DataBind Charts to Alchemy Data

DataBinding facilitates two-way interaction with data through UI controls. Using the CData ADO.NET Provider for Alchemy streamlines the process of binding Alchemy data to Windows Forms and Web controls within Visual Studio. In this article, we will demonstrate using wizards to establish a binding between Alchemy data and a chart that dynamically updates. Additionally, the code walk-through section will guide you through the creation of a chart using just 10 lines of code.

Binding Data to a Chart

DataBinding to a Chart consists of three steps: Instantiate the control, configure the data source, and databind.

Configure the Connection and Select Database Objects

To create a chart control and establish a connection to Alchemy, follow the steps outlined below using the Data Source Configuration Wizard. Within the wizard, you'll have the option to choose the specific Alchemy entities you wish to bind to.

1. In a Windows Forms project, drag and drop a Chart control from the toolbox to the form. In the Data section of the Chart properties, select DataSource and then select Add Project Data Source from the menu.
2. In the Data Source Configuration Wizard that appears, select Database -> Dataset.
3. In the Choose Your Data Connection step, click New Connection.

4. In the Add Connection dialog, click Change to select the CData Alchemy Data Source.

   Below is a typical connection string:

   Profile=C:\profiles\Alchemy.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;Network=eth-mainnet;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key';

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

   Alchemy API Profile Settings

   Alchemy uses API key authentication. The API key is supplied in the request URL path. To obtain an API key:

   1. Sign in to your Alchemy account at https://dashboard.alchemy.com.
   2. Open an existing app or create a new one.
   3. Copy the app's API key from the API Key dialog.

   After obtaining your API key, set the following connection properties:

   • AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
   • Network: Optional. The blockchain network slug for NFT API requests (for example, eth-mainnet, base-mainnet, polygon-mainnet). Defaults to eth-mainnet.

   Set the following in the ProfileSettings connection property:

   • APIKey: Set this to your Alchemy app API key.

   When you configure the connection, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

   
5. Choose the database objects you want to work with. This example uses the ContractsForOwner table.

DataBind

After adding the data source and selecting database objects, you can bind the objects to the chart. This example assigns the x-axis to Address and the y-axis to Name.

1. In the Chart properties, click the button in the Series property to open the Series Collection Editor.
2. In the Series properties, select the columns you want for the x- and y-axes: Select columns from the menu in the XValueMember and YValueMember properties.

The chart is now databound to the Alchemy data. Run the chart to display the current data.

Code Walk-through

DataBinding to Alchemy data requires only a few lines of code and can be completed in three easy steps.

1. Connect to Alchemy.
2. Create the APIDataAdapter to execute the query and create a DataSet to be filled with its results.
3. DataBind the result set to the chart.

Below is the complete code:

APIConnection conn = new APIConnection("Profile=C:\profiles\Alchemy.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;Network=eth-mainnet;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key';");
APICommand comm = new APICommand("SELECT Address, Name FROM ContractsForOwner WHERE Owner = '0xd8dA6BF26964aF9D7eEd9e03E53415D37aA96045'", conn);
APIDataAdapter da = new APIDataAdapter(comm);
DataSet dataset = new DataSet();
da.Fill(dataset);

chart1.DataSource = dataset;  
chart1.Series[0].XValueMember = "Address";
chart1.Series[0].YValueMembers = "Name";
// Insert code for additional chart formatting here.
chart1.DataBind();