DataBind Wijmo Grid to FTP Data

The API Server, when paired with the ADO.NET Provider for FTP (or any of 200+ other ADO.NET Providers), provides FTP data as Web services, which enable connectivity to live data. This article shows how to consume JSONP-formatted FTP data from a Wijmo Grid.

Set Up the API Server

Follow the steps below to begin producing secure FTP 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 FTP

After you deploy the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for FTP, provide authentication values and other connection properties needed to connect to FTP by clicking Settings -> Connections and adding a new connection in the API Server administration console.

To connect to FTP or SFTP servers, specify at least RemoteHost and FileProtocol. Specify the port with RemotePort.

Set User and Password to perform Basic authentication. Set SSHAuthMode to use SSH authentication. See the Getting Started section of the data provider help documentation for more information on authenticating via SSH.

Set SSLMode and SSLServerCert to secure connections with SSL.

The data provider lists the tables based on the available folders in your FTP server. Set the following connection properties to control the relational view of the file system:

• RemotePath: Set this to the current working directory.
• TableDepth: Set this to control the depth of folders to list as views.
• FileRetrievalDepth: Set this to retrieve and list files recursively from the root table.

Stored Procedures are available to download files, upload files, and send protocol commands. See the Data Model chapter of the FTP data provider documentation for more information.

You can then choose the FTP entities you want to allow the API Server to access by clicking Settings -> Resources. This article uses MyDirectory 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. Access can also be restricted based on IP address; by default only connections to the local machine are allowed. You can authenticate as well as encrypt connections with SSL.

Create a Real-Time Grid

Follow the steps below to consume FTP data from the Wijmo JavaScript controls:

1. Load the required Wijmo, jQuery, and Knockout libraries:

   
   <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.11.1.min.js"></script>
   <script src="http://code.jquery.com/ui/1.11.0/jquery-ui.min.js"></script>
     
   <!--Theme-->
   <link href="http://cdn.wijmo.com/themes/aristo/jquery-wijmo.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
     
   <!--Wijmo Widgets CSS-->
   <link href="http://cdn.wijmo.com/jquery.wijmo-pro.all.3.20161.90.min.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
     
   <!--Wijmo Widgets JavaScript-->
   <script src="http://cdn.wijmo.com/jquery.wijmo-open.all.3.20161.90.min.js"></script>
   <script src="http://cdn.wijmo.com/jquery.wijmo-pro.all.3.20161.90.min.js"></script>
   <script src="http://cdn.wijmo.com/interop/wijmo.data.ajax.3.20161.90.js"></script>
    
   <!--Knockout JS Library-->
   <!-- Both of the links below can work -->
   <script src="http://cdn.wijmo.com/wijmo/external/knockout-2.2.0.js"></script> 
   <!--<script src="http://cdn.wijmo.com/amd-js/3.20161.90/knockout-3.1.0.js"></script>--> 
   
   <!--Wijmo Knockout Integration Library-->
   <script src="http://cdn.wijmo.com/interop/knockout.wijmo.3.20161.90.js"></script>
   

2. Create a ViewModel and connect to it using the ODataView. You will need to replace the placeholder values for the URL of the API Server, an API Server user, and the authtoken for that user.

   
   <script id="scriptInit">
   $.support.cors = true;
   var viewModel;
   
   function ViewModel() {
     var mydirectoryView = new wijmo.data.ODataView("http://MyServer:MyPort/api.rsc/MyDirectory", {
     ajax: {
       dataType: "jsonp", 
       username: "MyUser",
       password: "MyAuthtoken",
       data: { "$inlinecount": null }
     },
     pageSize: 10
   });
     mydirectoryView.refresh();
     mydirectoryView.nextPage();
     this.mydirectory = mydirectoryView;
     this.prevPage = function () {mydirectoryView.prevPage();};
     this.nextPage = function () {mydirectoryView.nextPage();};
   }
   
   $(document).ready(function () {
      viewModel = new ViewModel();
      ko.applyBindings(viewModel, $(".container").get(0));
   });
   </script>
   

3. DataBind: Below is a simple table with some paging buttons, which you can paste into the body section of your markup.

   
   <h2>Connect to Live FTP Data in Real Time</h2>
   
   <h3>MyDirectory</h3>
   <div>
     <button title="previous page" class="pagebuttons" data-bind="click: prevPage, button: {}"><span class="ui-icon ui-icon-seek-prev" /></button>
     <button title="next page" class="pagebuttons" data-bind="click: nextPage, button: {}"><span class="ui-icon ui-icon-seek-next" /></button>
   </div>
   <table id="demo-grid" data-bind="wijgrid: { 
     data: mydirectory, 
     showFilter: true, 
     allowPaging: true,
     pagerSettings: { position: 'none'},
     columnsAutogenerationMode: 'append',
   }" >
   </table>   
   

Below is the resulting grid. You can filter and sort through pages of FTP data.