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DataBind Act CRM Data to the DevExpress Data Grid



Use the CData ADO.NET Provider for Act CRM with the DevExpress Windows Forms and Web controls to provide Act CRM data to a chart.

The ADO.NET Provider for Act CRM by CData incorporates conventional ADO.NET data access components compatible with third-party controls. You can adhere to the standard ADO.NET data binding procedures to establish two-way access to real-time data through UI controls. This article will demonstrate the utilization of CData components for data binding with DevExpress UI Controls (Windows Forms and Web controls), specifically binding to a chart that visualizes live data.

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.

Windows Forms Controls

The code below shows how to populate a DevExpress chart with Act CRM data. The ActCRMDataAdapter binds to the Series property of the chart control. The Diagram property of the control defines the x- and y-axes as the column names.

using (ActCRMConnection connection = new ActCRMConnection( "URL=https://myActCRMserver.com;User=myUser;Password=myPassword;ActDatabase=MyDB;")) { ActCRMDataAdapter dataAdapter = new ActCRMDataAdapter( "SELECT ActivityDisplayName, Subject FROM Activities", connection); DataTable table = new DataTable(); dataAdapter.Fill(table); DevExpress.XtraCharts.Series series = new DevExpress.XtraCharts.Series(); chartControl1.Series.Add(series); series.DataSource = table; series.ValueDataMembers.AddRange(new string[] { "Subject" }); series.ArgumentScaleType = DevExpress.XtraCharts.ScaleType.Qualitative; series.ArgumentDataMember = "ActivityDisplayName"; series.ValueScaleType = DevExpress.XtraCharts.ScaleType.Numerical; chartControl1.Legend.Visibility = DevExpress.Utils.DefaultBoolean.False; ((DevExpress.XtraCharts.SideBySideBarSeriesView)series.View).ColorEach = true; }

Web Controls

The code below shows how to populate a DevExpress Web control with Act CRM data. The ActCRMDataAdapter binds to the Series property of the chart; the Diagram property defines the x- and y-axes as the column names.

using DevExpress.XtraCharts; using (ActCRMConnection connection = new ActCRMConnection( "URL=https://myActCRMserver.com;User=myUser;Password=myPassword;ActDatabase=MyDB;")) { ActCRMDataAdapter ActCRMDataAdapter1 = new ActCRMDataAdapter("SELECT ActivityDisplayName, Subject FROM Activities", connection); DataTable table = new DataTable(); ActCRMDataAdapter1.Fill(table); DevExpress.XtraCharts.Series series = new Series("Series1", ViewType.Bar); WebChartControl1.Series.Add(series); series.DataSource = table; series.ValueDataMembers.AddRange(new string[] { "Subject" }); series.ArgumentScaleType = ScaleType.Qualitative; series.ArgumentDataMember = "ActivityDisplayName"; series.ValueScaleType = ScaleType.Numerical; ((DevExpress.XtraCharts.SideBySideBarSeriesView)series.View).ColorEach = true; }