How to Access Live Discourse Data in Power Automate Desktop via ODBC
The CData ODBC Driver for Discourse enables you to access live Discourse data in workflow automation tools like Power Automate. This article shows how to integrate Discourse data into a simple workflow, moving Discourse data into a CSV file.
Through optimized data processing, CData ODBC Drivers offer unmatched performance for interacting with live Discourse data in Microsoft Power Automate. When you issue complex SQL queries from Power Automate to Discourse, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Discourse and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (e.g. SQL functions and JOIN operations).
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;
When you configure the DSN, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing workflows.
Integrate Discourse Data into Power Automate Workflows
After configuring the DSN for Discourse, you are ready to integrate Discourse 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 actions to connect to Discourse, query Discourse using SQL, and write the query results to a CSV document.
Add an Open SQL Connection Action
Add an "Open SQL connection" action (Actions -> Database) and configure the properties.
- Connection string: DSN=CData Discourse Source
After configuring the action, click Save.
Add an Execute SQL Statement Action
Add an "Execute SQL statement" action (Actions -> 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 Backups
After configuring the action, click Save.
Add a Write to CSV File Action
Add a "Write to CSV file" action (Actions -> 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 action, click Save.
Add a Close SQL Connection Action
Add a "Close SQL connection" action (Actions -> Database) and configure the properties.
- SQL Connection: %SQLConnection% (the variable from the "Open SQL connection" action above)
After configuring the action, click Save.
Save & Run the Flow
Once you have configured all the actions 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 move Discourse data into a CSV file.
With the CData ODBC Driver for Discourse, you get live connectivity to Discourse data within your Microsoft Power Automate workflows.
Related Power Automate Articles
This article explains how to use the CData ODBC Driver for Discourse with Power Automate Desktop. Check out our other articles for more ways to work with Power Automate (Desktop & Online):