Connect to Shortcut Data from PowerBuilder via ODBC

The CData ODBC Driver for Shortcut can be used from any platform or development technology that supports ODBC, including PowerBuilder. This article shows how to connect to Shortcut data and execute queries from the Database Painter and controls such as the DataWindow.

Connect to Shortcut as an ODBC Data Source

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.

Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the Shortcut Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Shortcut.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Shortcut (see below).

Shortcut API Profile Settings

Log into your Shortcut account, navigate to Settings > API Tokens, and click Generate Token.

Create a Profile for the ODBC Driver for Shortcut

Follow the steps below to use the Database Painter tool to create a database profile based on an ODBC DSN (data source name) for Shortcut. In the Database Painter, you can use wizards and the UI to work with Shortcut data.

1. In PowerBuilder, click Tools -> Database Painter.
2. In the Objects window in the Database Painter, right-click the ODBC node and click New Profile.
3. On the Connection tab, enter a name for the profile and select the Shortcut DSN in the Data Source menu.
4. To view and modify a table, right-click a table and then click Edit Data -> Grid.

Using Shortcut Data with PowerBuilder Controls

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

SQLCA.DBMS = "ODBC"
SQLCA.DBParm = "ConnectString='DSN=CData API Source'"
CONNECT USING SQLCA;
dw_categories.SetTransObject(SQLCA);
dw_categories.Retrieve();