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Get the Report →Integrate Real-Time Access to Airtable in SAPUI5 MVC Apps
Use the built-in ODataModel class in SAPUI5 to create Web apps that reflect changes to Airtable data in real time.
In this article we show how to use the CData Connect Server and with the ADO.NET Provider for Airtable (or any of 200+ other ADO.NET Providers) to write SAPUI5 apps that leverage the capabilities of the Airtable API, without writing to a back-end database. The Connect Server is a lightweight Web application that runs on your server and produces OData feeds of Airtable data. OData is the standard for real-time data access over the Web and has built-in support in SAPUI5 and OpenUI5.
Configuring Connect Server
To work with live Airtable data in our SAPUI5 app, we need to connect to Airtable from Connect Server, provide user access to the new virtual database, and create OData endpoints for the Airtable data.
Add a Connect Server User
Create a User to connect to Airtable from SAPUI5 through Connect Server.
- Click Users -> Add
- Configure a User
- Click Save Changes and make note of the Authtoken for the new user
Connect to Airtable from Connect Server
CData Connect Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.
- Open Connect Server and click Connections
- Select "Airtable" from Available Data Sources
- Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Airtable.
APIKey, BaseId and TableNames parameters are required to connect to Airtable. ViewNames is an optional parameter where views of the tables may be specified.
- APIKey : API Key of your account. To obtain this value, after logging in go to Account. In API section click Generate API key.
- BaseId : Id of your base. To obtain this value, it is in the same section as the APIKey. Click on Airtable API, or navigate to https://airtable.com/api and select a base. In the introduction section you can find "The ID of this base is appxxN2ftedc0nEG7."
- TableNames : A comma separated list of table names for the selected base. These are the same names of tables as found in the UI.
- ViewNames : A comma separated list of views in the format of (table.view) names. These are the same names of the views as found in the UI.
- Click Save Changes
- Click Privileges -> Add and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions (SELECT is all that is required for Reveal).
Add Airtable OData Endpoints in Connect Server
After connecting to Airtable, create OData Endpoints for the desired table(s).
- Click OData -> Tables -> Add Tables
- Select the Airtable database
- Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Next
- (Optional) Edit the resource to select specific fields and more
- Save the settings
(Optional) Configure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)
When accessing and connecting to multiple domains from an application such as Ajax, there is a possibility of violating the limitations of cross-site scripting. In that case, configure the CORS settings in OData -> Settings.
- Enable cross-origin resource sharing (CORS): ON
- Allow all domains without '*': ON
- Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, PUT, POST, OPTIONS
- Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Authorization
Save the changes to the settings.
Create the View
In this article the user views and interacts with Airtable data through an SAPUI5 table control. Table columns will be automatically detected from the metadata retrieved from the Connect Server's API endpoint. We define the following table in a separate View.view.xml file:
<mvc:View controllerName="sap.ui.table.sample.OData2.Controller" xmlns="sap.ui.table" xmlns:mvc="sap.ui.core.mvc" xmlns:u="sap.ui.unified" xmlns:c="sap.ui.core" xmlns:m="sap.m"> <m:Page showHeader="false" enableScrolling="true" class="sapUiContentPadding"> <m:content> <Table id="table" selectionMode="MultiToggle" visibleRowCount="10" enableSelectAll="false" rows="{/SampleTable_1}" threshold="15" enableBusyIndicator="true" columns="{ path: 'meta>/dataServices/schema/[${namespace}===\'CData\']/entityType/[${name}===\'SampleTable_1\']/property', factory: '.columnFactory' }"> <toolbar> <m:Toolbar> <m:Title text="Airtable SampleTable_1"></m:Title> </m:Toolbar> </toolbar> <noData> <m:BusyIndicator class="sapUiMediumMargin"/> </noData> </Table> </m:content> </m:Page> </mvc:View>
Create the Model and Controller
In SAPUI5, you do not need to write any OData queries; an ODataModel instance handles the application's data access commands. The Connect Server then translates the queries into Airtable API calls.
The controller processes user input and represents information to the user through a view. Define the controller in a new file, Controller.controller.js. Instantiate the model in the onInit function -- you will need to replace the placeholder values for the serviceUrl to the Connect Server as well as the Authorization header.
For the Authorization header, you will keep the "Basic" as shown and then use a Base64 encoder (such as this one) to generate a token to fill in the second part. You will use the login information for Connect Server in the following format to generate your encoded token -> User:Authtoken
sap.ui.define([ "sap/ui/core/mvc/Controller", "sap/ui/model/odata/v2/ODataModel", "sap/ui/model/json/JSONModel", "sap/ui/table/Column", "sap/m/Text", ], function(Controller, ODataModel, JSONModel, Column, Text ) { "use strict"; return Controller.extend("sap.ui.table.sample.OData2.Controller", { onInit : function () { var oView = this.getView(); var oDataModel = new ODataModel({ serviceUrl: "http://localhost:8080/odata.rsc/", headers: { "Authorization":"Basic your-token-here>" } }); oDataModel.setUseBatch(false); oDataModel.getMetaModel().loaded().then(function(){ oView.setModel(oDataModel.getMetaModel(), "meta"); }); oView.setModel(oDataModel); var oTable = oView.byId("table"); var oBinding = oTable.getBinding("rows"); var oBusyIndicator = oTable.getNoData(); oBinding.attachDataRequested(function(){ oTable.setNoData(oBusyIndicator); }); oBinding.attachDataReceived(function(){ oTable.setNoData(null); //use default again ("no data" in case no data is available) }); }, onExit : function () { }, columnFactory : function(sId, oContext) { var oModel = this.getView().getModel(); var sName = oContext.getProperty("name"); var sType = oContext.getProperty("type"); var iLen = oContext.getProperty("maxLength"); iLen = iLen ? parseInt(iLen, 10) : 10; return new Column(sId, { sortProperty: sName, filterProperty: sName, width: (iLen > 9 ? (iLen > 50 ? 15 : 10) : 5) + "rem", label: new sap.m.Label({text: "{/#SampleTable_1/" + sName + "/@name}"}), hAlign: sType && sType.indexOf("Decimal") >= 0 ? "End" : "Begin", template: new Text({text: {path: sName}}) }); } }); });
Describe Application Logic
Create a component that contains the resources of your application. Define the following in Component.js:
sap.ui.define([ 'sap/ui/core/UIComponent' ], function(UIComponent) { "use strict"; return UIComponent.extend("sap.ui.table.sample.OData2.Component", { metadata : { rootView : "sap.ui.table.sample.OData2.View", dependencies : { libs : [ "sap.ui.table", "sap.ui.unified", "sap.m" ] }, config : { sample : { stretch : true, files : [ "View.view.xml", "Controller.controller.js" ] } } } }); });
Bootstrap OpenUI5 and Launch
To complete the MVC application, simply add the bootstrap and initialization code. Add these directly to index.html:
<!DOCTYPE HTML> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="x-ua-compatible" content="ie=edge"> <meta charset="utf-8"> <title>Airtable SampleTable_1</title> <script id="sap-ui-bootstrap" src="https://openui5.hana.ondemand.com/resources/sap-ui-core.js" data-sap-ui-libs="sap.m" data-sap-ui-theme="sap_bluecrystal" data-sap-ui-xx-bindingSyntax="complex" data-sap-ui-preload="async" data-sap-ui-compatVersion="edge" data-sap-ui-resourceroots='{"sap.ui.table.sample.OData2": "./", "sap.ui.demo.mock": "mockdata"}'> </script> <!-- application launch configuration --> <script> sap.ui.getCore().attachInit(function() { new sap.m.App ({ pages: [ new sap.m.Page({ title: "Airtable SampleTable_1", enableScrolling : false, content: [ new sap.ui.core.ComponentContainer({ height : "100%", name : "sap.ui.table.sample.OData2" })] }) ] }).placeAt("content"); }); </script> </head> <!-- UI Content --> <body class="sapUiBody" id="content" role="application"> </body> </html>
Setting Up A Web Server
To test the project, we can set up a web server. SAPUI5 has its own mock server, and the documentation for setting it up can be found here: https://sapui5.hana.ondemand.com/sdk/#/topic/50897decc9504b2a875fb41d89fd254a
Alternatively, we can use a NodeJS server, like so:
var fs = require('fs'), http = require('http'); http.createServer(function (req, res) { fs.readFile(__dirname + req.url, function (err,data) { if (err) { res.writeHead(404); res.end(JSON.stringify(err)); return; } res.writeHead(200); res.end(data); }); }).listen(3000); //we're using port 3000, but you may use a different one
The resulting SAPUI5 table control reflects any changes to a table in the remote Airtable data. You can now browse and search current Airtable data.
Free Trial & More Information
If you are interested in connecting to your Airtable data (or data from any of our other supported data sources), sign up for a free trial of CData Connect Server today! For more information on Connect Server and to see what other data sources we support, refer to our CData Connect page.