Viewing SharePoint Excel Services Data in RAD Studio Data Explorer

Embarcadero RAD Studio provides a development environment for Delphi and C++Builder applications. With the CData ODBC Driver for SharePoint Excel Services, you gain access to live SharePoint Excel Services data within RAD Studio, abstracting the data into tables, views, and stored procedures that can be used to both retrieve and update SharePoint Excel Services data. This article will walk through connecting to SharePoint Excel Services using the Data Explorer.

Configure a Connection to SharePoint Excel Services

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.

The URL, User, and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid credentials for SharePoint Online, SharePoint 2010, or SharePoint 2013. Additionally, the Library property must be set to a valid SharePoint Document Library and the File property must be set to a valid .xlsx file in the indicated Library.

Connecting to SharePoint Excel Services Data Using Data Explorer

You can create a simple application for displaying SharePoint Excel Services data by utilizing the CData FireDAC Components for SharePoint Excel Services and a new VCL Forms Application:

1. Open the Data Explorer in RAD Studio and expand FireDAC.
2. Right-click the ODBC Data Source node in the Data Explorer.
3. Click Add New Connection.
4. Enter a name for the connection.
5. In the FireDAC Connection Editor that appears, set the DataSource property to the name of the ODBC DSN for SharePoint Excel Services.
6. Back in the Data Explorer, expand the tables for the connection.

7. Create a new VCL Forms application and drag a table (for example: Account) onto the form.

8. Select the AccountTable object on the form and set the Active property to true.

9. Right-click on the object, bind visually, and link everything (*) to a new control (TStringGrid).

10. Arrange the TStringGrid on the form and run the application to see the Account data.

Related Articles

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

• DataBind Controls to SharePoint Excel Services Data in C++Builder
• DataBind Controls to SharePoint Excel Services Data in Delphi
• Build a Simple VCL Application for SharePoint Excel Services Data