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How to build a simple VCL Application to view Xero data in RAD Studio using the CData FireDAC Components for Xero.
Embarcadero RAD Studio provides a development environment for Delphi and C++Builder applications. With the CData FireDAC Components for Xero, you gain access to live Xero data within RAD Studio, abstracting the data into tables, views, and stored procedures that can be used to retrieve and update Xero data. This article will walk through connecting to Xero and creating a simple VCL application with the Form Designer.
Creating a VCL Application for Xero Data
The following instructions show how to use the Form Designer to create a simple VCL Forms application that shows the basic FireDAC objects needed to connect to Xero from any application.
The following example populates a TDBGrid control.
- Create a new VCL Forms Application.
- Drop a TFDPhysXeroDriverLink and TFDConnection object onto the form.
Double-click the TFDConnection object. The FireDAC Connection Editor is displayed. Select "CData.Xero" in the DriverId menu and configure the connection properties.
To connect, set the Schema connection property in addition to any authentication values. Xero offers authentication for private applications, public applications, and partner applications. You will need to set the XeroAppAuthentication property to PUBLIC, PRIVATE, or PARTNER, depending on the type of application configured. To connect from a private application, you will additionally need to set the OAuthAccessToken, OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, CertificateStoreType, CertificateStore, and CertificateStorePassword.
To connect from a public or partner application, you can use the embedded OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL, or you can register an app to obtain your own OAuth values.
See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for a guide to authenticating to Xero.
- Drop a TFDQuery object onto the form and set the properties below:
- Connection - Set this property to the TFDConnection object, if this object is not already specified.
- SQL - Click the button in the SQL property and enter a query.
- Active - Set this property to true.
- Drop a TDataSource object onto the form and set the following property:
- DataSet - In the menu for this property, select the name of the TFDQuery object.
- Drop a TDBGrid control onto the form and set the following property:
- DataSource - Select the name of the TDataSource.
Drop a TFDGUIxWaitCursor onto the form. This is required to avoid a run-time error.
You now have an executable application that displays the results of the SQL Query set in the TFDQuery object.
