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Connect to Act CRM Data from PowerBuilder


This article demonstrates how to access Act CRM data from Appeon PowerBuilder using the CData ADO.NET Provider for Act CRM.

This article demonstrates using the CData ADO.NET Provider for Act CRM in PowerBuilder, showcasing the ease of use and compatibility of these standards-based controls across various platforms and development technologies that support Microsoft .NET, including Appeon PowerBuilder.

This article shows how to create a basic PowerBuilder application that uses the CData ADO.NET Provider for Act CRM to perform reads and writes.

  1. In a new WPF Window Application solution, add all the Visual Controls needed for the connection properties. Below is a typical connection string:

    URL=https://myActCRMserver.com;User=myUser;Password=myPassword;ActDatabase=MyDB;

    The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid Act! user credentials. In addition to the authentication values, see the following:

    • Connecting to Act! Premium

      In addition to the authentication values, the URL to Act! is also required; for example https://eup1-iis-04.eu.hosted.act.com/.

      Additionally, you must specify the ActDatabase you will connect to. This is found by going to the About Act! Premium menu of your account, at the top right of the page, in the ? menu. Use the Database Name in the window that appears.

    • Connecting to Act! Premium Cloud

      To connect to your Act! Premium Cloud account, you also need to specify the ActCloudName property. This property is found in the URL address of the Cloud account; for example https://eup1-iis-04.eu.hosted.act.com/ActCloudName/.

    Note that retrieving ActCRM metadata can be expensive. It is advised that you set the CacheMetadata property to store the metadata locally.

  2. Add the DataGrid control from the .NET controls.
  3. Configure the columns of the DataGrid control. Below are several columns from the Account table: <DataGrid AutoGenerateColumns="False" Margin="13,249,12,14" Name="datagrid1" TabIndex="70" ItemsSource="{Binding}"> <DataGrid.Columns> <DataGridTextColumn x:Name="idColumn" Binding="{Binding Path=Id}" Header="Id" Width="SizeToHeader" /> <DataGridTextColumn x:Name="nameColumn" Binding="{Binding Path=ActivityDisplayName}" Header="ActivityDisplayName" Width="SizeToHeader" /> ... </DataGrid.Columns> </DataGrid>
  4. Add a reference to the CData ADO.NET Provider for Act CRM assembly.

Connect the DataGrid

Once the visual elements have been configured, you can use standard ADO.NET objects like Connection, Command, and DataAdapter to populate a DataTable with the results of an SQL query:

System.Data.CData.ActCRM.ActCRMConnection conn conn = create System.Data.CData.ActCRM.ActCRMConnection(connectionString) System.Data.CData.ActCRM.ActCRMCommand comm comm = create System.Data.CData.ActCRM.ActCRMCommand(command, conn) System.Data.DataTable table table = create System.Data.DataTable System.Data.CData.ActCRM.ActCRMDataAdapter dataAdapter dataAdapter = create System.Data.CData.ActCRM.ActCRMDataAdapter(comm) dataAdapter.Fill(table) datagrid1.ItemsSource=table.DefaultView

The code above can be used to bind data from the specified query to the DataGrid.

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