Connect to Alchemy Data from PowerBuilder via ADO.NET

Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
This article demonstrates how to access Alchemy data from Appeon PowerBuilder using the CData API Driver for ADO.NET.

This article demonstrates using the CData API Driver for ADO.NET in PowerBuilder, showcasing the ease of use and compatibility of these standards-based controls across various platforms and development technologies that support Microsoft .NET, including Appeon PowerBuilder.

This article shows how to create a basic PowerBuilder application that uses the CData API Driver for ADO.NET to retrieve data.

  1. In a new WPF Window Application solution, add all the Visual Controls needed for the connection properties. 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.
  2. Add the DataGrid control from the .NET controls.
  3. Configure the columns of the DataGrid control. Below are several columns from the Account table:
    
    
    <DataGrid AutoGenerateColumns="False" Margin="13,249,12,14" Name="datagrid1" TabIndex="70" ItemsSource="{Binding}">
    <DataGrid.Columns>
        <DataGridTextColumn x:Name="idColumn" Binding="{Binding Path=Id}" Header="Id" Width="SizeToHeader" />
        <DataGridTextColumn x:Name="nameColumn" Binding="{Binding Path=Address}" Header="Address" Width="SizeToHeader" />
    		...
    	</DataGrid.Columns>
    </DataGrid>
    
  4. Add a reference to the CData API Driver for ADO.NET assembly.

Connect the DataGrid

Once the visual elements have been configured, you can use standard ADO.NET objects like Connection, Command, and DataAdapter to populate a DataTable with the results of an SQL query:


System.Data.CData.API.APIConnection conn 
conn = create System.Data.CData.API.APIConnection(connectionString)

System.Data.CData.API.APICommand comm 
comm = create System.Data.CData.API.APICommand(command, conn)

System.Data.DataTable table
table = create System.Data.DataTable

System.Data.CData.API.APIDataAdapter dataAdapter
dataAdapter = create System.Data.CData.API.APIDataAdapter(comm)
dataAdapter.Fill(table)	
datagrid1.ItemsSource=table.DefaultView

The code above can be used to bind data from the specified query to the DataGrid.

Ready to get started?

Connect to live data from Alchemy with the API Driver

Connect to Alchemy