DataBind Charts to Sugar CRM Data

DataBinding facilitates two-way interaction with data through UI controls. Using the CData ADO.NET Provider for Sugar CRM streamlines the process of binding Sugar CRM data to Windows Forms and Web controls within Visual Studio. In this article, we will demonstrate using wizards to establish a binding between Sugar CRM data and a chart that dynamically updates. Additionally, the code walk-through section will guide you through the creation of a chart using just 10 lines of code.

Binding Data to a Chart

DataBinding to a Chart consists of three steps: Instantiate the control, configure the data source, and databind.

Configure the Connection and Select Database Objects

To create a chart control and establish a connection to Sugar CRM, follow the steps outlined below using the Data Source Configuration Wizard. Within the wizard, you'll have the option to choose the specific Sugar CRM entities you wish to bind to.

1. In a Windows Forms project, drag and drop a Chart control from the toolbox to the form. In the Data section of the Chart properties, select DataSource and then select Add Project Data Source from the menu. 👁 Add a data source to be bound to the chart.
   
2. In the Data Source Configuration Wizard that appears, select Database -> Dataset.
3. In the Choose Your Data Connection step, click New Connection.

4. In the Add Connection dialog, click Change to select the CData Sugar CRM Data Source.

   Below is a typical connection string:

   User=MyUser;Password=MyPassword;URL=MySugarCRMAccountURL;CacheMetadata=True;

   The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid SugarCRM user credentials. This will use the default OAuth token created to allow client logins. OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret are required if you do not wish to use the default OAuth token.

   You can generate a new OAuth consumer key and consumer secret in Admin -> OAuth Keys. Set the OAuthClientId to the OAuth consumer key. Set the OAuthClientSecret to the consumer secret.

   Additionally, specify the URL to the SugarCRM account.

   Note that retrieving SugarCRM metadata can be expensive. It is advised that you store the metadata locally as described in the "Caching Metadata" chapter of the help documentation.

   When you configure the connection, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

   👁 Connection properties for the selected data source in the Add Connection dialog. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
5. Choose the database objects you want to work with. This example uses the Accounts table. 👁 Select database objects. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

DataBind

After adding the data source and selecting database objects, you can bind the objects to the chart. This example assigns the x-axis to Name and the y-axis to AnnualRevenue.

1. In the Chart properties, click the button in the Series property to open the Series Collection Editor.
2. In the Series properties, select the columns you want for the x- and y-axes: Select columns from the menu in the XValueMember and YValueMember properties.

The chart is now databound to the Sugar CRM data. Run the chart to display the current data. 👁 The chart, filled with data at run time.

Code Walk-through

DataBinding to Sugar CRM data requires only a few lines of code and can be completed in three easy steps.

1. Connect to Sugar CRM.
2. Create the SugarCRMDataAdapter to execute the query and create a DataSet to be filled with its results.
3. DataBind the result set to the chart.

Below is the complete code:

SugarCRMConnection conn = new SugarCRMConnection("User=MyUser;Password=MyPassword;URL=MySugarCRMAccountURL;CacheMetadata=True;");
SugarCRMCommand comm = new SugarCRMCommand("SELECT Name, AnnualRevenue FROM Accounts", conn);
SugarCRMDataAdapter da = new SugarCRMDataAdapter(comm);
DataSet dataset = new DataSet();
da.Fill(dataset);

chart1.DataSource = dataset; 
chart1.Series[0].XValueMember = "Name";
chart1.Series[0].YValueMembers = "AnnualRevenue";
// Insert code for additional chart formatting here.
chart1.DataBind();