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DataBind Charts to IBM Cloud Data Engine Data


Use the standard ADO.NET procedures for databinding to provide bidirectional access to IBM Cloud Data Engine data from controls in the Visual Studio toolbox. This article demonstrates a graphical approach using wizards in Visual Studio, as well as how to databind with only a few lines of code.

DataBinding facilitates two-way interaction with data through UI controls. Using the CData ADO.NET Provider for IBM Cloud Data Engine streamlines the process of binding IBM Cloud Data Engine data to Windows Forms and Web controls within Visual Studio. In this article, we will demonstrate using wizards to establish a binding between IBM Cloud Data Engine data and a chart that dynamically updates. Additionally, the code walk-through section will guide you through the creation of a chart using just 10 lines of code.

DataBind to a Chart

DataBinding consists of three steps: Instantiate the control, configure the data source, and databind.

Configure the Connection and Select Database Objects

To create a chart control and establish a connection to IBM Cloud Data Engine, follow the steps outlined below using the Data Source Configuration Wizard. Within the wizard, you'll have the option to choose the specific IBM Cloud Data Engine entities you wish to bind to.

  1. In a Windows Forms project, drag and drop a Chart control from the toolbox to the form. In the Data section of the Chart properties, select DataSource and then select Add Project Data Source from the menu.
  2. In the Data Source Configuration Wizard that appears, select Database -> Dataset.
  3. In the Choose Your Data Connection step, click New Connection.

  4. In the Add Connection dialog, click Change to select the CData IBM Cloud Data Engine Data Source.

    Below is a typical connection string:

    Api Key=MyAPIKey;Instance CRN=myInstanceCRN;Region=myRegion;Schema=mySchema;OAuth Client Id=myOAuthClientId;OAuth Client Secret=myOAuthClientSecret;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH

    IBM Cloud Data Engine uses the OAuth and HMAC authentication standards. See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for a guide to using OAuth.

    When you configure the connection, 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 reports and visualizations.

  5. Choose the database objects you want to work with. This example uses the Jobs table.

DataBind

After adding the data source and selecting database objects, you can bind the objects to the chart. This example assigns the x-axis to Id and the y-axis to Status.

  1. In the Chart properties, click the button in the Series property to open the Series Collection Editor.
  2. In the Series properties, select the columns you want for the x- and y-axes: Select columns from the menu in the XValueMember and YValueMember properties.

The chart is now databound to the IBM Cloud Data Engine data. Run the chart to display the current data.

Code Walk-through

DataBinding to IBM Cloud Data Engine data requires only a few lines of code and can be completed in three easy steps.

  1. Connect to IBM Cloud Data Engine.
  2. Create the IBMCloudDataEngineDataAdapter to execute the query and create a DataSet to be filled with its results.
  3. DataBind the result set to the chart.

Below is the complete code:

IBMCloudDataEngineConnection conn = new IBMCloudDataEngineConnection("Api Key=MyAPIKey;Instance CRN=myInstanceCRN;Region=myRegion;Schema=mySchema;OAuth Client Id=myOAuthClientId;OAuth Client Secret=myOAuthClientSecret;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH"); IBMCloudDataEngineCommand comm = new IBMCloudDataEngineCommand("SELECT Id, Status FROM Jobs WHERE UserId = user@domain.com", conn); IBMCloudDataEngineDataAdapter da = new IBMCloudDataEngineDataAdapter(comm); DataSet dataset = new DataSet(); da.Fill(dataset); chart1.DataSource = dataset; chart1.Series[0].XValueMember = "Id"; chart1.Series[0].YValueMembers = "Status"; // Insert code for additional chart formatting here. chart1.DataBind();