Connect to SAP SuccessFactors Data from PowerBuilder

The CData JDBC Driver for SAP SuccessFactors is a standards-based control that can be used from any platform or development technology that supports JDBC, including PowerBuilder. This article shows how to use the CData JDBC Driver for SAP SuccessFactors in PowerBuilder.

This article shows how to create a basic PowerBuilder application that uses the CData JDBC Driver for SAP SuccessFactors to perform reads and writes.

Connect to SAP SuccessFactors Data from PowerBuilder

Follow the steps below to use the Database Painter tool to create a database profile based on an JDBC URL for SAP SuccessFactors. You can use a database profile to save connection properties. In the Database Painter, you can graphically manipulate data as well as execute SQL queries.

1. Add the driver JAR to the PowerBuilder classpath. Set the CLASSPATH system environment variable to the path to the driver JAR, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.

   Note: If you are using PowerBuilder Classic, you can also add the path to the driver JAR by clicking Tools -> System Options -> Java.

2. Click Tools -> Database Painter.
3. Right-click the JDBC node and click New Profile.
4. In the Database Profile Setup dialog, enter the following:
   • Profile Name: Enter a user-friendly name for the profile.
   • Driver Name: Enter the class name of the driver, cdata.jdbc.sapsuccessfactors.SAPSuccessFactorsDriver
   • URL: Enter the JDBC URL.

     You can authenticate to SAP Success Factors using Basic authentication or OAuth with SAML assertion.

     Basic Authentication

     You must provide values for the following properties to successfully authenticate to SAP Success Factors. Note that the provider will reuse the session opened by SAP Success Factors using cookies. Which means that your credentials will be used only on the first request to open the session. After that, cookies returned from SAP Success Factors will be used for authentication.

     • Url: set this to the URL of the server hosting Success Factors. Some of the servers are listed in the SAP support documentation (external link).
     • User: set this to the username of your account.
     • Password: set this to the password of your account.
     • CompanyId: set this to the unique identifier of your company.

     OAuth Authentication

     You must provide values for the following properties, which will be used to get the access token.

     • Url: set this to the URL of the server hosting Success Factors. Some of the servers are listed in the SAP support documentation (external link).
     • User: set this to the username of your account.
     • CompanyId: set this to the unique identifier of your company.
     • OAuthClientId: set this to the API Key that was generated in API Center.
     • OAuthClientSecret: the X.509 private key used to sign SAML assertion. The private key can be found in the certificate you downloaded in Registering your OAuth Client Application.
     • InitiateOAuth: set this to GETANDREFRESH.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the SAP SuccessFactors JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.sapsuccessfactors.jar

     Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard. A typical JDBC URL is below:

     jdbc:sapsuccessfactors:User=username;Password=password;CompanyId=CompanyId;Url=https://api4.successfactors.com;
5. To view and modify a table, right-click a table and then click Edit Data -> Grid.

Using SAP SuccessFactors Data with PowerBuilder Controls

You can use standard PowerBuilder objects to connect to JDBC data sources and execute queries. The following example shows how to retrieve SAP SuccessFactors data into a DataWindow. You can add the following code to the open method: