Connect to Hacker News Data from PowerBuilder via ODBC

The CData ODBC Driver for Hacker News can be used from any platform or development technology that supports ODBC, including PowerBuilder. This article shows how to connect to Hacker News data and execute queries from the Database Painter and controls such as the DataWindow.

Connect to Hacker News as an ODBC Data Source

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

Connecting to HackerNews

The HackerNews API (powered by Firebase) is a public API that requires no authentication. You can connect and query data immediately without any credentials.

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

• AuthScheme: Set this to None.

Example connection string:

Profile=C:\profiles\HackerNews.apip;AuthScheme=None

Create a Profile for the ODBC Driver for Hacker News

Follow the steps below to use the Database Painter tool to create a database profile based on an ODBC DSN (data source name) for Hacker News. In the Database Painter, you can use wizards and the UI to work with Hacker News data.

1. In PowerBuilder, click Tools -> Database Painter.
2. In the Objects window in the Database Painter, right-click the ODBC node and click New Profile.
3. On the Connection tab, enter a name for the profile and select the Hacker News DSN in the Data Source menu.
4. To view and modify a table, right-click a table and then click Edit Data -> Grid.

Using Hacker News Data with PowerBuilder Controls

You can use standard PowerBuilder objects to connect to ODBC data sources and execute queries. The following example shows how to retrieve Hacker News data into a DataWindow. You can add the following code to the open method:

SQLCA.DBMS = "ODBC"
SQLCA.DBParm = "ConnectString='DSN=CData API Source'"
CONNECT USING SQLCA;
dw_topstories.SetTransObject(SQLCA);
dw_topstories.Retrieve();