Build a Simple VCL Application for Workday Data

Dibyendu Datta
Lead Technology Evangelist

How to build a simple VCL Application to view Workday data in RAD Studio using the CData ODBC Driver for Workday.

Embarcadero RAD Studio provides a development environment for Delphi and C++Builder applications. With the CData ODBC Driver for Workday, you gain access to live Workday data within RAD Studio, abstracting the data into tables, views, and stored procedures that can be used to retrieve and update Workday data. This article will walk through connecting to Workday and creating a simple VCL application with the Form Designer.

About Workday Data Integration

CData provides the easiest way to access and integrate live data from Workday. Customers use CData connectivity to:

Access the tables and datasets you create in Prism Analytics Data Catalog, working with the native Workday data hub without compromising the fidelity of your Workday system.
Access Workday Reports-as-a-Service to surface data from departmental datasets not available from Prism and datasets larger than Prism allows.
Access base data objects with WQL, REST, or SOAP, getting more granular, detailed access but with the potential need for Workday admins or IT to help craft queries.

Users frequently integrate Workday with analytics tools such as Tableau, Power BI, and Excel, and leverage our tools to replicate Workday data to databases or data warehouses. Access is secured at the user level, based on the authenticated user's identity and role.

For more information on configuring Workday to work with CData, refer to our Knowledge Base articles: Comprehensive Workday Connectivity through Workday WQL and Reports-as-a-Service & Workday + CData: Connection & Integration Best Practices.

Getting Started

Create a Connection to Workday 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 Workday, users need to find the Tenant and BaseURL and then select their API type.

Obtaining the BaseURL and Tenant

To obtain the BaseURL and Tenant properties, log into Workday and search for "View API Clients." On this screen, you'll find the Workday REST API Endpoint, a URL that includes both the BaseURL and Tenant.

The format of the REST API Endpoint is: https://domain.com/subdirectories/mycompany, where:

https://domain.com/subdirectories/ is the BaseURL.
mycompany (the portion of the url after the very last slash) is the Tenant.

For example, in the REST API endpoint https://wd3-impl-services1.workday.com/ccx/api/v1/mycompany, the BaseURL is https://wd3-impl-services1.workday.com and the Tenant is mycompany.

Using ConnectionType to Select the API

The value you use for the ConnectionType property determines which Workday API you use. See our Community Article for more information on Workday connectivity options and best practices.

API	ConnectionType Value
WQL	WQL
Reports as a Service	Reports
REST	REST
SOAP	SOAP

Authentication

Your method of authentication depends on which API you are using.

WQL, Reports as a Service, REST: Use OAuth authentication.
SOAP: Use Basic or OAuth authentication.

See the Help documentation for more information on configuring OAuth with Workday.

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

In a new VCL Forms application, expand the FireDAC node in the Data Explorer.
Right-click the ODBC Data Source node in the Data Explorer.
Click Add New Connection.
Enter a name for the connection.
In the FireDAC Connection Editor that appears, set the DataSource property to the name of the ODBC DSN for Workday.

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

Create VCL Applications with Connectivity to Workday Data

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

Drop a TFDConnection component onto the form and set the following properties:
- ConnectionDefName: Select the FireDAC connection to Workday data.
- Connected: Select True from the menu and, in the dialog that appears, enter your credentials.
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 Worker_Reference_WID, Legal_Name_Last_Name FROM Workers WHERE Legal_Name_Last_Name = 'Morgan'
```
- Active: Set this property to true.
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.
Drop a TDBGrid control onto the form and set the following property:
- DataSource: Select the name of the TDataSource.
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.)

You now have an executable application that displays the results of the SQL Query set in the TFDQuery object.

👁 The Data Displayed in a Form. (Salesforce is shown.)

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

Ready to get started?

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

Download Now

Learn more:

👁 Workday Icon
Workday ODBC Driver

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

Access Workday data like you would a database - read, write, and update Workday Cash Management, Compensation, Financial Management, Payroll, etc. through a standard ODBC Driver interface.

URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/workday-odbc-rad-vcl-app.rst