Connect to Slack Data from PowerBuilder via ODBC

The CData ODBC Driver for Slack can be used from any platform or development technology that supports ODBC, including PowerBuilder. This article shows how to connect to Slack data and execute queries from the Database Painter and controls such as the DataWindow.

Connect to Slack as an ODBC Data Source

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.

Slack uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, create an app to obtain the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL connection properties. See the Getting Started section of the help documentation for an authentication guide.

Create a Profile for the ODBC Driver for Slack

Follow the steps below to use the Database Painter tool to create a database profile based on an ODBC DSN (data source name) for Slack. In the Database Painter, you can use wizards and the UI to work with Slack data.

1. In PowerBuilder, click Tools -> Database Painter.
2. In the Objects window in the Database Painter, right-click the ODBC node and click New Profile.
3. On the Connection tab, enter a name for the profile and select the Slack DSN in the Data Source menu. 👁 The ODBC DSN, required to create the Database Profile. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
4. To view and modify a table, right-click a table and then click Edit Data -> Grid.

👁 Live data accessible from an editable grid. (Salesforce is shown.)

Using Slack Data with PowerBuilder Controls

You can use standard PowerBuilder objects to connect to ODBC data sources and execute queries. The following example shows how to retrieve Slack data into a DataWindow. You can add the following code to the open method:

SQLCA.DBMS = "ODBC"
SQLCA.DBParm = "ConnectString='DSN=CData Slack Source'"
CONNECT USING SQLCA;
dw_channels.SetTransObject(SQLCA);
dw_channels.Retrieve();