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Import Real-Time SharePoint Data in ColdFusion to Build Applications


Use CData ODBC drivers to import and use SharePoint data in ColdFusion.

Adobe ColdFusion is a web and mobile application development platform. It uses its own scripting language, ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML), to create data-driven websites as well as generate remote services, such as REST. When ColdFusion is paired with the CData ODBC Driver for SharePoint, you can link your ColdFusion web and mobile applications to operational SharePoint data. This allows for your applications to be more robust and complete. This article details how to use the ODBC driver to create a table populated with SharePoint data from within a ColdFusion markup file.

About SharePoint Data Integration

Accessing and integrating live data from SharePoint has never been easier with CData. Customers rely on CData connectivity to:

  • Access data from a wide range of SharePoint versions, including Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and above, and SharePoint Online.
  • Access all of SharePoint thanks to support for Hidden and Lookup columns.
  • Recursively scan folders to create a relational model of all SharePoint data.
  • Use SQL stored procedures to upload and download documents and attachments.

Most customers rely on CData solutions to integrate SharePoint data into their database or data warehouse, while others integrate their SharePoint data with preferred data tools, like Power BI, Tableau, or Excel.

For more information on how customers are solving problems with CData's SharePoint solutions, refer to our blog: Drivers in Focus: Collaboration Tools.


Getting Started


To follow along with this tutorial, you need to install the CData ODBC Driver for SharePoint and Adobe ColdFusion.

Configuring the Connection

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 process. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

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

Adding a Data Source and Creating a Table

After creating a DSN, follow the steps below to add a new data source, test our connection to it, create a ColdFusion markup file, and, finally, import SharePoint SharePoint data and display it in a table in ColdFusion:

  1. From the ColdFusion administrator interface, choose Data & Services.
  2. Here, click "Add New Data Source". The data source name can be any name, provided it conforms to the ColdFusion variable naming conventions. For our ODBC driver, choose "ODBC Socket", then click the "Add" button.
  3. From the ODBC DSN Dropdown menu select CData SharePoint Sys. Under the Advanced Settings section, leave the Connection String blank. Note that any properties specified in this input field will override the ones specified in the DSN Configuration.
  4. Now, test the connection by pressing the check mark to the left of the CDataSharePointODBC data source you just created. When the data source reports an "OK" status, it is ready for use.
  5. Next, create a new ColdFusion Markup file (.cfm) and place it in the wwwroot directory ("C:\ColdFusion2021\cfusion\wwwroot") for ColdFusion.

    The following code queries the data source: 

                
        <cfquery name="SharePointQuery" dataSource="CDataSharePointODBC"> 
          SELECT * FROM MyCustomList 
        </cfquery>
    And a CFTable can be used to quickly output the table in HTML: 
                
          <cftable  
          query = "SharePointQuery" 
          border = "1" 
          colHeaders 
          colSpacing = "2" 
          headerLines = "2" 
          HTMLTable 
          maxRows = "500" 
          startRow = "1"> 

          <cfcol header="<b>Name</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="Name"/> 

          <cfcol header="<b>Revenue</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="Revenue"/> 

          ...

        </cftable>
    Full code, including the HTML portion is available below: 
                
        <html> 
        <head><title>CData Software | SharePoint MyCustomList Table Demo </title></head> 
        <body> 
        <cfoutput>#ucase("SharePoint MyCustomList Table Demo")#</cfoutput> 
        <cfquery name="SharePointQuery" dataSource="CDataSharePointODBC"> 

          SELECT * FROM MyCustomList 

        </cfquery> 
        <cftable  
          query = "SharePointQuery" 
          border = "1" 
          colHeaders 
          colSpacing = "2" 
          headerLines = "2" 
          HTMLTable 
          maxRows = "500" 
          startRow = "1"> 
          <cfcol header="<b>Name</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="Name"/> 

          <cfcol header="<b>Revenue</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="Revenue"/> 

          ...

        </cftable> 
        </body> 

        </html>
  6. Finally, run the code in a browser. It produces a table populated with SharePoint data!

As a note, the CData ODBC Drivers also support parameterized queries using the cfqueryparam element. For example: SELECT * FROM Account WHERE name =

Get Started Today

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData ODBC Driver for SharePoint and start building SharePoint-connected applications with Adobe ColdFusion. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.

Ready to get started?

Download a free trial of the SharePoint ODBC Driver to get started:

 Download Now

Learn more:

SharePoint Icon SharePoint ODBC Driver

The SharePoint ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live data from SharePoint and SharePoint Online, directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity.

Access SharePoint data like you would a database - read, write, and update SharePoint Lists, Contacts, Calendar, Links, Tasks, etc. through a standard ODBC Driver interface.

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