Rapidly Develop Reply.io-Driven Apps with Active Query Builder

Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Leverage the Active Query Builder SQL interface and .NET data access to create data-driven WinForms and ASP.NET apps backed by Reply.io.

Write standard .NET to expose Reply.io data through an SQL interface: Active Query Builder helps developers write SQL interfaces; the CData ODBC Driver for Reply.io enables standards-based access to Reply.io. This integration uses the Microsoft ADO.NET Provider for ODBC as a bridge between the ODBC Driver and the Active Query Builder objects to build a visual SQL composer.

Connect to Reply.io 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.

The Reply.io API uses API Key authentication via the x-api-key request header.

Using API Key Authentication

Your Reply.io API key is required to create a connection. To obtain your API key:

  1. Log into your Reply.io account.
  2. Click your profile icon and select Settings.
  3. Navigate to the API section.
  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 Reply.io API key.
  • UserEmail (optional): Set this to the email address of the Reply.io user on whose behalf requests are made.

Example connection string:

Profile=C:\profiles\ReplyIO.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key';

Use SQL to Interact with Reply.io

Follow the steps below to create a WinForms visual query builder.

  1. Open Active Query Builder for .NET WinForms.
  2. In the new Windows Forms project go to the "File" menu and click "Connect..."
  3. Under Database Connections, click "Add..."
  4. Set your desired Connection Name (e.g. CData Reply.io), set Connection Type to "ODBC" and locate your previously configured DSN in the "User/System" DSN dropdown.
  5. Click "OK" to save the new connection.
  6. Back in the Database Connection wizard, select the newly created connection and click "OK."
  7. Click "File" > "New Query" to create a QueryBuilder

You can now build queries visually: Double-click a table in the Columns Pane Area and an entity/relationship diagram is displayed in the Query Building Area. Columns that you select in the diagram are added to the query.

Ready to get started?

Connect to live data from Reply.io with the API Driver

Connect to Reply.io