Query Sage 50 UK Data through ODBC in Node.js

Node.js is a JavaScript runtime environment that allows you to run JavaScript code outside of a browser. With the CData ODBC Driver for Sage 50 UK, you can access live Sage 50 UK data from Node.js apps and scripts. In this article, we walk through installing node-odbc and the required tools to create a simple Node.js app with access to live Sage 50 UK data.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Sage 50 UK data in Node.js. When you issue complex SQL queries from Node.js to Sage 50 UK, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Sage 50 UK and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations).

Connecting to Sage 50 UK Data

If you have not already done so, provide values for the required connection properties in the data source name (DSN). You can use the built-in Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to configure the DSN. This is also the last step of the driver installation. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for a guide to using the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure a DSN.

Note: Only Sage 50 UK 2012 and above are supported.

The User and Password properties, under the Connection section, must be set to valid Sage 50 UK user credentials. These values will be the same used to log in to the Sage 50 UK software.

Additionally, the URL property, under the Connection section, will need to be set to the address of the company dataset desired. To obtain the address, do the following:

1. If you have not already done so, open the Sage 50 UK software.
2. Click Tools -> Internet Options.
3. Select the SData Settings tab.
4. Click the Details button next to Sage 50 Accounts. A window is displayed containing a list of company names along with the address to their corresponding datasets.
5. Set the URL property to the value in the address field next to the company desired.

Building node-odbc

In order to connect to Sage 50 UK through the CData ODBC Driver, you need to build node-odbc manually (after installing the required tools).

Installing the Required Tools

The following commands install the tools required to build node-odbc (note the -g parameter, which installs the tools globally).

npm i -g windows-build-tools
npm i -g node-gyp

Building node-odbc

After installing the required tools, create a directory for the Node.js app and install odbc (which builds the binary for us to use in our Node.js script).

mkdir nodeodbc
cd nodeodbc
npm i -g node

Querying Sage 50 UK from Node.js

With the ODBC Driver installed, a DSN Configured, and node-odbc built, we are ready to query live Sage 50 UK data from a Node.js app. The sample code below connects to a specific DSN and queries the TradingAccounts table.

myscript.js

const odbc = require('odbc');

async function querySage50UK() {
    const connection = await odbc.connect(`DSN=CData Sage50UK Source`);
    const data = await connection.query('SELECT Name, FinanceBalance FROM TradingAccounts');
    console.log(data);
}

querySage50UK();

Once you write the app, use node to execute the script:

node myscript.js

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData ODBC Driver for Sage 50 UK and start working with your live Sage 50 UK data in Node.js. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.