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

Configure a Connection to SQL Server

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.

Connecting to Microsoft SQL Server

Connect to Microsoft SQL Server using the following properties:

• Server: The name of the server running SQL Server.
• User: The username provided for authentication with SQL Server.
• Password: The password associated with the authenticating user.
• Database: The name of the SQL Server database.

Connecting to Azure SQL Server and Azure Data Warehouse

You can authenticate to Azure SQL Server or Azure Data Warehouse by setting the following connection properties:

• Server: The server running Azure. You can find this by logging into the Azure portal and navigating to "SQL databases" (or "SQL data warehouses") -> "Select your database" -> "Overview" -> "Server name."
• User: The name of the user authenticating to Azure.
• Password: The password associated with the authenticating user.
• Database: The name of the database, as seen in the Azure portal on the SQL databases (or SQL warehouses) page.

Connecting to SQL Server Data Using Data Explorer

You can create a simple application for displaying SQL Server data by utilizing the CData FireDAC Components for SQL Server 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 SQL Server.
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 SQL Server Data in C++Builder
• DataBind Controls to SQL Server Data in Delphi
• Build a Simple VCL Application for SQL Server Data