Query Sybase Data as a SQL Server Database in Node.js

Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Execute SQL Server queries against Sybase data from Node.js.

You can use CData Connect AI to query Sybase data through a SQL Server interface. Follow the procedure below to create a virtual database for Sybase in Connect AI and start querying using Node.js.

CData Connect AI provides a pure MySQL, cloud-to-cloud interface for Sybase, allowing you to easily query live Sybase data in Node.js — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you query data in Node.js, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Sybase, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Sybase data.

Configure Sybase Connectivity for NodeJS

Connectivity to Sybase from NodeJS is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Sybase data from NodeJS, we start by creating and configuring a Sybase connection.

  1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
  2. Adding a Connection
  3. Select "Sybase" from the Add Connection panel
  4. Selecting a data source
  5. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Sybase.

    To connect to Sybase, specify the following connection properties:

    • Server: Set this to the name or network address of the Sybase database instance.
    • Database: Set this to the name of the Sybase database running on the specified Server.

    Optionally, you can also secure your connections with TLS/SSL by setting UseSSL to true.

    Sybase supports several methods for authentication including Password and Kerberos.

    Connect Using Password Authentication

    Set the AuthScheme to Password and set the following connection properties to use Sybase authentication.

    • User: Set this to the username of the authenticating Sybase user.
    • Password: Set this to the username of the authenticating Sybase user.

    Connect using LDAP Authentication

    To connect with LDAP authentication, configure Sybase server-side to use the LDAP authentication mechanism.

    After configuring Sybase for LDAP, you can connect using the same credentials as Password authentication.

    Connect Using Kerberos Authentication

    To leverage Kerberos authentication, begin by enabling it setting AuthScheme to Kerberos. See the Using Kerberos section in the Help documentation for more information on using Kerberos authentication.

    You can find an example connection string below:

    Server=MyServer;Port=MyPort;User=SampleUser;Password=SamplePassword;Database=MyDB;Kerberos=true;KerberosKDC=MyKDC;KerberosRealm=MYREALM.COM;KerberosSPN=server-name
    Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
  6. Click Save & Test
  7. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Sybase Connection page and update the User-based permissions. Updating permissions

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI 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 AI. 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 AI 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. Creating a new PAT
  4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to Sybase data from Node.js.

Query Sybase from Node.js

The following example shows how to define a connection and execute queries to Sybase with the SQL Server module. You will need the following information:

  • server: tds.cdata.com
  • port: 14333
  • user: a Connect AI user (e.g. [email protected])
  • password: the PAT for the above user
  • database: The connection you configured for Sybase (Sybase1)

Connect to Sybase data and start executing queries with the code below:

var sql = require('mssql')
var config = {
	server: 'tds.cdata.com',
	port: 14333, 
	user: '[email protected]', //update me
	password: 'CONNECT_USER_PAT', //update me	
	options: {
		encrypt: true,
		database: 'Sybase1'
	}
}

sql.connect(config, err => { 
    if(err){
        throw err ;
    }
    new sql.Request().query('SELECT * FROM Products', (err, result) => {
        console.dir(result)
    })
        
});

sql.on('error', err => {
    console.log("SQL Error: " ,err);
})

Ready to get started?

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