Viewing Dynamics GP Data in RAD Studio Data Explorer

Embarcadero RAD Studio provides a development environment for Delphi and C++Builder applications. With the CData FireDAC Components for Dynamics GP, you gain access to live Dynamics GP data within RAD Studio, abstracting the data into tables, views, and stored procedures that can be used to both retrieve and update Dynamics GP data. This article will walk through connecting to Dynamics GP using the Data Explorer.

Connecting to Dynamics GP Data Using Data Explorer

You can create a simple application for displaying Dynamics GP data by utilizing the CData FireDAC Components for Dynamics GP and a new VCL Forms Application:

1. Open the Data Explorer in RAD Studio and expand FireDAC.

2. Right-click on CData Dynamics GP Data Source and click Add New Connection.

3. Name the connection.

4. Fill in the necessary connection parameters and click OK.
   

   To authenticate set the User and Password connection properties.

   To connect set the URL to the Web services endpoint; for example, http://{servername}:{port}/Dynamics/GPService. Additionally, set CompanyId; you can obtain this value in the company setup window: Click Tools -> Setup -> Company.

   By default, data summaries are not returned to save performance. Set LookupIds to true to return details such as line items; however, note that entities must be retrieved one at a time.

5. Back in the Data Explorer, expand the tables for the connection.

6. Create a new VCL Forms application and drag a table (for example: SalesInvoice) onto the form.

7. Select the SalesInvoiceTable object on the form and set the Active property to true.

8. Right-click on the object, bind visually, and link everything (*) to a new control (TStringGrid).

9. Arrange the TStringGrid on the form and run the application to see the SalesInvoice data.