In this article we show how to use the CData API Server and with the ADO.NET Provider for Dynamics CRM (or any of 190+ other ADO.NET Providers) to write SAPUI5 apps that leverage the capabilities of the Dynamics CRM API, without writing to a back-end database. The API Server is a lightweight Web application that runs on your server and produces OData feeds of Dynamics CRM data. OData is the standard for real-time data access over the Web and has built-in support in SAPUI5 and OpenUI5.
Set Up the API Server
Follow the steps below to begin producing secure Dynamics CRM OData services:
Deploy
The API Server runs on your own server. On Windows, you can deploy using the stand-alone server or IIS. On a Java servlet container, drop in the API Server WAR file. See the help documentation for more information and how-tos.
The API Server is also easy to deploy on Microsoft Azure, Amazon EC2, and Heroku.
Connect to Dynamics CRM
After you deploy the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for Dynamics CRM, provide authentication values and other connection properties needed to connect to Dynamics CRM by clicking Settings -> Connections and adding a new connection in the API Server administration console.
The connection string options meet the authentication and connection requirements of different Dynamics CRM instances.
To connect to your instance, set the User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, to valid Dynamics CRM user
credentials and set the Url to a valid Dynamics CRM server organization root. Additionally, set the CRMVersion property to 'CRM2011+' or 'CRMOnline'. IFD configurations are supported as well; set InternetFacingDeployment to true.
Additionally, you can provide the security token service (STS) or AD FS endpoint in the STSURL property. This value can be retrieved with the GetSTSUrl stored procedure. Office 365 users can connect to the default STS URL by simply setting CRMVersion.
You can then choose the Dynamics CRM entities you want to allow the API Server access to by clicking Settings -> Resources. This article uses Account as an example.
Authorize API Server Users
After determining the OData services you want to produce, authorize users by clicking Settings -> Users. The API Server uses authtoken-based authentication and supports the major authentication schemes. You can authenticate as well as encrypt connections with SSL. Access can also be restricted by IP address; Access is restricted to only the local machine by default.
Create the View
In this article the user views and interacts with Dynamics CRM data through an SAPUI5 table control. Table columns will be automatically detected from the metadata retrieved from the API Server's API endpoint. We define the following table in a separate View.view.xml file:
<mvc:View
controllerName="sap.ui.table.sample.OData2.Controller"
xmlns="sap.ui.table"
xmlns:mvc="sap.ui.core.mvc"
xmlns:u="sap.ui.unified"
xmlns:c="sap.ui.core"
xmlns:m="sap.m">
<m:Page
showHeader="false"
enableScrolling="false"
class="sapUiContentPadding">
<m:content>
<Table
id="table"
selectionMode="MultiToggle"
visibleRowCount="10"
enableSelectAll="false"
rows="{/Account}"
threshold="15"
enableBusyIndicator="true"
columns="{
path: 'meta>/dataServices/schema/[${namespace}===\'CData\']/entityType/[${name}===\'Account\']/property',
factory: '.columnFactory'
}">
<toolbar>
<m:Toolbar>
<m:Title text="Dynamics CRM Account"></m:Title>
</m:Toolbar>
</toolbar>
<noData>
<m:BusyIndicator class="sapUiMediumMargin"/>
</noData>
</Table>
</m:content>
</m:Page>
</mvc:View>
Create the Model and Controller
In SAPUI5, you do not need to write any OData queries; an ODataModel instance handles the application's data access commands.
The API Server then translates the queries into Dynamics CRM API calls.
The controller processes user input and represents information to the user through a view. Define the controller in a new file, Controller.controller.js. Instantiate the model in the onInit function -- you will need to replace the placeholder values for the URL to the API Server, a user allowed to access the OData endpoint of the API Server, and the authtoken for the user.
sap.ui.define([
"sap/ui/core/mvc/Controller",
"sap/ui/model/odata/v2/ODataModel",
"sap/ui/model/json/JSONModel",
"sap/ui/table/Column",
"sap/m/Text",
], function(Controller, ODataModel, JSONModel, Column, Text ) {
"use strict";
return Controller.extend("sap.ui.table.sample.OData2.Controller", {
onInit : function () {
var oView = this.getView();
var oDataModel = new ODataModel("http://myserver/api.rsc/",{user: "MyUser", password: "MyAuthToken"});
oDataModel.getMetaModel().loaded().then(function(){
oView.setModel(oDataModel.getMetaModel(), "meta");
});
oView.setModel(oDataModel);
var oTable = oView.byId("table");
var oBinding = oTable.getBinding("rows");
var oBusyIndicator = oTable.getNoData();
oBinding.attachDataRequested(function(){
oTable.setNoData(oBusyIndicator);
});
oBinding.attachDataReceived(function(){
oTable.setNoData(null); //use default again ("no data" in case no data is available)
});
},
onExit : function () {
},
columnFactory : function(sId, oContext) {
var oModel = this.getView().getModel();
var sName = oContext.getProperty("name");
var sType = oContext.getProperty("type");
var iLen = oContext.getProperty("maxLength");
iLen = iLen ? parseInt(iLen, 10) : 10;
return new Column(sId, {
sortProperty: sName,
filterProperty: sName,
width: (iLen > 9 ? (iLen > 50 ? 15 : 10) : 5) + "rem",
label: new sap.m.Label({text: "{/#Account/" + sName + "/@name}"}),
hAlign: sType && sType.indexOf("Decimal") >= 0 ? "End" : "Begin",
template: new Text({text: {path: sName}})
});
}
});
});
Describe Application Logic
Create a component that contains the resources of your application. Define the following in Component.js:
sap.ui.define([
'sap/ui/core/UIComponent'
], function(UIComponent) {
"use strict";
return UIComponent.extend("sap.ui.table.sample.OData2.Component", {
metadata : {
rootView : "sap.ui.table.sample.OData2.View",
dependencies : {
libs : [
"sap.ui.table",
"sap.ui.unified",
"sap.m"
]
},
config : {
sample : {
stretch : true,
files : [
"View.view.xml",
"Controller.controller.js"
]
}
}
}
});
});
Bootstrap OpenUI5 and Launch
To complete the MVC application, simply add the bootstrap and initialization code. Add these directly to index.html:
<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="x-ua-compatible" content="ie=edge" />
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>Dynamics CRM Account</title>
<script id="sap-ui-bootstrap"
src="https://openui5.hana.ondemand.com/resources/sap-ui-core.js"
data-sap-ui-libs="sap.m"
data-sap-ui-theme="sap_bluecrystal"
data-sap-ui-xx-bindingSyntax="complex"
data-sap-ui-preload="async"
data-sap-ui-compatVersion="edge"
data-sap-ui-resourceroots='{"sap.ui.table.sample.OData2": "./", "sap.ui.demo.mock": "mockdata"}'>
</script>
<!-- application launch configuration -->
<script>
sap.ui.getCore().attachInit(function() {
new sap.m.App ({
pages: [
new sap.m.Page({
title: "Dynamics CRM Account",
enableScrolling : false,
content: [ new sap.ui.core.ComponentContainer({
height : "100%", name : "sap.ui.table.sample.OData2"
})]
})
]
}).placeAt("content");
});
</script>
</head>
<!-- UI Content -->
<body class="sapUiBody" id="content" role="application">
</body>
</html>
The resulting SAPUI5 table control reflects any changes to a table in the remote Dynamics CRM data. You can now browse and search current Dynamics CRM data.
