. The driver then completes the OAuth process:

1. The driver obtains an access token from PingOne and uses it to request data.
2. The OAuth values are saved in the location specified in , to be persisted across connections.

The driver refreshes the access token automatically when it expires.

For other OAuth methods, including Web Applications, Headless Machines, or Client Credentials Grant, refer to the Help documentation.

You can then follow the steps below to use the Data Explorer to create a FireDAC connection to PingOne.

1. In a new VCL Forms application, expand the FireDAC node in the Data Explorer.
2. Right-click the ODBC Data Source node in the Data Explorer.
3. Click Add New Connection.
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 PingOne.

👁 A FireDAC connection to the ODBC data source. (Salesforce is shown.)

Create VCL Applications with Connectivity to PingOne Data

Follow the procedure below to start querying PingOne data from a simple VCL application that displays the results of a query in a grid.

1. Drop a TFDConnection component onto the form and set the following properties:

   • ConnectionDefName: Select the FireDAC connection to PingOne.
   • Connected: Select True from the menu and, in the dialog that appears, enter your credentials.

2. Drop a TFDQuery component onto the form and set the properties below:

   • Connection: Set this property to the TFDConnection component, if this component is not already specified.

   • SQL: Click the button in the SQL property and enter a query. For example:

     SELECT Id, Username FROM [CData].[Administrators].Users WHERE EmployeeType = 'Contractor'
     

   • Active: Set this property to true.

3. Drop a TDataSource component onto the form and set the following property:

   • DataSet: In the menu for this property, select the name of the TFDQuery component.

4. Drop a TDBGrid control onto the form and set the following property:

   • DataSource: Select the name of the TDataSource.
5. Drop a TFDGUIxWaitCursor onto the form — this is required to avoid a run-time error.

👁 Components in FireDAC used to databind an editable grid to the data source. (Salesforce is shown.)

Execute Commands to PingOne with FireDAC Components

You can use the TFDConnection and TFQuery components to execute queries to PingOne data. This section provides PingOne-specific examples of executing queries with the TFQuery component.

Connect to PingOne Data

To connect to the data source, set the Connected property of the TFDConnection component to true. You can set the same properties from code:

FDConnection1->ConnectionDefName = "CData PingOne ODBC Source";
FDConnection1->Connected = true;

To connect the TFDQuery component to PingOne data, set the Connection property of the component. When a TFDQuery component is added at design time, its Connection property is automatically set to point to a TFDConnection on the form, as in the application above.

Create Parameterized Queries

To create a parameterized query, use the following syntax below:

FDQuery1->SQL->Text = "select * from [CData].[Administrators].Users where employeetype = :EmployeeType";
FDQuery1->ParamByName("employeetype")->AsString = "Contractor";
FDQuery1->Open();

The example above binds a string-type input parameter by name and then opens the dataset that results.

Prepare the Statement

Preparing statements is costly in system resources and time. The connection must be active and open while a statement is prepared. By default, FireDAC prepares the query to avoid recompiling the same query over and over. To disable statement preparation, set ResourceOptions.DirectExecute to True; for example, when you need to execute a query only once.

Execute a Query

To execute a query that returns a result set, such as a select query, use the Open method. The Open method executes the query, returns the result set, and opens it. The Open method will return an error if the query does not produce a result set.

FDQuery1->SQL->Text = "select * from [CData].[Administrators].Users where employeetype = :EmployeeType";
FDQuery1->ParamByName("employeetype")->AsString = "Contractor";
FDQuery1->Open();

Related Articles

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

• DataBind Controls to PingOne Data in Delphi
• Viewing PingOne Data in RAD Studio Data Explorer
• Build a Simple VCL Application for PingOne Data