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

Dibyendu Datta
Lead Technology Evangelist

Use CData ODBC drivers to import and use SAP ByDesign 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 ODBC Driver for SAP ByDesign, you can link your ColdFusion web and mobile applications to operational SAP ByDesign 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 SAP ByDesign data from within a ColdFusion markup file.

To follow along with this tutorial, you need to install the CData ODBC Driver for SAP ByDesign 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.

Set the following connection properties to connect to SAP ByDesign.

Url: Set this to the Url of your SAP ByDesign site. For example, https://test.sapbydesign.com
User: Set this to the username of your account.
Password: Set this to the password of your account.
CustomService or AnalyticsService: Only one of these must be specified. If you have a custom service you want to retrieve data from, specify CustomService. If you want to retrieve the reports of a analytical service, specify AnalyticsService.
If neither is specified, 'cc_home_analytics.svc' will used as a default for the AnalyticsService property. If you are not sure what service to specify, you can always query the Services view to list available services.

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 SAP ByDesign Data and display it in a table in ColdFusion:

From the ColdFusion administrator interface, choose Data & Services. 👁 Selecting Data & Services
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
From the ODBC DSN Dropdown menu select CData SAP ByDesign 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
Now, test the connection by pressing the check mark to the left of the CDataSAP ByDesignODBC data source you just created. When the data source reports an "OK" status, it is ready for use. 👁 Testing the connection

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="SAP ByDesignQuery" dataSource="CDataSAP ByDesignODBC"> 
 SELECT * FROM [Inventory Balance] 
 </cfquery>

And a CFTable can be used to quickly output the table in HTML:

 
 <cftable 
 query = "SAP ByDesignQuery" 
 border = "1" 
 colHeaders 
 colSpacing = "2" 
 headerLines = "2" 
 HTMLTable 
 maxRows = "500" 
 startRow = "1"> 

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

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

 ...

 </cftable>

Full code, including the HTML portion is available below:

 
 <html> 
 <head><title>CData Software | SAP ByDesign [Inventory Balance] Table Demo </title></head> 
 <body> 
 <cfoutput>#ucase("SAP ByDesign [Inventory Balance] Table Demo")#</cfoutput> 
 <cfquery name="SAP ByDesignQuery" dataSource="CDataSAP ByDesignODBC"> 

 SELECT * FROM [Inventory Balance] 

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

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

 ...

 </cftable> 
 </body> 

 </html>

Finally, run the code in a browser. It produces a table populated with SAP ByDesign 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 SAP ByDesign and start building SAP ByDesign-connected applications with Adobe ColdFusion. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.

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Download a free trial of the SAP ByDesign ODBC Driver to get started:

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Learn more:

👁 SAP ByDesign Icon
SAP ByDesign ODBC Driver

The SAP ByDesign ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live data from SAP ByDesign, directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity.

Access SAP ByDesign data like you would a database - read, write, and update SAP ByDesign Customers, Products, Leads, Suppliers, etc. through a standard ODBC Driver interface.

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