DataBind Controls to SAP Netweaver Gateway Data in C++Builder



DataBind to SAP Netweaver Gateway data in C++Builder with standard components and controls.

The CData ODBC driver for SAP Netweaver Gateway makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live SAP Netweaver Gateway data with standard data access components in C++Builder. This article shows how to create a simple visual component library (VCL) application in C++Builder that connects to SAP Netweaver Gateway data, executes queries, and displays the results in a grid. An additional section shows how to use FireDAC components to execute commands from code.

Create a Connection to SAP Netweaver Gateway Data

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.

SAP Gateway allows both basic and OAuth 2.0 authentication. You can use basic authentication to connect to your own account, or you can use OAuth to enable other users to retrieve data from your service with their accounts. In addition to authenticating, set the following connection properties to access SAP Gateway tables.

  • Url: Set this to the URL of your environment, or to the full URL of the service. For example, the full URL might appear as: https://sapes5.sapdevcenter.com/sap/opu/odata/IWBEP/GWSAMPLE_BASIC/. In this example, the environment URL would just be: https://sapes5.sapdevcenter.com.
  • Namespace: Set the appropriate Service Namespace. In the example above, IWBEP is the namespace. It is optional if the full URL to the service is specified.
  • Service: Set this to the service you want to retrieve data from. In the example above, the service is GWSAMPLE_BASIC. It is not required if the full URL is specified.

Authenticate via Basic Authentication

In basic authentication, you use your login credentials to connect. Set the following properties:

  • User: This is the username you use to log in to SAP Gateway.
  • Password: This is the password you use to log in to SAP Gateway.

Authenticate via OAuth Authentication

You can connect to SAP Gateway using the embedded OAuth connectivity (without setting any additional authentication connection properties). When you connect, the OAuth endpoint opens in your browser. Log in and grant permissions to complete the OAuth process. See the OAuth section in the online Help documentation for more information on other OAuth authentication flows.

You can then follow the steps below to use the Data Explorer to create a FireDAC connection to SAP Netweaver Gateway.

  1. In a new VCL Forms application, expand the FireDAC node in the Data Explorer.
  2. Right-click the ODBC Data Source node in the Data Explorer.
  3. Click Add New Connection.
  4. Enter a name for the connection.
  5. In the FireDAC Connection Editor that appears, set the DataSource property to the name of the ODBC DSN for SAP Netweaver Gateway.

Create VCL Applications with Connectivity to SAP Netweaver Gateway Data

Follow the procedure below to start querying SAP Netweaver Gateway data from a simple VCL application that displays the results of a query in a grid.

  1. Drop a TFDConnection component onto the form and set the following properties:

    • ConnectionDefName: Select the FireDAC connection to SAP Netweaver Gateway.
    • Connected: Select True from the menu and, in the dialog that appears, enter your credentials.
  2. Drop a TFDQuery component onto the form and set the properties below:

    • Connection: Set this property to the TFDConnection component, if this component is not already specified.
    • SQL: Click the button in the SQL property and enter a query. For example:

      SELECT ProductID, Quantity FROM SalesOrderLineItems WHERE Quantity < 15
    • Active: Set this property to true.
  3. Drop a TDataSource component onto the form and set the following property:

    • DataSet: In the menu for this property, select the name of the TFDQuery component.
  4. Drop a TDBGrid control onto the form and set the following property:

    • DataSource: Select the name of the TDataSource.
  5. Drop a TFDGUIxWaitCursor onto the form — this is required to avoid a run-time error.

Execute Commands to SAP Netweaver Gateway with FireDAC Components

You can use the TFDConnection and TFQuery components to execute queries to SAP Netweaver Gateway data. This section provides SAP Netweaver Gateway-specific examples of executing queries with the TFQuery component.

Connect to SAP Netweaver Gateway Data

To connect to the data source, set the Connected property of the TFDConnection component to true. You can set the same properties from code:

FDConnection1->ConnectionDefName = "CData SAP Netweaver Gateway ODBC Source"; FDConnection1->Connected = true;

To connect the TFDQuery component to SAP Netweaver Gateway data, set the Connection property of the component. When a TFDQuery component is added at design time, its Connection property is automatically set to point to a TFDConnection on the form, as in the application above.

Create Parameterized Queries

To create a parameterized query, use the following syntax below:

FDQuery1->SQL->Text = "select * from SalesOrderLineItems where quantity = :Quantity"; FDQuery1->ParamByName("quantity")->AsString = "15"; FDQuery1->Open();

The example above binds a string-type input parameter by name and then opens the dataset that results.

Prepare the Statement

Preparing statements is costly in system resources and time. The connection must be active and open while a statement is prepared. By default, FireDAC prepares the query to avoid recompiling the same query over and over. To disable statement preparation, set ResourceOptions.DirectExecute to True; for example, when you need to execute a query only once.

Execute a Query

To execute a query that returns a result set, such as a select query, use the Open method. The Open method executes the query, returns the result set, and opens it. The Open method will return an error if the query does not produce a result set.

FDQuery1->SQL->Text = "select * from SalesOrderLineItems where quantity = :Quantity"; FDQuery1->ParamByName("quantity")->AsString = "15"; FDQuery1->Open();

To execute a query that does not return a result set, use the ExecSQL method. The ExecSQL method will return an error if the query returns a result set. To retrieve the count of affected rows use the TFD.RowsAffected property.

FDQuery1->SQL->Text = "delete from SalesOrderLineItems where Id = :Id"; FDQuery1->Params->Items[0]->AsString = "x12345"; FDQuery1->ExecSQL(); AnsiString i = FDQuery1->RowsAffected; ShowMessage("Rows affected: " + i);

Related Articles

Below you can find other articles for using the CData ODBC Driver with RAD Studio, Delphi, and C++ Builder.

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SAP Netweaver Gateway Icon SAP Netweaver Gateway ODBC Driver

The SAP Netweaver Gateway ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live data from SAP Netweaver Gateway, directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity.

Access SAP Netweaver Gateway data like you would a database - read, write, and update SAP Netweaver Gateway Entities, etc. through a standard ODBC Driver interface.