Viewing MySQL 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 MySQL, you gain access to live MySQL data within RAD Studio, abstracting the data into tables, views, and stored procedures that can be used to both retrieve and update MySQL data. This article will walk through connecting to MySQL using the Data Explorer.

Configure a Connection to MySQL

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 Server and Port properties must be set to a MySQL server. If IntegratedSecurity is set to false, then User and Password must be set to valid user credentials. Optionally, Database can be set to connect to a specific database. If not set, tables from all databases will be returned.

Connecting to MySQL Data Using Data Explorer

You can create a simple application for displaying MySQL data by utilizing the CData FireDAC Components for MySQL 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 MySQL.
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: Orders) onto the form.

8. Select the OrdersTable 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 Orders 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 MySQL Data in C++Builder
• DataBind Controls to MySQL Data in Delphi
• Build a Simple VCL Application for MySQL Data