How to Access Live Dynamics NAV Data in Power Automate Desktop via ODBC

The CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics NAV enables you to access live Dynamics NAV data in workflow automation tools like Power Automate. This article shows how to integrate Dynamics NAV data into a simple workflow, moving Dynamics NAV data into a CSV file.

Through optimized data processing, CData ODBC Drivers offer unmatched performance for interacting with live Dynamics NAV data in Microsoft Power Automate. When you issue complex SQL queries from Power Automate to Dynamics NAV, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Dynamics NAV and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (e.g. SQL functions and JOIN operations).

Connect to Dynamics NAV as an ODBC Data Source

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.

Before you can connect, OData Services will need to be enabled on the server. Once OData Services are enabled, you will be able to query any Services that are published on the server.

The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid Dynamics NAV user credentials. In addition, you will need to specify a URL to a valid Dynamics NAV server organization root and a ServerInstance. If there is not a Service Default Company for the server, you will need to set the Company as well.

When you configure the DSN, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing workflows.

Integrate Dynamics NAV Data into Power Automate Workflows

After configuring the DSN for Dynamics NAV, you are ready to integrate Dynamics NAV data into your Power Automate workflows. Open Microsoft Power Automate, add a new flow, and name the flow.

In the flow editor, you can add the actions to connect to Dynamics NAV, query Dynamics NAV using SQL, and write the query results to a CSV document.

Add an Open SQL Connection Action

Add an "Open SQL connection" action (Actions -> Database) and configure the properties.

• Connection string: DSN=CData Dynamics NAV Source

After configuring the action, click Save.

Add an Execute SQL Statement Action

Add an "Execute SQL statement" action (Actions -> Database) and configure the properties.

• Get connection by: SQL connection variable
• SQL connection: %SQLConnection% (the variable from the "Open SQL connection" action above)
• SQL statement: SELECT * FROM Customer

After configuring the action, click Save.

Add a Write to CSV File Action

Add a "Write to CSV file" action (Actions -> File) and configure the properties.

• Variable to write to: %QueryResult% (the variable from the "Execute SQL statement" action above)
• File path: set to a file on disk
• Configure Advanced settings as needed.

After configuring the action, click Save.

Add a Close SQL Connection Action

Add a "Close SQL connection" action (Actions -> Database) and configure the properties.

• SQL Connection: %SQLConnection% (the variable from the "Open SQL connection" action above)

After configuring the action, click Save.

Save & Run the Flow

Once you have configured all the actions for the flow, click the disk icon to save the flow. Click the play icon to run the flow.

Now you have a workflow to move Dynamics NAV data into a CSV file.

With the CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics NAV, you get live connectivity to Dynamics NAV data within your Microsoft Power Automate workflows.

Related Power Automate Articles

This article walks through using the CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics NAV with Power Automate Desktop. Check out our other articles for more ways to work with Power Automate (Desktop & Online):

• Dynamics NAV Data in Power Automate Desktop using CData Connect
• Dynamics NAV Data in Power Automate (Online) using CData Connect