Query Salesforce Data as a SQL Server Database in Node.js

You can use CData Connect Cloud to query Salesforce data through a SQL Server interface. Follow the procedure below to create a virtual database for Salesforce in Connect Cloud and start querying using Node.js.

CData Connect Cloud provides a pure MySQL, cloud-to-cloud interface for Salesforce, allowing you to easily query live Salesforce data in Node.js — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you query data in Node.js, CData Connect Cloud pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Salesforce, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Salesforce data.

Getting Started

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Configure Salesforce Connectivity for NodeJS

Connectivity to Salesforce from NodeJS is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Salesforce data from NodeJS, we start by creating and configuring a Salesforce connection.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Salesforce" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Salesforce.

   There are several authentication methods available for connecting to Salesforce: Login, OAuth, and SSO. The Login method requires you to have the username, password, and security token of the user.

   If you do not have access to the username and password or do not wish to require them, you can use OAuth authentication.

   SSO (single sign-on) can be used by setting the SSOProperties, SSOLoginUrl, and TokenUrl connection properties, which allow you to authenticate to an identity provider. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for more information.

   
4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Salesforce Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Salesforce data from Node.js.

Query Salesforce from Node.js

The following example shows how to define a connection and execute queries to Salesforce with the SQL Server module. You will need the following information:

• server: tds.cdata.com
• port: 14333
• user: a Connect Cloud user (e.g. [email protected])
• password: the PAT for the above user
• database: The connection you configured for Salesforce (Salesforce1)

Connect to Salesforce data and start executing queries with the code below:

var sql = require('mssql')
var config = {
	server: 'tds.cdata.com',
	port: 14333, 
	user: '[email protected]', //update me
	password: 'CONNECT_USER_PAT', //update me	
	options: {
		encrypt: true,
		database: 'Salesforce1'
	}
}

sql.connect(config, err => { 
    if(err){
        throw err ;
    }
    new sql.Request().query('SELECT * FROM Account', (err, result) => {
        console.dir(result)
    })
        
});

sql.on('error', err => {
    console.log("SQL Error: " ,err);
})