Connect to PDFMonkey Data from PowerBuilder via ODBC

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

Connect to PDFMonkey 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.

Using API Key Authentication

PdfMonkey uses API key authentication. To obtain an API key:

1. Log in to your PdfMonkey account at https://app.pdfmonkey.io
2. Navigate to your account settings
3. Open the API Key page
4. Copy your API key

After obtaining your API key, set the following connection properties:

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.

• APIKey: Set this to your PdfMonkey API key.

Example Connection String

Profile=C:\profiles\PdfMonkey.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings="APIKey=your_api_key"

Connecting to PdfMonkey

Once the authentication is configured, you can connect to PdfMonkey and query data from any of the available tables such as CurrentUser, DocumentCards, Documents, DocumentTemplateCards, and DocumentTemplates.

Create a Profile for the ODBC Driver for PDFMonkey

Follow the steps below to use the Database Painter tool to create a database profile based on an ODBC DSN (data source name) for PDFMonkey. In the Database Painter, you can use wizards and the UI to work with PDFMonkey 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 PDFMonkey DSN in the Data Source menu.
4. To view and modify a table, right-click a table and then click Edit Data -> Grid.

Using PDFMonkey 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 PDFMonkey 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_currentuser.SetTransObject(SQLCA);
dw_currentuser.Retrieve();