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Get the Report →Create Microsoft Dataverse-Connected Enterprise Applications in OutSystems
Use CData Connect Cloud to connect to Microsoft Dataverse Data from OutSystems and build custom enterprise apps using live Microsoft Dataverse data.
OutSystems is a low-code platform which provides the tools for companies to developer, deploy, and manage omnichannel enterprise applications. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, you get instant, cloud-to-cloud access to Microsoft Dataverse data for business applications. This article shows how to create a virtual database for Microsoft Dataverse in Connect Cloud and build a simple app from Microsoft Dataverse data in OutSystems.
The CData Connect Cloud provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for Microsoft Dataverse, allowing you to build reports from live Microsoft Dataverse data in OutSystems — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you create applications to work with data, OutSystems generates SQL queries to gather data. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Cloud pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to Microsoft Dataverse, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return the requested Microsoft Dataverse data.
About Microsoft Dataverse Data Integration
CData provides the easiest way to access and integrate live data from Microsoft Dataverse (formerly the Common Data Service). Customers use CData connectivity to:
- Access both Dataverse Entities and Dataverse system tables to work with exactly the data they need.
- Authenticate securely with Microsoft Dataverse in a variety of ways, including Azure Active Directory, Azure Managed Service Identity credentials, and Azure Service Principal using either a client secret or a certificate.
- Use SQL stored procedures to manage Microsoft Dataverse entities - listing, creating, and removing associations between entities.
CData customers use our Dataverse connectivity solutions for a variety of reasons, whether they're looking to replicate their data into a data warehouse (alongside other data sources)or analyze live Dataverse data from their preferred data tools inside the Microsoft ecosystem (Power BI, Excel, etc.) or with external tools (Tableau, Looker, etc.).
Getting Started
Configure Microsoft Dataverse Connectivity for OutSystems
Connectivity to Microsoft Dataverse from OutSystems is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Microsoft Dataverse data from OutSystems, we start by creating and configuring a Microsoft Dataverse connection.
- Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
- Select "Microsoft Dataverse" from the Add Connection panel
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Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Microsoft Dataverse.
You can connect without setting any connection properties for your user credentials. Below are the minimum connection properties required to connect.
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
- OrganizationUrl: Set this to the organization URL you are connecting to, such as https://myorganization.crm.dynamics.com.
- Tenant (optional): Set this if you wish to authenticate to a different tenant than your default. This is required to work with an organization not on your default Tenant.
When you connect the Common Data Service OAuth endpoint opens in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions. The OAuth process completes automatically.
- Click Create & Test
- Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Microsoft Dataverse Connection page and update the User-based permissions.
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.
- Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
- On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
- Give your PAT a name and click Create.
- 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, you are ready to connect to Microsoft Dataverse data from OutSystems.
Connect to Microsoft Dataverse from OutSystems
The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect Cloud from OutSystems to create a new Microsoft Dataverse database connection.
- Open OutSystems Service Studio
- Click the gear icon to open Environment Management in the Service Center
- Click Administration and select "Database Connections"
- Click "New Database Connection"
- Configure the database connection:
- Name: name the connection (e.g. CData Connect Cloud Microsoft Dataverse)
- DBMS: SQL Server / Azure SQL
- Username: a Connect Cloud user (e.g. [email protected])
- Password: the PAT for the Connect Cloud user
- Server: tds.cdata.com,14333
- Schema: the name of your Microsoft Dataverse connection (e.g. CDS1)
- Click "Test Connection"
- Click "Create"
Map Microsoft Dataverse Tables or Views to Entities in an Extension Module
Once you create the database connection for Microsoft Dataverse, you can create an extension that maps the tables or views to OutSystems entities. If you have not already done so, create an Application in Service Studio.
- Open the Service Studio and open the existing Application
- Click "Add Module," set the "Module Name" (e.g. cds_db_extension), set "Module Type" to "Extension," and click "Create Module"
- In Integration Studio, connect to your environment
- Right-click "Entities" in the extension tree and select "Connect to External Table or View..."
- Follow the steps in the wizard, selecting the tables and views you wish to work with
- In the Integration Studio, click "1-Click Publish"
- In the "1-Click Publish" wizard, click "Configure" when the process completes
- In the Service Center, associate the logical database name of the extension to the database connection that the extension will use and click "Apply"
- In the Service Center, associate the logical database name of the extension to the database connection that the extension will use and click "Apply"
- In your application, click "Manage Dependencies..."
- Add a dependency to the Extension and select the Entities that you will use in your application
At this point, you can access and work with Microsoft Dataverse data just like you would with the standard OutSystems entities.
More Information & Free Trial
With Connect Cloud and OutSystems, you can easily build Microsoft Dataverse-connected applications. Request a free trial of Connect Cloud and start working with Microsoft Dataverse data in OutSystems today.