Rapidly Develop Discourse-Driven Apps with Active Query Builder

Write standard .NET to expose Discourse data through an SQL interface: Active Query Builder helps developers write SQL interfaces; the CData ODBC Driver for Discourse enables standards-based access to Discourse. 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 Discourse 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.

The Discourse API uses API Key authentication.

Using API Key Authentication

Discourse requires API Key and Username for authentication. API Keys are generated in the Discourse Admin panel under the API section. You can create user-specific API keys or all-users API keys. Once you have obtained the API Key, set it along with the Domain and Username in the ProfileSettings connection property.

Example Connection string

Profile=C:\profiles\Discourse.apip;ProfileSettings='Domain=forum.example.com;APIKey=your_api_key;Username=your_username;'AuthScheme=APIKey;

Use SQL to Interact with Discourse

Follow the steps below to create a WinForms visual query builder.

1. Open Active Query Builder for .NET WinForms.
2. In the new Windows Forms project go to the "File" menu and click "Connect..."
3. Under Database Connections, click "Add..."
4. Set your desired Connection Name (e.g. CData Discourse), set Connection Type to "ODBC" and locate your previously configured DSN in the "User/System" DSN dropdown.
5. Click "OK" to save the new connection.
6. Back in the Database Connection wizard, select the newly created connection and click "OK."
7. 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.