Analyze Dynamics 365 Data in Infragistics Reveal

Reveal is a data visualization solution provided by Infragistics and can be paired with CData Connect Cloud to build dynamic dashboards from live Dynamics 365 data. CData Connect Cloud creates a live connection to Dynamics 365 and can be used to generate an OData API (natively supported in Reveal) for Dynamics 365. In this article, we walk through connecting to Dynamics 365 in Connect Cloud and connecting to Connect Cloud from Infragistics Reveal to create a simple dashboard.

Configuring Connect Cloud

To work with live Dynamics 365 data in Infragistics Reveal, we need to connect to Dynamics 365 from Connect Cloud, provide user access to the connection, and create OData endpoints for the Dynamics 365 data.

(Optional) Add a New Connect Cloud User

As needed, create Users to connect to Dynamics 365 through Connect Cloud.

1. Navigate to the Users page and click Invite Users
2. Enter the new user's email address and click Send to invite the user
3. You can review and edit users from the Users page

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.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. Oa the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Connect to Dynamics 365 from Connect Cloud

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

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Dynamics 365" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Dynamics 365.

   Edition and OrganizationUrl are required connection properties. The Dynamics 365 connector supports connecting to the following editions: CustomerService, FieldService, FinOpsOnline, FinOpsOnPremise, HumanResources, Marketing, ProjectOperations and Sales.

   For Dynamics 365 Business Central, use the separate Dynamics 365 Business Central driver.

   OrganizationUrl is the URL to your Dynamics 365 organization. For instance, https://orgcb42e1d0.crm.dynamics.com

4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Dynamics 365 Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add Dynamics 365 OData Endpoints in Connect Cloud

After connecting to Dynamics 365, create OData Endpoints for the desired table(s).

1. Navigate to the OData page and click Add to create new OData endpoints
2. Select the Dynamics 365 connection (e.g. Dynamics3651) and click Next
3. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm

With the connection and OData endpoints configured, you are ready to connect to Dynamics 365 data from Infragistics Reveal.

Create a Dashboard in Reveal

With Connect Cloud configured, we can visualize Dynamics 365 data in Reveal.

1. Log into Reveal and click Dashboards -> New
2. Click Data Sources -> OData Feed
3. Specify the Connect Cloud OData API endpoint URL (found on the OData page): https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/service
4. Select Generic Credentials and
   • Set Username to a Connect Cloud username (e.g. user@mydomain.com)
   • Set Password to the PAT for the user
5. Select the entity you wish to visualize
6. Select fields and choose a chart type

More Information & Free Trial

At this point, you have created a simple dashboard from live Dynamics 365 data. For more information on creating OData feeds from Dynamics 365 (and more than 100 other sources), visit the Connect Cloud page. Sign up for a free trial and start working live Dynamics 365 data in tools that consume OData APIs.