Import Real-Time Talkdesk Data via ODBC in ColdFusion to Build Applications

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 Talkdesk, you can link your ColdFusion web and mobile applications to operational Talkdesk 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 Talkdesk data from within a ColdFusion markup file.

To follow along with this tutorial, you need to install the CData ODBC Driver for Talkdesk 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.

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.

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 Talkdesk 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 Talkdesk 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 CDataTalkdeskODBC 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="TalkdeskQuery" dataSource="CDataTalkdeskODBC"> 
             SELECT * FROM Users 
           </cfquery> 
       

   And a CFTable can be used to quickly output the table in HTML:

               
             <cftable  
             query = "TalkdeskQuery" 
             border = "1" 
             colHeaders 
             colSpacing = "2" 
             headerLines = "2" 
             HTMLTable 
             maxRows = "500" 
             startRow = "1"> 
   
             <cfcol header="<b>Id</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="Id"/> 
   
             <cfcol header="<b>Name</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="Name"/> 
   
             ...
   
           </cftable> 
       

   Full code, including the HTML portion is available below:

               
           <html> 
           <head><title>CData Software | Talkdesk Users Table Demo </title></head> 
           <body> 
           <cfoutput>#ucase("Talkdesk Users Table Demo")#</cfoutput> 
           <cfquery name="TalkdeskQuery" dataSource="CDataTalkdeskODBC"> 
   
             SELECT * FROM Users 
   
           </cfquery> 
           <cftable  
             query = "TalkdeskQuery" 
             border = "1" 
             colHeaders 
             colSpacing = "2" 
             headerLines = "2" 
             HTMLTable 
             maxRows = "500" 
             startRow = "1"> 
             <cfcol header="<b>Id</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="Id"/> 
   
             <cfcol header="<b>Name</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="Name"/> 
   
             ...
   
           </cftable> 
           </body> 
   
           </html>  
       

6. Finally, run the code in a browser. It produces a table populated with Talkdesk 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 Talkdesk and start building Talkdesk-connected applications with Adobe ColdFusion. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.