Feed Dynamics NAV Data into FineReport

The CData JDBC Driver for Dynamics NAV fully implements the JDBC standard and can provide Dynamics NAV data connectivity to a wide variety of BI, reporting, and ETL tools and custom applications. In this article, we explain how to set Dynamics NAV data as JDBC data source in FineReport and view Dynamics NAV data as a table in the Report Designer.

Set Up a JDBC Data Source of Dynamics NAV Data

Follow the instruction below to set Dynamics NAV data as a FineReport database connection.

1. Copy the cdata.jdbc.dynamicsnav.jar file from the lib folder in the CData JDBC Driver for Dynamics NAV installation directory to the lib folder of the FineReport installation directory. You will need to copy the cdata.jdbc.dynamicsnav.lic file as well.
2. From the Server tab, select Define Data Connection, click to add a new connection, and click JDBC.

Next we will set up the data connection definition in the window.

1. Database: Others
2. JDBC Driver: cdata.jdbc.dynamicsnav.DynamicsNAVDriver
3. URL: A standard JDBC connection string using semicolon-separated connection properties.

   Before you can connect, OData Services will need to be enabled on the server. Once OData Services are enabled, you will be able to query any Services that are published on the server.

   The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid Dynamics NAV user credentials. In addition, you will need to specify a URL to a valid Dynamics NAV server organization root and a ServerInstance. If there is not a Service Default Company for the server, you will need to set the Company as well.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

   For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Dynamics NAV JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.dynamicsnav.jar

   Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

   When you configure the JDBC URL, 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.

   A typical JDBC URL is below:

   jdbc:dynamicsnav:http://myserver:7048;User=myserver\Administrator;Password=admin;ServerInstance=DYNAMICSNAV71;
4. Click Connection pool attributes and set Test before getting connections to No.

Click Test connection to ensure you have configured the connection properly. With the connection to Dynamics NAV set up, you can use it as FineReport data source.

Select Dynamics NAV Data in the Report Designer.

1. Click to add a new template data set and select DB query to open the database query window.
2. Choose the JDBC connection that you created from the dropdown list.
3. The Dynamics NAV entities will appear as tables on the left pane.
4. Write a SELECT statement for the Dynamics NAV data tables and columns that you want to load.
5. Click preview and data is shown as table.

With these simple steps, Dynamics NAV can be used as a JDBC data source in FineReport.