Connect to Telegram Data from PowerBuilder via ODBC

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

Connect to Telegram 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.

Using API Key Authentication

Telegram uses Bot Tokens to authenticate API requests. You can obtain a Bot Token by creating a bot via BotFather on Telegram (https://t.me/BotFather). Once created, BotFather will provide a token in the format

123456789:ABCdefGhIJKlmNoPQRsTUVwxyZ

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
• APIKey: Set this to your Telegram Bot Token obtained from BotFather.

Example connection string

Profile=C:\profiles\Telegram.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_bot_token';

Create a Profile for the ODBC Driver for Telegram

Follow the steps below to use the Database Painter tool to create a database profile based on an ODBC DSN (data source name) for Telegram. In the Database Painter, you can use wizards and the UI to work with Telegram 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 Telegram DSN in the Data Source menu.
4. To view and modify a table, right-click a table and then click Edit Data -> Grid.

Using Telegram 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 Telegram 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_availablegifts.SetTransObject(SQLCA);
dw_availablegifts.Retrieve();