Build MVC Applications with Connectivity to Talkdesk Data

In this article, we will guide you through the process of utilizing wizards within Visual Studio to seamlessly integrate the CData ADO.NET Provider for Talkdesk into a basic MVC (Model, View, Controller) project.

Create the Entity Framework Model

Follow the steps below to save connection properties and map tables to entities in the data model.

1. Create a new MVC project in Visual Studio. In this example, the project name is MvcTalkdeskApp.

2. If you are using Entity Framework 6, you will need to take the preliminary step of registering the Talkdesk Entity Framework provider for your project. See the "LINQ and Entity Framework" chapter in the help documentation for a guide.

   Note that MVC 3 scaffolding and MVC 4 scaffolding do not support Entity Framework 6. You can use your scaffolding with Entity Framework 6 by upgrading to the latest version of MVC.
3. To add the .edmx file from the designer, right-click your Models folder and click Add New Item. Select ADO.NET Entity Data Model, name the model, and click Add. In this example, the name of the model is TalkdeskModel.
4. In the Entity Data Model wizard, select the option 'EF Designer from database'. The Entity Data Model wizard is displayed.
5. Click New Connection. Select CData Talkdesk Data Source in the dialog that is displayed.

6. Specify the required connection string properties.

   Talkdesk uses the OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials grant. There is no browser-based authorization step and no callback URL.

   Set the following connection properties:

   • AccountName: The name of your Talkdesk account.
   • Region: The region where your Talkdesk instance is deployed. Supported values are US (default), EU, CA, AU, UK, and FedRamp.
   • OAuthClientId: The Client Id assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
   • OAuthClientSecret: The Client Secret assigned to your custom OAuth application.

   Creating a Custom OAuth Application

   1. Log in to your Talkdesk account and select OAuth Clients from the navigation menu.
   2. Click Create OAuth Client and give the client a descriptive name.
   3. Set Grant Type to Client Credentials.
   4. Click Add scopes and select the scopes for the data you want to access.
   5. Click Create and copy the Client Id and Client Secret.

   When you connect, the driver automatically requests an access token from Talkdesk, caches it, and refreshes it when it expires. Make sure the scopes selected for the application match the views you plan to query, or the token request can fail.

   A typical connection string is below:

   AccountName=myAccount;Region=US;OAuthClientId=myClientId;OAuthClientSecret=myClientSecret;

   

7. Name the connection and select whether to include sensitive information, such as connection credentials, in the connection string. For simplicity, this example saves sensitive information in Web.config. The connection settings are saved as TalkdeskEntities.

   
8. Select the views you need. In this example, Users is imported. Also, the option to pluralize object names is deselected in this example. Click Finish to create the .edmx file.
9. Build your project to complete this step.

Scaffold the Controller and Views

Once you've established the model and completed the project build, you can employ ASP.NET Scaffolding wizards to generate both the controller and the views.

1. In Solution Explorer, right-click the controllers folder and click Add -> Controller. Select MVC 5 Controller with views, using Entity Framework.
2. In the Add Controller dialog that is then displayed, select the following options:
   • Model class: Select a table you imported; for example, Users.
   • Data context class: Select your context class.
3. Leave the default values for the other fields.

You can now access the list of Users records at http://MySite/Users. With every state change the site picks up any data changes.