Connect to SharePoint Data in RunMyProcess through Connect Cloud

Akorbi Digital RunMyProcess makes it easy to create applications for complex business applications, such as budget application and contract management. CData Connect Cloud creates a live connection to SharePoint and can be used to generate an OData API (natively supported in RunMyProcess) for SharePoint. By pairing RunMyProcess with CData Connect Cloud, you get true cloud-to-cloud connectivity to all your SaaS and cloud-based Big Data and NoSQL sources - no need to migrate your data or write your own integrations. Simply connect to Connect Cloud from RunMyProcess as you would any other REST service and get instant, live access to your SharePoint data.

In this article, we walk through connecting to SharePoint from CData Connect Cloud and accessing SharePoint data through an OData feed in RunMyProcess.

Getting Started

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Connect to SharePoint from RunMyProcess

To work with live SharePoint data in RunMyProcess, we need to connect to SharePoint from Connect Cloud, provide user access to the connection, and create a Workspace for the SharePoint data.

Connect to SharePoint from Connect Cloud

CData Connect Cloud uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "SharePoint" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to SharePoint.

   Set the URL property to the base SharePoint site or to a sub-site. This allows you to query any lists and other SharePoint entities defined for the site or sub-site.

   The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid SharePoint user credentials when using SharePoint On-Premise.

   If you are connecting to SharePoint Online, set the SharePointEdition to SHAREPOINTONLINE along with the User and Password connection string properties. For more details on connecting to SharePoint Online, see the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation

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

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect Cloud through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect Cloud. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect Cloud app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the 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.

Configure SharePoint Endpoints for RunMyProcess

After connecting to SharePoint, create a workspace for your desired table(s).

1. Navigate to the Workspaces page and click Add to create a new Workspace (or select an existing workspace).
2. Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
3. Select the SharePoint connection (e.g. SharePoint1) and click Next.
4. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm.
5. Make note of the OData Service URL for your workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}

With the connection, PAT, and Workspace configured, you are ready to connect to SharePoint data from RunMyProcess.

Retrieve SharePoint Data from RunMyProcess DigitalSuite Studio

With the connection to SharePoint and OData endpoints created, we are ready to add SharePoint data to RunMyProcess for Retrieval.

Create a Provider

1. Log into RunMyProcess and open DigitalSuite Studio.
2. Click Resources to bring up the Resources page, then select then the CONNECTORS tab.
3. Click the + (New Provider) button to create a new provider, choose the account to use, then click Confirm.
4. In the provider settings page, configure the following properties.
   • URL: Set the OData endpoint in the Connect Cloud OData page: https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}.
   • Authentication Schema: Select Login/Password.
   • Login: Specify a CData Connect Cloud username (e.g. [email protected]).
   • Password: Specify the PAT of the Connect Cloud user.
   
5. Fill in the same properties in the ACCEPTANCE and TEST tabs. Note: You can copy the configured settings by clicking 'Copy this configuration button,' then pasting the content in the new tab by clicking 'Paste previously copied configuration.'
6. Click Save to save the properties.

Retrieve SharePoint Data by Creating a Connector

1. In the CONNECTORS tab, click the button with three dots to create the provider, then select Add connector from the menu.
2. In the following page, set Connector URL to the OData endpoint configured in Connect Cloud (e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name})
3. Click Save then Launch to test the connector execution. Click Launch test to execute. The process is successful if you get the JSON response of your configured table information.

More Information & Free Trial

Now, you have created a provider and connector to retrieve SharePoint data. For more information on creating OData feeds from SharePoint (and more than 100 other data sources), visit the Connect Cloud page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live SharePoint data in RunMyProcess.