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Use CData JDBC drivers to import and use Act CRM data in ColdFusion.
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 JDBC Driver for Act CRM, you can link your ColdFusion web and mobile applications to operational Act CRM data. This allows for your applications to be more robust and complete. This article details how to use the JDBC driver to create a table populated with Act CRM data from within a ColdFusion markup file.
With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Act CRM data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Act CRM, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Act CRM and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). Its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze Act CRM data using native data types.
Configuring the Connection to Act CRM
You will need a JDBC connection string to establish a connection between Coldfusion and Act CRM.
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:
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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.
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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.
Built-in Connection String Designer
For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Act CRM JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.
java -jar cdata.jdbc.actcrm.jar
Adding a Data Source and Creating a Table
After configuring the connection, follow the steps below to add the CData JDBC Driver to ColdFusion's lib directory, add a new data source, test the connection, create a ColdFusion markup file, and, finally, make a real-time connection with Act CRM data and display it in a table written in the ColdFusion Markup Language, or CFML:
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Copy the JDBC Driver for Act CRM and lic file from "C:\Program Files\CData[product_name]\lib" to
"C:\ColdFusion2021\cfusion\wwwroot\WEB-INF\lib".
cdata.jdbc.actcrm.jar cdata.jdbc.actcrm.lic
Note: If you do not copy the .lic file with the jar, you will see a licensing error that indicates you do not have a valid license installed. This is true for both the trial and full versions.
- From the ColdFusion administrator interface, choose Data & Services.
- Here, we can "Add New Data Source". The data source name can be any name, provided it conforms to the ColdFusion variable naming conventions. For our JDBC driver, choose "other", then click the "Add" button.
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Next, populate the driver properties.
- JDBC URL will need to be in the format: jdbc:actcrm:|connectionString|.
- A typical connection string looks like this:
jdbc:actcrm:URL=https://myActCRMserver.com;User=myUser;Password=myPassword;ActDatabase=MyDB;
- The Driver Class is: cdata.jdbc.actcrm.ActCRMDriver
- The Driver Name is arbitrary and simply used to recognize the data source in the ColdFusion administration console.
- Now, test the connection by clicking the check mark to the left of the CDataAct CRMJDBC data source you just created. When the data source reports an "OK" status, it is ready for use.
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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="Act CRMQuery" dataSource="CDataAct CRMJDBC"> SELECT * FROM Activities </cfquery>
And a CFTable can be used to quickly output the table in HTML:<cftable query = "Act CRMQuery" border = "1" colHeaders colSpacing = "2" headerLines = "2" HTMLTable maxRows = "500" startRow = "1"> <cfcol header="<b>ActivityDisplayName</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="ActivityDisplayName"/> <cfcol header="<b>Subject</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="Subject"/> ... </cftable>
Full code, including the HTML portion is available below:<html> <head><title>CData Software | Act CRM Activities Table Demo </title></head> <body> <cfoutput>#ucase("Act CRM Activities Table Demo")#</cfoutput> <cfquery name="Act CRMQuery" dataSource="CDataAct CRMJDBC"> SELECT * FROM Activities </cfquery> <cftable query = "Act CRMQuery" border = "1" colHeaders colSpacing = "2" headerLines = "2" HTMLTable maxRows = "500" startRow = "1"> <cfcol header="<b>ActivityDisplayName</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="ActivityDisplayName"/> <cfcol header="<b>Subject</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="Subject"/> ... </cftable> </body> </html>
- Finally, run the code locally in a browser at the default port of 8500. It produces a table populated with Act CRM data!
As a note, the CData JDBC 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 JDBC Driver for Act CRM and start building Act CRM-connected applications with Adobe ColdFusion. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.