Connect to ScrapingBee Data from PowerBuilder via ADO.NET

This article demonstrates using the CData API Driver for ADO.NET in PowerBuilder, showcasing the ease of use and compatibility of these standards-based controls across various platforms and development technologies that support Microsoft .NET, including Appeon PowerBuilder.

This article shows how to create a basic PowerBuilder application that uses the CData API Driver for ADO.NET to retrieve data.

1. In a new WPF Window Application solution, add all the Visual Controls needed for the connection properties. Below is a typical connection string:

   Profile=C:\profiles\ScrapingBee.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings="APIKey=your_api_key";

   Using API Key Authentication

   ScrapingBee uses API key authentication. To obtain an API key:

   1. Sign in to your ScrapingBee account at https://app.scrapingbee.com
   2. Navigate to the Dashboard and locate your API key in the top section.
   3. Copy the API key for use in the connection string.

   After obtaining your API key, set the following connection properties:

   • AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
   Set the following in the ProfileSettings connection property:
   • APIKey: Set this to your ScrapingBee API key.

   Example Connection String

   Profile=C:\profiles\ScrapingBee.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings="APIKey=your_api_key";
   

   Connecting to ScrapingBee

   Once the authentication is configured, you can connect to ScrapingBee and query data from any of the available tables. All tables require at least one input parameter (such as a search query or product ID) to retrieve data.

2. Add the DataGrid control from the .NET controls.
3. Configure the columns of the DataGrid control. Below are several columns from the Account table:

   
   <DataGrid AutoGenerateColumns="False" Margin="13,249,12,14" Name="datagrid1" TabIndex="70" ItemsSource="{Binding}">
   <DataGrid.Columns>
       <DataGridTextColumn x:Name="idColumn" Binding="{Binding Path=Id}" Header="Id" Width="SizeToHeader" />
       <DataGridTextColumn x:Name="nameColumn" Binding="{Binding Path=}" Header="" Width="SizeToHeader" />
   		...
   	</DataGrid.Columns>
   </DataGrid>
   

4. Add a reference to the CData API Driver for ADO.NET assembly.

Connect the DataGrid

Once the visual elements have been configured, you can use standard ADO.NET objects like Connection, Command, and DataAdapter to populate a DataTable with the results of an SQL query:

System.Data.CData.API.APIConnection conn 
conn = create System.Data.CData.API.APIConnection(connectionString)

System.Data.CData.API.APICommand comm 
comm = create System.Data.CData.API.APICommand(command, conn)

System.Data.DataTable table
table = create System.Data.DataTable

System.Data.CData.API.APIDataAdapter dataAdapter
dataAdapter = create System.Data.CData.API.APIDataAdapter(comm)
dataAdapter.Fill(table)	
datagrid1.ItemsSource=table.DefaultView

The code above can be used to bind data from the specified query to the DataGrid.