Query GraphQL Data through ODBC in Node.js

Node.js is a JavaScript runtime environment that allows you to run JavaScript code outside of a browser. With the CData ODBC Driver for GraphQL, you can access live GraphQL data from Node.js apps and scripts. In this article, we walk through installing node-odbc and the required tools to create a simple Node.js app with access to live GraphQL data.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live GraphQL data in Node.js. When you issue complex SQL queries from Node.js to GraphQL, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to GraphQL and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations).

Connecting to GraphQL Data

If you have not already done so, provide values for the required connection properties in the data source name (DSN). You can use the built-in Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to configure the DSN. This is also the last step of the driver installation. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for a guide to using the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure a DSN.

You must specify the URL of the GraphQL service. The driver supports two types of authentication:

• Basic: Set AuthScheme to Basic. You must specify the User and Password of the GraphQL service.
• OAuth 1.0 & 2.0: Take a look at the OAuth section in the Help documentation for detailed instructions.

Building node-odbc

In order to connect to GraphQL through the CData ODBC Driver, you need to build node-odbc manually (after installing the required tools).

Installing the Required Tools

The following commands install the tools required to build node-odbc (note the -g parameter, which installs the tools globally).

npm i -g windows-build-tools
npm i -g node-gyp

Building node-odbc

After installing the required tools, create a directory for the Node.js app and install odbc (which builds the binary for us to use in our Node.js script).

mkdir nodeodbc
cd nodeodbc
npm i -g node

Querying GraphQL from Node.js

With the ODBC Driver installed, a DSN Configured, and node-odbc built, we are ready to query live GraphQL data from a Node.js app. The sample code below connects to a specific DSN and queries the Users table.

myscript.js

const odbc = require('odbc');

async function queryGraphQL() {
    const connection = await odbc.connect(`DSN=CData GraphQL Source`);
    const data = await connection.query('SELECT Name, Email FROM Users');
    console.log(data);
}

queryGraphQL();

Once you write the app, use node to execute the script:

node myscript.js

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData ODBC Driver for GraphQL and start working with your live GraphQL data in Node.js. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.