Build a Simple VCL Application for Dropbox Data

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Dropbox FireDAC Components

Rapidly create and deploy powerful Delphi & C++Builder Apps that integrate with Dropbox file storage data including Files, Folders, Users, and more!

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How to build a simple VCL Application to view Dropbox data in RAD Studio using the CData FireDAC Components for Dropbox.

Embarcadero RAD Studio provides a development environment for Delphi and C++Builder applications. With the CData FireDAC Components for Dropbox, you gain access to live Dropbox data within RAD Studio, abstracting the data into tables, views, and stored procedures that can be used to retrieve and update Dropbox data. This article will walk through connecting to Dropbox and creating a simple VCL application with the Form Designer.

Creating a VCL Application for Dropbox Data

The following instructions show how to use the Form Designer to create a simple VCL Forms application that shows the basic FireDAC objects needed to connect to Dropbox from any application.

The following example populates a TDBGrid control.

  1. Create a new VCL Forms Application.
  2. Drop a TFDPhysDropboxDriverLink and TFDConnection object onto the form.

  3. Double-click the TFDConnection object. The FireDAC Connection Editor is displayed. Select "CData.Dropbox" in the DriverId menu and configure the connection properties.

    Dropbox uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, you can use the embedded credentials or register an app with Dropbox.

    See the Getting Started guide in the CData driver documentation for more information.

  4. Drop a TFDQuery object onto the form and set the properties below:

    • Connection - Set this property to the TFDConnection object, if this object is not already specified.
    • SQL - Click the button in the SQL property and enter a query.
    • Active - Set this property to true.
  5. Drop a TDataSource object onto the form and set the following property:

    • DataSet - In the menu for this property, select the name of the TFDQuery object.
  6. Drop a TDBGrid control onto the form and set the following property:

    • DataSource - Select the name of the TDataSource.

  7. Drop a TFDGUIxWaitCursor onto the form. This is required to avoid a run-time error.

You now have an executable application that displays the results of the SQL Query set in the TFDQuery object.