Integrate Copper Data into Power Automate Desktop using CData Connect

CData Connect enables you to access live Copper data in workflow automation tools like Power Automate. This article shows how to integrate Copper data into a simple workflow, saving Copper data into a CSV file.

CData Connect provides a live interface for Copper, allowing you to integrate with live Copper data in Power Automate — without replicating the data. Connect uses optimized data processing out of the box to push all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Copper, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Copper data.

Configure Copper Connectivity for Power Automate

Connectivity to Copper from Power Automate is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Copper data from Power Automate, we start by creating and configuring a Copper connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "Copper" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Copper.

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

   Copper API Profile Settings

   In Copper CRM, go to Settings > Integrations > API Keys and click Generate API Key. Provide both the API key and the email address associated with your account.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Copper Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the 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.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to Copper data from Power Automate Desktop.

Integrate Copper Data into Power Automate Workflows

After configuring CData Connect with Copper, you are ready to integrate Copper data into your Power Automate workflows. Open Microsoft Power Automate, add a new flow, and name the flow.

In the flow editor, you can add the options to connect to Copper, query Copper using SQL, and write the query results to a CSV document.

Add an Open SQL Connection Action

Add an "Open SQL connection" action (Action -> Database) and click the option to build the Connection string. In the Data Link Properties wizard:

1. On the Provider tab: select Microsoft OLE DB Driver for SQL Server
2. On the Connection tab:
   1. Select or enter a server name: set to tds.cdata.com,14333
   2. Enter information to lag onto the server: select "Use a specific username and password"
      • Set User name to your CData Connect AI user name (e.g. [email protected])
      • Set Password to your PAT
      • Select the database: use the database configured above (e.g. API1)
3. Click "Test Connection" to ensure the connection is configured properly
4. Click "OK"

After building the connection string in the Data Link Properties wizard, save the action.

Add an Execute SQL Statement Action

Add an "Execute SQL statement" action (Action -> Database) and configure the properties.

• Get connection by: SQL connection variable
• SQL connection: %SQLConnection% (the variable from the "Open SQL connection" action above)
• SQL statement: SELECT * FROM Account

After configuring the properties, save the action.

Add a Write to CSV File Action

Add a "Write to CSV file" action (Action -> File) and configure the properties.

• Variable to write to: %QueryResult% (the variable from the "Execute SQL statement" action above)
• File path: set to a file on disk
• Configure Advanced settings as needed.

After configuring the properties, save the action.

Add a Close SQL Connection Action

Add a "Close SQL connection" action (Action -> Database) and configure the properties.

• SQL Connection: %SQLConnection% (the variable from the "Open SQL connection" action above)

After configuring the properties, save the action.

Save & Run the Flow

Once you have configured all the options for the flow, click the disk icon to save the flow. Click the play icon to run the flow.

Now you have a workflow to save Copper data into a CSV file.

With CData Connect AI, you get live connectivity to Copper data within your Microsoft Power Automate workflows.

SQL Access to Copper Data from Cloud Applications

Now you have a direct connection to live Copper data from Power Automate tasks. You can create more connections and workflows to drive business — all without replicating Copper data.

To get SQL data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, sign up for a free trial of CData Connect AI.

Related Power Automate Articles

This article explains how to use CData Connect AI with Power Automate Desktop. Check out our other articles for more ways to work with Power Automate (Desktop & Online):

• Copper Data in Power Automate (Online) using CData Connect AI