Build a Simple VCL Application for Power BI XMLA Data

Embarcadero RAD Studio provides a development environment for Delphi and C++Builder applications. With the CData FireDAC Components for Power BI XMLA, you gain access to live Power BI XMLA data within RAD Studio, abstracting the data into tables, views, and stored procedures that can be used to retrieve Power BI XMLA data. This article will walk through connecting to Power BI XMLA and creating a simple VCL application with the Form Designer.

Creating a VCL Application for Power BI XMLA Data

The following instructions show how to use the Form Designer to create a simple VCL Forms application that shows the basic FireDAC objects needed to connect to Power BI XMLA from any application.

The following example populates a TDBGrid control.

1. Create a new VCL Forms Application.
2. Drop a TFDPhysPowerBIXMLADriverLink and TFDConnection object onto the form.

3. Double-click the TFDConnection object. The FireDAC Connection Editor is displayed. Select "CData.PowerBIXMLA" in the DriverId menu and configure the connection properties.
   

   To connect, set the Url property to a valid PowerBIXMLA workspace. For instance, powerbi://api.powerbi.com/v1.0/myorg/CData.

4. Drop a TFDQuery object onto the form and set the properties below:
   • Connection - Set this property to the TFDConnection object, if this object is not already specified.
   • SQL - Click the button in the SQL property and enter a query.
   • Active - Set this property to true.
5. Drop a TDataSource object onto the form and set the following property:
   • DataSet - In the menu for this property, select the name of the TFDQuery object.
6. Drop a TDBGrid control onto the form and set the following property:
   • DataSource - Select the name of the TDataSource.

7. Drop a TFDGUIxWaitCursor onto the form. This is required to avoid a run-time error.

You now have an executable application that displays the results of the SQL Query set in the TFDQuery object.