Rapidly Develop Canny-Driven Apps with Active Query Builder
Write standard .NET to expose Canny data through an SQL interface: Active Query Builder helps developers write SQL interfaces; the CData ODBC Driver for Canny enables standards-based access to Canny. This integration uses the Microsoft ADO.NET Provider for ODBC as a bridge between the ODBC Driver and the Active Query Builder objects to build a visual SQL composer.
Connect to Canny as an ODBC Data Source
If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.
Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the Canny Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Canny.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Canny (see below).
Canny API Profile Settings
Canny uses a secret API key to control access to the API. The API key is sent as a JSON body parameter named 'apiKey' in every HTTP POST request to the Canny API endpoints.
To authenticate with the Canny API, you need your company-level secret API key. You can find this key in your Canny account under Settings > API.
After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:
- AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
- APIKey: Set this to your Canny company-level secret API key from the Settings > API page in your Canny dashboard.
Use SQL to Interact with Canny
Follow the steps below to create a WinForms visual query builder.
- Open Active Query Builder for .NET WinForms.
- In the new Windows Forms project go to the "File" menu and click "Connect..."
- Under Database Connections, click "Add..."
- Set your desired Connection Name (e.g. CData Canny), set Connection Type to "ODBC" and locate your previously configured DSN in the "User/System" DSN dropdown.
- Click "OK" to save the new connection.
- Back in the Database Connection wizard, select the newly created connection and click "OK."
- Click "File" > "New Query" to create a QueryBuilder
You can now build queries visually: Double-click a table in the Columns Pane Area and an entity/relationship diagram is displayed in the Query Building Area. Columns that you select in the diagram are added to the query.
