Access Live Act CRM Data in TIBCO Data Virtualization

TIBCO Data Virtualization (TDV) is an enterprise data virtualization solution that orchestrates access to multiple and varied data sources. When paired with the CData TIBCO DV Adapter for Act CRM, you get federated access to live Act CRM data directly within TIBCO Data Virtualization. This article walks through deploying an adapter and creating a new data source based on Act CRM.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData TIBCO DV Adapter offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Act CRM data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Act CRM, the adapter pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Act CRM. Its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze Act CRM data using native data types.

Deploy the Act CRM TIBCO DV Adapter

1. In a console, navigate to the bin folder in the TDV Server installation directory. If there is a current version of the adapter installed, you will need to undeploy it.

   .\server_util.bat -server localhost -user admin -password ******** -undeploy -version 1 -name ActCRM
   

2. Extract the CData TIBCO DV Adapter to a local folder and deploy the JAR file (tdv.actcrm.jar) to the server from the extract location.

   .\server_util.bat -server localhost -user admin -password ******** -deploy -package /PATH/TO/tdv.actcrm.jar
   

You may need to restart the server to ensure the new JAR file is loaded properly, which can be accomplished by running the composite.bat script located at: C:\Program Files\TIBCO\TDV Server <version>\bin. Note that reauthenticating to the TDV Studio is required after restarting the server.

Sample Restart Call

.\composite.bat monitor restart

Create a Act CRM Data Source in TDV Studio

With the CData TIBCO DV Adapter for Act CRM, you can easily create a data source for Act CRM and introspect the data source to add resources to TDV.

Create the Data Source

1. Right-click on the folder you wish to add the data source to and select New -> New Data Source.
2. Scroll until you find the adapter (e.g. Act CRM) and click Next.
3. Name the data source (e.g. CData Act CRM Source).

4. Fill in the required connection properties.

   The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid Act! user credentials. In addition to the authentication values, see the following:

   • Connecting to Act! Premium

     In addition to the authentication values, the URL to Act! is also required; for example https://eup1-iis-04.eu.hosted.act.com/.

     Additionally, you must specify the ActDatabase you will connect to. This is found by going to the About Act! Premium menu of your account, at the top right of the page, in the ? menu. Use the Database Name in the window that appears.

   • Connecting to Act! Premium Cloud

     To connect to your Act! Premium Cloud account, you also need to specify the ActCloudName property. This property is found in the URL address of the Cloud account; for example https://eup1-iis-04.eu.hosted.act.com/ActCloudName/.

   Note that retrieving ActCRM metadata can be expensive. It is advised that you set the CacheMetadata property to store the metadata locally.

5. Click Create & Close.

Introspect the Data Source

Once the data source is created, you can introspect the data source by right-clicking and selecting Open. In the dashboard, click Add/Remove Resources and select the Tables, Views, and Stored Procedures to include as part of the data source. Click Next and Finish to add the selected Act CRM tables, views, and stored procedures as resources.

After creating and introspecting the data source, you are ready to work with Act CRM data in TIBCO Data Virtualization just like you would any other relational data source. You can create views, query using SQL, publish the data source, and more.