How to Access Sage X3 Cloud Data Using Entity Framework

Microsoft Entity Framework serves as an object-relational mapping framework for working with data represented as objects. Although Visual Studio offers the ADO.NET Entity Data Model wizard to automatically generate the Entity Model, this model-first approach may present challenges when your data source undergoes changes or when you require greater control over entity operations. In this article, we will delve into the code-first approach for accessing Sage X3 Cloud data through the CData ADO.NET Provider, providing you with more flexibility and control.

1. Open Visual Studio and create a new Windows Form Application. This article uses a C# project with .NET 4.5.
2. Run the command 'Install-Package EntityFramework' in the Package Manger Console in Visual Studio to install the latest release of Entity Framework.

3. Modify the App.config file in the project to add a reference to the Sage X3 Cloud Entity Framework 6 assembly and the connection string.

   Sage X3 Cloud uses the OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials flow, and an X-API-Key is also required for API access. Set AuthScheme to OAuth and specify the following connection properties:

   • URL: The base URL of your Sage X3 Cloud instance.
   • OAuthAccessTokenUrl: The OAuth token endpoint (e.g., https://your-auth-domain/oauth/token).
   • OAuthClientId: Your OAuth application client ID.
   • OAuthClientSecret: Your OAuth application client secret.
   • Audience: The API audience value for the token request.
   • XAPIKey: The X-API-Key provided by your Sage X3 Cloud administrator.
   • Folder: The Sage X3 folder name (e.g., SEED). This folder is used as the default schema.
   • Folders (optional): A comma-separated list of Sage X3 folders (e.g., SEED,PERF). Each folder is exposed as a separate schema, so you can query across folders with the Schema.Table syntax.

   The driver obtains an access token with the Client Credentials flow and sends it with the X-API-Key on every API request. With InitiateOAuth set to GETANDREFRESH (the default), the driver acquires and refreshes the token automatically.

   
   
   <configuration>
      ... 
     <connectionStrings>
       <add name="SageX3CloudContext" connectionString="Offline=False;AuthScheme=OAuth;URL=https://x3server/;OAuthAccessTokenUrl=https://auth-domain/oauth/token;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;Audience=https://api-audience;XAPIKey=your_api_key;Folder=SEED;" providerName="System.Data.CData.SageX3Cloud" />
     </connectionStrings>
     <entityFramework>
       <providers>
          ... 
         <provider invariantName="System.Data.CData.SageX3Cloud" type="System.Data.CData.SageX3Cloud.SageX3CloudProviderServices, System.Data.CData.SageX3Cloud.Entities.EF6" />
       </providers>
     <entityFramework>
   </configuration>
   </code> 
   

4. Add a reference to System.Data.CData.SageX3Cloud.Entities.EF6.dll, located in the lib -> 4.0 subfolder in the installation directory.
5. Build the project at this point to ensure everything is working correctly. Once that's done, you can start coding using Entity Framework.
6. Add a new .cs file to the project and add a class to it. This will be your database context, and it will extend the DbContext class. In the example, this class is named SageX3CloudContext. The following code example overrides the OnModelCreating method to make the following changes:
   • Remove PluralizingTableNameConvention from the ModelBuilder Conventions.
   • Remove requests to the MigrationHistory table.

   
   
   using System.Data.Entity;
   using System.Data.Entity.Infrastructure;
   using System.Data.Entity.ModelConfiguration.Conventions;
   
   class SageX3CloudContext : DbContext {
     public SageX3CloudContext() { }
   
     protected override void OnModelCreating(DbModelBuilder modelBuilder)
     {
       // To remove the requests to the Migration History table
       Database.SetInitializer<SageX3CloudContext>(null);  
       // To remove the plural names    
       modelBuilder.Conventions.Remove<PluralizingTableNameConvention>();
     }  
   }
   

7. Create another .cs file and name it after the Sage X3 Cloud entity you are retrieving, for example, BPCUSTOMER. In this file, define both the Entity and the Entity Configuration, which will resemble the example below:

   
   
   using System.Data.Entity.ModelConfiguration;
   using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.Schema;
   
   [System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.Schema.Table("BPCUSTOMER")]
   public class BPCUSTOMER {
     [System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.Key] 
     public System.String BPCNUM { get; set; }
     public System.String BPCNAM { get; set; }
   }
       
   

8. Now that you have created an entity, add the entity to your context class:

   
   
   public DbSet<BPCUSTOMER> BPCUSTOMER { set; get; }
   

9. With the context and entity finished, you are now ready to query the data in a separate class. For example:

   
   SageX3CloudContext context = new SageX3CloudContext();
   context.Configuration.UseDatabaseNullSemantics = true;
   var query = from line in context.BPCUSTOMER select line;