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Get the Report →Search External Drift Objects in Salesforce Connect
Use CData Connect Server to securely provide OData feeds of Drift data to smart devices and cloud-based applications. Use the CData Connect and Salesforce Connect to create Drift objects that you can access from apps and the dashboard.
CData Connect Server, enables you to access Drift data from cloud-based applications like the Salesforce console and mobile applications like the Salesforce1 Mobile App. In this article, you will use CData Connect Server and Salesforce Connect to access external Drift objects alongside standard Salesforce objects.
Configuring Connect Server
To work with live Drift data in Salesforce Connect, we need to connect to Drift from Connect Server, provide user access to the new virtual database, and create OData endpoints for the Drift data.
Add a Connect Server User
Create a User to connect to Drift from Reveal through Connect Server.
- Click Users -> Add
- Configure a User
- Click Save Changes and make note of the Authtoken for the new user
Connect to Drift from Connect Server
CData Connect Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.
- Open Connect Server and click Connections
- Select "Drift" from Available Data Sources
- Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Drift.
Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the Drift Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Drift.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Drift (see below).
Drift API Profile Settings
Drift uses OAuth-based authentication.
You must first register an application here: https://dev.drift.com. Your app will be assigned a client ID and a client secret. Set these in your connection string via the OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret properties. More information on setting up an OAuth application can be found at https://devdocs.drift.com/docs/.
After setting the following options in the ProfileSettings connection property, you are ready to connect:
- AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
- OAuthClientId: Set this to the Client Id that is specified in your app settings.
- OAuthClientSecret: Set this to Client Secret that is specified in your app settings.
- CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI you specified in your app settings.
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to manage the process to obtain the OAuthAccessToken.
- Click Save Changes
- Click Privileges -> Add and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions (SELECT is all that is required for Reveal).
Add Drift OData Endpoints in Connect Server
After connecting to Drift, create OData Endpoints for the desired table(s).
- Click OData -> Tables -> Add Tables
- Select the Drift database
- Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Next
- (Optional) Edit the table definition to select specific fields and more
- Save the settings
(Optional) Configure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)
When accessing and connecting to multiple different domains, there is a possibility of violating the limitations of cross-site scripting. In that case, configure the CORS settings in OData -> Settings.
- Enable cross-origin resource sharing (CORS): ON
- Allow all domains without '*': ON
- Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, PUT, POST, OPTIONS
- Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Authorization
Save the changes to the settings.
Connect to Drift Data as an External Data Source
Follow the steps below to connect to the feed produced by the API Server.
- Log into Salesforce and click Setup -> Integrations -> External Data Sources.
- Click New External Data Source.
- Enter values for the following properties:
- External Data Source: Enter a label to be used in list views and reports.
- Name: Enter a unique identifier.
- Type: Select the option "Salesforce Connect: OData 4.0".
URL: Enter the URL to the OData endpoint of the API Server. The format of the OData URL is CONNECT_SERVER_URL/api.rsc/
Select JSON in the Format menu.
- In the Authentication section, set the following properties:
- Identity Type: If all members of your organization will use the same credentials to access the API Server, select "Named Principal". If the members of your organization will connect with their own credentials, select "Per User".
- Authentication Protocol: Select Password Authentication to use basic authentication.
- Certificate: Enter or browse to the certificate to be used to encrypt and authenticate communications from Salesforce to your server.
- Username: Enter the username for a user known to CData Connect Server.
- Password: Enter the user's authtoken.
Synchronize Drift Objects
After you have created the external data source, follow the steps below to create Drift external objects that reflect any changes in the data source. You will synchronize the definitions for the Drift external objects with the definitions for Drift tables.
- Click the link for the external data source you created.
- Click Validate and Sync.
- Select the Drift tables you want to work with as external objects.
Access Drift Data as Salesforce Objects
After adding Drift data as an external data source and syncing Drift tables as external objects, you can use the external Drift objects just as you would standard Salesforce objects.
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Create a new tab with a filter list view:
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Create reports of external objects:
Simplified Access to Drift Data from Applications
At this point, you have a direct connection to live Drift data from Salesforce. For more information on gaining simplified access to data from more than 100 SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources in applications like Salesforce, refer to our Connect Server page.