Query SAP SuccessFactors LMS Data through ODBC in Node.js

Node.js is a JavaScript runtime environment that allows you to run JavaScript code outside of a browser. With the CData ODBC Driver for SAP SuccessFactors LMS, you can access live SAP SuccessFactors LMS data from Node.js apps and scripts. In this article, we walk through installing node-odbc and the required tools to create a simple Node.js app with access to live SAP SuccessFactors LMS data.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live SAP SuccessFactors LMS data in Node.js. When you issue complex SQL queries from Node.js to SAP SuccessFactors LMS, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to SAP SuccessFactors LMS and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations).

Connecting to SAP SuccessFactors LMS Data

If you have not already done so, provide values for the required connection properties in the data source name (DSN). You can use the built-in Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to configure the DSN. This is also the last step of the driver installation. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for a guide to using the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure a DSN.

SAP SuccessFactors LMS uses OAuth authentication. Before connecting, you must configure an OAuth application tied to your SAP SuccessFactors LMS account.

To establish a connection, set the following properties:

• User: Your SAP SuccessFactors LMS username.
• CompanyId: Your SAP SuccessFactors company identifier.
• Url: The SAP SuccessFactors API URL (e.g., https://api4.successfactors.com).
• OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
• OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.

See the Getting Started chapter of the help documentation for a guide to creating a custom OAuth app and using OAuth.

Building node-odbc

In order to connect to SAP SuccessFactors LMS through the CData ODBC Driver, you need to build node-odbc manually (after installing the required tools).

Installing the Required Tools

The following commands install the tools required to build node-odbc (note the -g parameter, which installs the tools globally).

npm i -g windows-build-tools
npm i -g node-gyp

Building node-odbc

After installing the required tools, create a directory for the Node.js app and install odbc (which builds the binary for us to use in our Node.js script).

mkdir nodeodbc
cd nodeodbc
npm i -g node

Querying SAP SuccessFactors LMS from Node.js

With the ODBC Driver installed, a DSN Configured, and node-odbc built, we are ready to query live SAP SuccessFactors LMS data from a Node.js app. The sample code below connects to a specific DSN and queries the Items table.

myscript.js

const odbc = require('odbc');

async function querySAPSuccessFactorsLMS() {
 const connection = await odbc.connect(`DSN=CData SAPSuccessFactorsLMS Source`);
 const data = await connection.query('SELECT ItemID, ItemTitle FROM Items');
 console.log(data);
}

querySAPSuccessFactorsLMS();

Once you write the app, use node to execute the script:

node myscript.js

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData ODBC Driver for SAP SuccessFactors LMS and start working with your live SAP SuccessFactors LMS data in Node.js. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.