Access Dynamics NAV Data in Mule Applications Using the CData JDBC Driver

The CData JDBC Driver for Dynamics NAV connects Dynamics NAV data to Mule applications enabling read , write, update, and delete functionality with familiar SQL queries. The JDBC Driver allows users to easily create Mule applications to backup, transform, report, and analyze Dynamics NAV data.

This article demonstrates how to use the CData JDBC Driver for Dynamics NAV inside of a Mule project to create a Web interface for Dynamics NAV data. The application created allows you to request Dynamics NAV data using an HTTP request and have the results returned as JSON. The exact same procedure outlined below can be used with any CData JDBC Driver to create a Web interface for the 200+ available data sources.

1. Create a new Mule Project in Anypoint Studio.
2. Add an HTTP Connector to the Message Flow.
3. Configure the address for the HTTP Connector.
4. Add a Database Select Connector to the same flow, after the HTTP Connector.
5. Create a new Connection (or edit an existing one) and configure the properties.
   • Set Connection to "Generic Connection"
   • Select the CData JDBC Driver JAR file in the Required Libraries section (e.g. cdata.jdbc.dynamicsnav.jar).
   • Set the URL to the connection string for Dynamics NAV

     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.

   • Set the Driver class name to cdata.jdbc.dynamicsnav.DynamicsNAVDriver.
   • Click Test Connection.
6. Set the SQL Query Text to a SQL query to request Dynamics NAV data. For example: SELECT Name, Prices_Including_VAT FROM Customer
7. Add a Transform Message Component to the flow.
8. Set the Output script to the following to convert the payload to JSON:

   %dw 2.0
   output application/json
   ---
   payload
           

9. To view your Dynamics NAV data, navigate to the address you configured for the HTTP Connector (localhost:8081 by default): http://localhost:8081. The Dynamics NAV data is available as JSON in your Web browser and any other tools capable of consuming JSON endpoints.

At this point, you have a simple Web interface for working with Dynamics NAV data (as JSON data) in custom apps and a wide variety of BI, reporting, and ETL tools. Download a free, 30 day trial of the JDBC Driver for Dynamics NAV and see the CData difference in your Mule Applications today.