How to connect PolyBase to Webflow

PolyBase for SQL Server allows you to query external data by using the same Transact-SQL syntax used to query a database table. When paired with the CData API Driver for ODBC, you get access to your Webflow data directly alongside your SQL Server data. This article describes creating an external data source and external tables to grant access to live Webflow data using T-SQL queries.

NOTE: PolyBase is only available on SQL Server 19 and above.

The CData ODBC drivers offer unmatched performance for interacting with live Webflow data using PolyBase due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from SQL Server to Webflow, the driver pushes down supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Webflow and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations (often SQL functions and JOIN operations) client-side. And with PolyBase, you can also join SQL Server data with Webflow data, using a single query to pull data from distributed sources.

Connect to Webflow

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. To create an external data source in SQL Server using PolyBase, configure a System DSN (CData Webflow Sys is created automatically).

Authentication

Webflow uses OAuth 2.0 authentication to ensure secure access to sites, CMS collections, e-commerce data, and other resources. This authentication method allows you to securely connect to your Webflow workspace and manage resources with proper authorization.

OAuth 2.0 Setup and Configuration

Step 1: Create a Webflow OAuth Application

To set up OAuth authentication:

1. Visit the Webflow Developer Portal
2. Navigate to "Apps & Integrations" in your Webflow account
3. Click "Register an App" to create a new OAuth application
4. Configure the application name, description, and redirect URI (CallbackURL)
5. Copy the Client ID and Client Secret for use in your connection

Required Connection Properties

• AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth (required)
• OAuthClientId: Client ID from your Webflow OAuth application (required)
• OAuthClientSecret: Client secret from your Webflow OAuth application (required)
• CallbackURL: Redirect URI specified in your OAuth application (required)
• InitiateOAuth: Set to GETANDREFRESH for automatic token management (recommended)

Required OAuth Scopes

The Webflow API Profile requires the following OAuth scopes:

• sites:read - Read access to site information and configuration
• pages:read - Read access to site pages
• cms:read - Read access to CMS collections and items
• forms:read - Read access to forms and form submissions
• assets:read - Read access to media assets and folders
• ecommerce:read - Read access to products, orders, and inventory
• authorized_user:read - Read access to the authorized user

Click "Test Connection" to ensure that the DSN is connected to Webflow properly. Navigate to the Tables tab to review the table definitions for Webflow.

Create an External Data Source for Webflow Data

After configuring the connection, you need to create a master encryption key and a credential database for the external data source.

Creating a Master Encryption Key

Execute the following SQL command to create a new master key, 'ENCRYPTION,' to encrypt the credentials for the external data source.

CREATE MASTER KEY ENCRYPTION BY PASSWORD = 'password';

Creating a Credential Database

Execute the following SQL command to create credentials for the external data source connected to Webflow data.

NOTE: Since Webflow does not require a User or Password to authenticate, you may use whatever values you wish for IDENTITY and SECRET.

CREATE DATABASE SCOPED CREDENTIAL api_creds
WITH IDENTITY = 'username', SECRET = 'password';

Create an External Data Source for Webflow

Execute a CREATE EXTERNAL DATA SOURCE SQL command to create an external data source for Webflow with PolyBase:

• Set the LOCATION parameter , using the DSN and credentials configured earlier.

For Webflow, set SERVERNAME to the URL or address for your server (e.g. 'localhost' or '127.0.0.1' for local servers; the remote URL for remote servers). Leave PORT empty. PUSHDOWN is set to ON by default, meaning the ODBC Driver can leverage server-side processing for complex queries.

CREATE EXTERNAL DATA SOURCE cdata_api_source
WITH ( 
  LOCATION = 'odbc://SERVER_URL',
  CONNECTION_OPTIONS = 'DSN=CData Webflow Sys',
  -- PUSHDOWN = ON | OFF,
  CREDENTIAL = api_creds
);

Create External Tables for Webflow

After creating the external data source, use CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE statements to link to Webflow data from your SQL Server instance. The table column definitions must match those exposed by the CData API Driver for ODBC. You can refer to the Tables tab of the DSN Configuration Wizard to see the table definition.

Sample CREATE TABLE Statement

The statement to create an external table based on a Webflow Sites would look similar to the following:

CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE Sites(
   [nvarchar](255) NULL,
   [nvarchar](255) NULL,
  ...
) WITH ( 
  LOCATION='Sites',
  DATA_SOURCE=cdata_api_source
);

Having created external tables for Webflow in your SQL Server instance, you are now able to query local and remote data simultaneously. Thanks to built-in query processing in the CData ODBC Driver, you know that as much query processing as possible is being pushed to Webflow, freeing up local resources and computing power. Download a free, 30-day trial of the ODBC Driver for Webflow and start working with live Webflow data alongside your SQL Server data today.