Manage Act CRM Data in DBArtisan as a JDBC Source

The CData JDBC Driver for Act CRM seamlessly integrates Act CRM data into database management tools like DBArtisan by enabling you to access Act CRM data as a database. This article shows how to create a JDBC source for Act CRM in DBArtisan. You can then edit data visually and execute standard SQL.

Integrate Act CRM Data into DBArtisan Projects

Follow the steps below to register Act CRM data as a database instance in your project:

1. In DBArtisan, click Data Source -> Register Datasource.
2. Select Generic JDBC.
3. Click Manage.
4. In the resulting dialog, click New. Enter a name for the driver and click Add. In the resulting dialog, navigate to the driver JAR. The driver JAR is located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
5. In the Connection URL box, enter credentials and other required connection properties in the JDBC URL.

   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:

   • 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.

   • 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

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

   Below is a typical connection string:

   jdbc:actcrm:URL=https://myActCRMserver.com;User=myUser;Password=myPassword;ActDatabase=MyDB;
6. Finish the wizard to connect to Act CRM data. Act CRM entities are displayed in the Datasource Explorer.

You can now work with Act CRM data as you work with any other database. See the driver help documentation for more information on the queries supported by the Act CRM API.