Access Live Dynamics 365 Data in Excel 365 Online (Excel for the web)

Microsoft Excel for the web represents a cloud-native iteration of Microsoft Excel. When integrated with CData Connect Cloud, you gain immediate access to Dynamics 365 data directly from within Excel. This access facilitates data analysis, collaborative work, calculations, and more. This article provides a step-by-step guide on connecting to Dynamics 365 within your Connect Cloud instance and accessing live Dynamics 365 data in Excel for the web spreadsheets, whether for viewing or updating purposes.

CData Connect Cloud provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for Dynamics 365, allowing you to easily access live Dynamics 365 data in Excel for the web. Simply use the Connect Cloud Add-In to query live data (or write your own). Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Cloud pushes all supported query operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Dynamics 365, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Dynamics 365 data.

Configure Dynamics 365 Connectivity for Excel

Connectivity to Dynamics 365 from Excel is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Dynamics 365 data from Excel, we start by creating and configuring a Dynamics 365 connection.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Dynamics 365" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Dynamics 365.

   Edition and OrganizationUrl are required connection properties. The Dynamics 365 connector supports connecting to the following editions: CustomerService, FieldService, FinOpsOnline, FinOpsOnPremise, HumanResources, Marketing, ProjectOperations and Sales.

   For Dynamics 365 Business Central, use the separate Dynamics 365 Business Central driver.

   OrganizationUrl is the URL to your Dynamics 365 organization. For instance, https://orgcb42e1d0.crm.dynamics.com

4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Dynamics 365 Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Dynamics 365 data from Excel for the web.

Access Live Dynamics 365 Data in Excel for the web

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect Cloud from Excel to access live Dynamics 365 data.

1. Log into Excel, create a new sheet (or open an existing one).
2. Click Insert and click Office Add-ins. (if you have already installed the Add-In, jump to step 4).
3. Search for CData Connect Cloud Add-In and install the Add-in.
4. Click Data and open the CData Connect Cloud Add-In.
5. In the Add-In panel, click Authorize to authenticate with your CData Connect Cloud instance
6. In the CData Connect Cloud panel in Excel, click Import
7. Choose a Connection (e.g. Dynamics3651), Table (e.g. GoalHeadings), and Columns to import
8. Optionally add Filters, Sorting, and a Limit
9. Click Execute to import the data

Update Dynamics 365 Data from Excel

In addition to viewing Dynamics 365 data in Excel, CData Connect Cloud also lets you update and delete Dynamics 365 data. Begin by importing data (as described above).

1. Update any cell or cells with changes you want to push to Dynamics 365 (your changes will be in red)
2. In the CData Connect Cloud Add-In panel, select Update
3. Optionally highlight the cell(s) you wish to update and select an update option ("Update All" or "Update Selected")
4. Click Execute to push the updates to Dynamics 365

A notification will appear when the update is complete

Live Access to Dynamics 365 Data from Cloud Applications

New, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Dynamics 365 data from your Excel workbook. You can add more data to your workbook for calculations, aggregations, collaboration, and more.

Try CData Connect Cloud and get real-time data access to 100+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications.