Query Salesforce Data Cloud 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 Salesforce Data Cloud, you can access live Salesforce Data Cloud 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 Salesforce Data Cloud data.

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

Connecting to Salesforce Data Cloud 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.

Salesforce Data Cloud supports authentication via the OAuth standard.

OAuth

Set AuthScheme to OAuth.

Desktop Applications

CData provides an embedded OAuth application that simplifies authentication at the desktop.

You can also authenticate from the desktop via a custom OAuth application, which you configure and register at the Salesforce Data Cloud console. For further information, see Creating a Custom OAuth App in the Help documentation.

Before you connect, set these properties:

• InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
• OAuthClientId (custom applications only): The Client ID assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
• OAuthClientSecret (custom applications only): The Client Secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.

When you connect, the driver opens Salesforce Data Cloud's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application.

The driver then completes the OAuth process as follows:

• Extracts the access token from the callback URL.
• Obtains a new access token when the old one expires.
• Saves OAuth values in OAuthSettingsLocation so that they persist across connections.

For other OAuth methods, including Web Applications and Headless Machines, refer to the Help documentation.

Building node-odbc

In order to connect to Salesforce Data Cloud 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 Salesforce Data Cloud from Node.js

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

myscript.js

const odbc = require('odbc');

async function querySalesforceDataCloud() {
    const connection = await odbc.connect(`DSN=CData SalesforceDataCloud Source`);
    const data = await connection.query('SELECT [Account ID], [Account Name] FROM Account');
    console.log(data);
}

querySalesforceDataCloud();

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 Salesforce Data Cloud and start working with your live Salesforce Data Cloud data in Node.js. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.