Connect to Halo Service Desk Data from PowerBuilder via JDBC

The CData JDBC driver for Halo Service Desk is a standards-based control that can be used from any platform or development technology that supports JDBC, including PowerBuilder. This article shows how to use the CData JDBC Driver for Halo Service Desk in PowerBuilder.

This article shows how to create a basic PowerBuilder application that uses the CData JDBC Driver for Halo Service Desk to retrieve data.

Connect to Halo Service Desk Data from PowerBuilder

Follow the steps below to use the Database Painter tool to create a database profile based on an JDBC URL for Halo Service Desk. You can use a database profile to save connection properties. In the Database Painter, you can graphically manipulate data as well as execute SQL queries.

1. Add the driver JAR to the PowerBuilder classpath. Set the CLASSPATH system environment variable to the path to the driver JAR, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.

   Note: If you are using PowerBuilder Classic, you can also add the path to the driver JAR by clicking Tools -> System Options -> Java.

2. Click Tools -> Database Painter.
3. Right-click the JDBC node and click New Profile.
4. In the Database Profile Setup dialog, enter the following:
   • Profile Name: Enter a user-friendly name for the profile.
   • Driver Name: Enter the class name of the driver, cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver
   • URL: Enter the JDBC URL.

     Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the HaloServiceDesk Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\HaloServiceDesk.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for HaloServiceDesk (see below).

     HaloServiceDesk API Profile Settings

     HaloServiceDesk uses API key authentication. You can find or create API keys in HaloServiceDesk under Administration > Integrations > Halo API.

     Set the following connection properties to connect:

     • AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
     • APIKey: Set this to the API key from your HaloServiceDesk account.
     • Domain: Set this to the hostname of your HaloServiceDesk instance (e.g. yourcompany.haloservicedesk.com).

     Built-in Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Halo Service Desk JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

     
     java -jar cdata.jdbc.api.jar
     

     Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard. A typical JDBC URL is below:

     jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\HaloServiceDesk.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key;Domain=yourcompany.haloservicedesk.com';

   
5. To view and modify a table, right-click a table and then click Edit Data -> Grid.

Using Halo Service Desk Data with PowerBuilder Controls

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

SQLCA.DBMS = "JDBC"
SQLCA.AutoCommit = False
SQLCA.DBParm = "Driver='cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver',URL='jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\HaloServiceDesk.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key;Domain=yourcompany.haloservicedesk.com';";
CONNECT USING SQLCA;
dw_assets.SetTransObject(SQLCA);
dw_assets.Retrieve();