Connect to AlloyDB Data through External Services in Salesforce

CData Connect Cloud, enables you to access AlloyDB data from cloud-based applications like the Salesforce and mobile applications like the Salesforce Mobile App. In this article, you will use CData Connect Cloud to access AlloyDB data through Salesforce External Services.

Connect to AlloyDB from Salesforce

To work with live AlloyDB data in Salesforce Connect, we need to connect to AlloyDB from Connect Cloud, provide user access to the connection, and create OData endpoints for the AlloyDB data.

(Optional) Add a New Connect Cloud User

As needed, create Users to connect to AlloyDB through Connect Cloud.

1. Navigate to the Users page and click Invite Users
2. Enter the new user's email address and click Send to invite the user
3. You can review and edit users from the Users page

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Connect to AlloyDB from Connect Cloud

CData Connect Cloud uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "AlloyDB" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to AlloyDB.

   The following connection properties are usually required in order to connect to AlloyDB.

   • Server: The host name or IP of the server hosting the AlloyDB database.
   • User: The user which will be used to authenticate with the AlloyDB server.
   • Password: The password which will be used to authenticate with the AlloyDB server.

   You can also optionally set the following:

   • Database: The database to connect to when connecting to the AlloyDB Server. If this is not set, the user's default database will be used.
   • Port: The port of the server hosting the AlloyDB database. This property is set to 5432 by default.

   Authenticating with Standard Authentication

   Standard authentication (using the user/password combination supplied earlier) is the default form of authentication.

   No further action is required to leverage Standard Authentication to connect.

   Authenticating with pg_hba.conf Auth Schemes

   There are additional methods of authentication available which must be enabled in the pg_hba.conf file on the AlloyDB server.

   Find instructions about authentication setup on the AlloyDB Server here.

   Authenticating with MD5 Authentication

   This authentication method must be enabled by setting the auth-method in the pg_hba.conf file to md5.

   Authenticating with SASL Authentication

   This authentication method must be enabled by setting the auth-method in the pg_hba.conf file to scram-sha-256.

   Authenticating with Kerberos

   The authentication with Kerberos is initiated by AlloyDB Server when the ∏ is trying to connect to it. You should set up Kerberos on the AlloyDB Server to activate this authentication method. Once you have Kerberos authentication set up on the AlloyDB Server, see the Kerberos section of the help documentation for details on how to authenticate with Kerberos.

4. Click Create & Test

Add a workspace and an asset to Virtual Datasets

Virtual Databases provide a new way to access, model, govern, and deliver data. A virtual database mimics a real database. Applications can connect like they normally would to a database, but the connection is a live data connection to the data source. Follow the given process to add a workspace to the Virtual dataset:

1. Select Virtual Datasets in Connect Cloud and add a new workspace. Check the documentation link for further reference.
2. Add a new asset in the workspace and select the required table from the AlloyDB to update using Salesforce external services (to be demonstrated in the next section).
3. Select View Endpoints -> OData. Copy the Username, OpenAPI URL, and PAT (generated in the previous section) and save them for future reference. Click Close.

Check the column data types of the selected table:

1. Once the AlloyDB data table is added as an asset, select the table, and note the column names and data types from the Column tab.
2. In the Preview tab, preview the current data in the table to be referenced later.
3. Click on Users from the left panel and search for your username, e.g. [email protected]. Click on the same.
4. On the Edit Users screen, grant the respective user all Permissions (Select, Insert, Update, Delete, and Execute) for the entity (workspace).

Connect to AlloyDB Data as an External Service

Create a Named Credential

Follow the steps below to connect to the OpenAPI produced by CData Connect Cloud with Salesforce:

1. Log into Salesforce and navigate to Setup.
2. Search for Named Credentials in the search bar and click on it.
3. Select New -> New Legacy.
4. Add the given details in the New Named Credential screen:
   • Label: enter a label of your choice
   • Name: enter a name for the named credential
   • URL: https://cloud.cdata.com
   • Identity Type: Named Principal
   • Authentication Protocol: Password Authentication
   • Username: enter your CData Connect Cloud username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect Cloud interface. For example, [email protected]
   • Password: enter the PAT you generated on the Settings page
   • Generate Authorization Header: enable the checkbox

Click Save to save the details.

Create an External Service

1. Now, search for External Services in the search bar and click on it.
2. In the Add an External Service page, click From API Specification under Select an API Source.
3. In the Enter an Existing Service page, enter the given details under Modify Exiting Registration Details:
   • External Service Name: enter an identifying name for your external service
   • Description: enter a description of your external service (not a mandatory field)
   • Service Schema: Relative URL
   • Select a Named Credential: OpenAPI
   • URL: copy enter the OpenAPI URL from Connect Cloud and remove https://www.cdata.com and keep the rest of the URL. Make sure the URL starts with a forward slash "/api...".
   

   If the connection is successful, the message "Schema validation completed successfully!" will be displayed on the screen. Click Save & Next

4. Select all the entities in the Select Operations screen. Click Next.
5. All the schema-generated actions are displayed in the Review External Services Actions screen. Click Finish.
6. The External Services page will display all the external services created.

Create a new Flow

1. Search for Flows in the search bar and click on it.
2. Click New Flow.
3. Select Start From Scratch option and click Screen Flow.
4. In the Flow Builder screen, click on the "" between Screen Flow and End.
5. Select Screen from Add Element.
6. In the New Screen window, enter "Input Screen" in Label and the API Name will be auto-filled accordingly.
7. Next, based on the table you want to update, note the column data types to add the components to the flow. In the table we discussed in the article, we have column types such as int (orderid), varchar (ordername), and int (personid).
8. Now, for the orderid column, search for the "Number" component in the Components search bar and click on it. Enter Label as "Enter Order ID" and again API Name will be auto-filled accordingly. Enable the Require checkbox and apply this for steps 9 and 10.
9. For the ordername column, search for the "Text" component in the Components search bar and click on it. Enter Label as "Enter Order Name".
10. For the personid column, search for the "Number" component in the Components search bar and click on it. Enter Label as "Enter Person ID".
11. Click Done and Input Screen will be added in the Flow Builder.
12. Now, add an element Action below the input screen in the flow.
13. Under Search Actions, search and click the newly created external service, in this case, OpenAPI1.
14. Click Create Orders.
15. Enter a name in Label, the API Name gets auto filled.
16. Click on the search bar under Set Input Values for the Selected Action and select New Resource -> Variable.
17. In the New Resource window, enter the following details:
    • Resource Type: Variable
    • API Name: Body
    • Data Type: Apex-Defined
    • Apex Class: ExternalService__CDataWorkspace2e
    • Availability Outside the Flow:
      • Available for input: enable checkbox
      • Available for output: enable checkbox
      
18. Add a new element Assignment and add the Label name as "SendBody". Again, the API Name gets auto-filled.
19. Set the given values under Set Variable Values:
    • Variable: Body>orderid; Operator: Equals; Value: Input Screen>Enter Order ID
    • Variable: Body>ordername; Operator: Equals; Value: Input Screen>Enter Order Name
    • Variable: Body>personid; Operator: Equals; Value: Input Screen>Enter Person ID
    
20. Add another Screen element below the Action element.
21. Name the Label as "Display".
22. Under Components, search for the "Display Text" component and click on it.
23. Set the API Name as "Display_Result" and in the Inside a resource search bar, select Create a new order -> response code. Click Done.
24. The flow is now ready. Click Save to save the flow and add a name to the Label as the flow name, in this case, "CreateOrdersPage". Click Save.
25. The flow is displayed on the Flow Builder screen. Click on Activate to activate the flow.

Check the flow and verify the updated details in Connect Cloud

1. Click Debug. The Debug flow window opens. Click Run.
2. In the details input page, in this case, "CreateOrdersPage", enter the details (Orders ID, Orders Name, and Person ID) and click Next.
3. The next page displays the message "200" (HTTP 200 - OK) and the right pane displays the debug details. Click Next.
4. You can change the inputs or run the process again to enter new details.
5. Check in Connect Cloud if the new details are updated in the "Orders" table, as this article outlines. This completes the process.

Simplified access to AlloyDB data from cloud applications

At this point, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live AlloyDB data from Salesforce. For more details on accessing live data from over 100 SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources through cloud applications, visit our CData Connect Cloud page.

Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.