Replicate Multiple Act CRM Accounts

CData Sync is a stand-alone application that provides solutions for a variety of replication scenarios such as replicating sandbox and production instances into your database. CData Sync includes a web-based interface that makes it easy to manage multiple Act CRM connections. In this article we show how to use the web app to replicate multiple Act CRM accounts to a single database.

Configure the Replication Destination

Using CData Sync, you can replicate Act CRM data to any number of databases, both cloud-based and on-premises. To add a replication destination, navigate to the Connections tab.

1. Click Add Connection.
2. Select a destination and enter the necessary connection properties. In this article, we use SQLite.
3. Enter the necessary connection properties. To replicate Act CRM to a SQLite database, enter a file path in the Data Source box.
4. Click Test Connection to ensure that the connection is configured properly.
5. Click Save Changes.

Configure Act CRM Connections

You can configure connections to Act CRM from the Connections tab. To add a connection to one of your Act CRM accounts, navigate to the Connections tab. For each Act CRM account you wish to replicate, do the following:

1. Click Add Connection.
2. Select a source (Act CRM).
3. Configure the connection properties.
   
   

   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.

4. Click Connect to ensure that the connection is configured properly.
5. Click Save Changes.

Configure Queries for Each Act CRM Instance

CData Sync enables you to control replication with a point-and-click interface and with SQL queries. To configure a replication, navigate to the Jobs tab and click Add Job. Select the Source and Destination for your replication.

Replicate Entire Tables

To replicate an entire table, click Add Tables in the Tables section, choose the table(s) you wish to replicate, and click Add Selected Tables.

Customize Your Replication

You can use a SQL query to customize your replication. The REPLICATE statement is a high-level command that caches and maintains a table in your database. You can define any SELECT query supported by the Act CRM API. To customize your replication, click Add Custom Query in the Tables section and define the Query Statement.

The statement below caches and incrementally updates a table of Act CRM data:

REPLICATE Activities;

You can specify a file containing the replication queries you want to use to update a particular database. Separate replication statements with semicolons. The following options are useful if you are replicating multiple Act CRM accounts into the same database:

• Use a different table prefix in the REPLICATE SELECT statement:

  REPLICATE PROD_Activities SELECT * FROM Activities;

• Alternatively, use a different schema:

  REPLICATE PROD.Activities SELECT * FROM Activities;

Schedule Your Replication

In the Schedule section, you can schedule a job to run automatically, configuring the job to run after specified intervals ranging from once every 10 minutes to once every month.

Once you have configured the replication job, click Save Changes. You can configure any number of jobs to manage the replication of the data from your different Act CRM accounts.