Use Dash to Build Web Apps on Dynamics 365 Business Central Data via CData Connect AI

The rich ecosystem of Python modules lets you get to work quickly and integrate your systems more effectively. With the CData Connect AI Python SDK, the pandas module, and the Dash framework, you can build Dynamics 365 Business Central-connected web applications for Dynamics 365 Business Central data. This article shows how to connect to Connect AI and use pandas and Dash to build a simple web app for visualizing Dynamics 365 Business Central data.

The Connect AI Python SDK (cdata-connect-ai) is a DB-API 2.0 (PEP 249) compliant client, so pandas can read query results directly from the SDK connection object. There is no driver to install per source: connect with a Personal Access Token and build your app.

Connect to Dynamics 365 Business Central in Connect AI

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

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

2. Select "Dynamics 365 Business Central" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Dynamics 365 Business Central.

   To authenticate to Dynamics 365 Business Central, you must select an AuthScheme and provide the required properties (OAuth by default).

   All Methods

   Specify the OrganizationUrl. If you have multiple companies in your organization, you must also specify the Company to indicate which company you would like to connect to. Company does not need to be specified if you have only one company.

   Access Key

   To authenticate with an Access Key, set AuthScheme to "AccessKey" and provide the User and AccessKey properties.

   To obtain the User and AccessKey values, navigate to the Users page in Dynamics 365 Business Central and then click on Edit. The User Name and Web Service Access Key values are what you will enter as the User and AccessKey connection string properties. Note that the User Name is not your email address. It is a shortened user name.

   If you wish to authenticate through other methods, refer to the Help documentation.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab and update the user-based permissions.

Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT)

The Python SDK authenticates to Connect AI with your account email and a Personal Access Token (PAT). It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each application to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click 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 PAT is only visible at creation, so copy it and store it securely.

Install Required Modules

Install the SDK (with the pandas extra), Dash, and Plotly using the pip utility:

pip install "cdata-connect-ai[full]"
pip install dash
pip install plotly

Build a Web App on Dynamics 365 Business Central Data in Python

Once the required modules are installed, you are ready to build the web app. Code snippets follow, but the full source code is available at the end of the article.

First, import the modules, then connect to Connect AI with your account email and PAT and read Dynamics 365 Business Central data into a DataFrame. Identifiers are three-part: <Connection>.<Schema>.<Table>, where the connection name defaults to the source name (for example, D365BusinessCentral1).

import dash
from dash import dcc, html
import pandas as pd
import plotly.graph_objs as go
import cdata_connect_ai

conn = cdata_connect_ai.connect(
    username="[email protected]",
    password="<your_pat>",
)

df = pd.read_sql(
    "SELECT accountid, Name "
    "FROM [D365BusinessCentral1].[D365BusinessCentral].[Accounts] "
    "WHERE Name = 'MyAccount'",
    conn,
)

conn.close()

Configure the App and Layout

With the query results stored in a DataFrame, build a bar graph from the Dynamics 365 Business Central data and configure the app layout.

app = dash.Dash(__name__)
app.title = 'CData Connect AI + Dash'

trace = go.Bar(x=df['accountid'], y=df['Name'], name='accountid')

app.layout = html.Div(
    children=[
        html.H1("CData Connect AI + Dash", style={'textAlign': 'center'}),
        dcc.Graph(
            id='example-graph',
            figure={
                'data': [trace],
                'layout': go.Layout(title='Dynamics 365 Business Central Accounts Data', barmode='stack'),
            },
        ),
    ],
    className="container",
)

Set the App to Run

With the connection, app, and layout configured, you are ready to run the app.

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run(debug=True)

Now, use Python to run the web app and a browser to view the Dynamics 365 Business Central data.

python d365businesscentral-dash.py

More Information and Free Trial

Now you can build interactive Dash web apps on live Dynamics 365 Business Central data using the CData Connect AI Python SDK. For more information on connecting to Dynamics 365 Business Central (and hundreds of other data sources), visit the Connect AI page. Sign up for a free trial and start building web apps on live Dynamics 365 Business Central data in Python.

Full Source Code

import dash
from dash import dcc, html
import pandas as pd
import plotly.graph_objs as go
import cdata_connect_ai

conn = cdata_connect_ai.connect(
    username="[email protected]",
    password="<your_pat>",
)

df = pd.read_sql(
    "SELECT accountid, Name "
    "FROM [D365BusinessCentral1].[D365BusinessCentral].[Accounts] "
    "WHERE Name = 'MyAccount'",
    conn,
)

conn.close()

app = dash.Dash(__name__)
app.title = 'CData Connect AI + Dash'

trace = go.Bar(x=df['accountid'], y=df['Name'], name='accountid')

app.layout = html.Div(
    children=[
        html.H1("CData Connect AI + Dash", style={'textAlign': 'center'}),
        dcc.Graph(
            id='example-graph',
            figure={
                'data': [trace],
                'layout': go.Layout(title='Dynamics 365 Business Central Accounts Data', barmode='stack'),
            },
        ),
    ],
    className="container",
)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run(debug=True)