Feed Dynamics 365 Data into FineReport

The CData JDBC Driver for Dynamics 365 fully implements the JDBC standard and can provide Dynamics 365 data connectivity to a wide variety of BI, reporting, and ETL tools and custom applications. In this article, we explain how to set Dynamics 365 data as JDBC data source in FineReport and view Dynamics 365 data as a table in the Report Designer.

Set Up a JDBC Data Source of Dynamics 365 Data

Follow the instruction below to set Dynamics 365 data as a FineReport database connection.

1. Copy the cdata.jdbc.dynamics365.jar file from the lib folder in the CData JDBC Driver for Dynamics 365 installation directory to the lib folder of the FineReport installation directory. You will need to copy the cdata.jdbc.dynamics365.lic file as well.
2. From the Server tab, select Define Data Connection, click to add a new connection, and click JDBC.

Next we will set up the data connection definition in the window.

1. Database: Others
2. JDBC Driver: cdata.jdbc.dynamics365.Dynamics365Driver
3. URL: A standard JDBC connection string using semicolon-separated connection properties.

   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

   Built-in Connection String Designer

   For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Dynamics 365 JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.dynamics365.jar

   Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

   When you configure the JDBC URL, 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 reports and visualizations.

   A typical JDBC URL is below:

   jdbc:dynamics365:OrganizationUrl=https://myaccount.operations.dynamics.com/;Edition=Sales;
4. Click Connection pool attributes and set Test before getting connections to No.

Click Test connection to ensure you have configured the connection properly. With the connection to Dynamics 365 set up, you can use it as FineReport data source.

Select Dynamics 365 Data in the Report Designer.

1. Click to add a new template data set and select DB query to open the database query window.
2. Choose the JDBC connection that you created from the dropdown list.
3. The Dynamics 365 entities will appear as tables on the left pane.
4. Write a SELECT statement for the Dynamics 365 data tables and columns that you want to load.
5. Click preview and data is shown as table.

With these simple steps, Dynamics 365 can be used as a JDBC data source in FineReport.