Import Real-Time Abyssale Data via ODBC in ColdFusion to Build Applications

Adobe ColdFusion is a web and mobile application development platform. It uses its own scripting language, ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML), to create data-driven websites as well as generate remote services, such as REST. When ColdFusion is paired with the CData API Driver for ODBC, you can link your ColdFusion web and mobile applications to operational Abyssale data. This allows for your applications to be more robust and complete. This article details how to use the ODBC driver to create a table populated with Abyssale data from within a ColdFusion markup file.

To follow along with this tutorial, you need to install the CData API Driver for ODBC and Adobe ColdFusion.

Configuring the Connection

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 process. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the Abyssale Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Abyssale.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Abyssale (see below).

Abyssale API Profile Settings

Abyssale uses API Key authentication. Your Abyssale API Key is sent as the x-api-key request header. You can generate or view your API Key in the Abyssale dashboard under Settings > API.

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
• APIKey: Set this to your Abyssale API Key.

Adding a Data Source and Creating a Table

After creating a DSN, follow the steps below to add a new data source, test our connection to it, create a ColdFusion markup file, and, finally, import Abyssale Data and display it in a table in ColdFusion:

1. From the ColdFusion administrator interface, choose Data & Services.
2. Here, click "Add New Data Source". The data source name can be any name, provided it conforms to the ColdFusion variable naming conventions. For our ODBC driver, choose "ODBC Socket", then click the "Add" button.
3. From the ODBC DSN Dropdown menu select CData Abyssale Sys. Under the Advanced Settings section, leave the Connection String blank. Note that any properties specified in this input field will override the ones specified in the DSN Configuration.
4. Now, test the connection by pressing the check mark to the left of the CDataAbyssaleODBC data source you just created. When the data source reports an "OK" status, it is ready for use.
5. Next, create a new ColdFusion Markup file (.cfm) and place it in the wwwroot directory ("C:\ColdFusion2021\cfusion\wwwroot") for ColdFusion.

   The following code queries the data source:

               
           <cfquery name="AbyssaleQuery" dataSource="CDataAbyssaleODBC"> 
             SELECT * FROM Designs 
           </cfquery> 
       

   And a CFTable can be used to quickly output the table in HTML:

               
             <cftable  
             query = "AbyssaleQuery" 
             border = "1" 
             colHeaders 
             colSpacing = "2" 
             headerLines = "2" 
             HTMLTable 
             maxRows = "500" 
             startRow = "1"> 
   
             <cfcol header="<b>Id</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="Id"/> 
   
             <cfcol header="<b>Name</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="Name"/> 
   
             ...
   
           </cftable> 
       

   Full code, including the HTML portion is available below:

               
           <html> 
           <head><title>CData Software | Abyssale Designs Table Demo </title></head> 
           <body> 
           <cfoutput>#ucase("Abyssale Designs Table Demo")#</cfoutput> 
           <cfquery name="AbyssaleQuery" dataSource="CDataAbyssaleODBC"> 
   
             SELECT * FROM Designs 
   
           </cfquery> 
           <cftable  
             query = "AbyssaleQuery" 
             border = "1" 
             colHeaders 
             colSpacing = "2" 
             headerLines = "2" 
             HTMLTable 
             maxRows = "500" 
             startRow = "1"> 
             <cfcol header="<b>Id</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="Id"/> 
   
             <cfcol header="<b>Name</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="Name"/> 
   
             ...
   
           </cftable> 
           </body> 
   
           </html>  
       

6. Finally, run the code in a browser. It produces a table populated with Abyssale data!

As a note, the CData ODBC Drivers also support parameterized queries using the cfqueryparam element. For example:

SELECT * FROM Account WHERE name =  

Get Started Today

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData ODBC Driver for Abyssale and start building Abyssale-connected applications with Adobe ColdFusion. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.