Establishing a Connection
You can create and manage connections with the Data Explorer and the FireDAC Connection Editor wizards. See Connection Definitions for more information on creating connections from code and creating persistent, private, or temporary connections.
Connecting to Microsoft Dynamics NAV
Before the component can connect with Microsoft Dynamics NAV, OData services need to be enabled on the server. Once OData Services are enabled, the component will be able to query any services that are published on the server.
In addition, specify a Url to a valid Microsoft Dynamics NAV server organization root (e.g. http://MyServer:7048) and a ServerInstance (e.g. DynamicsNAV71). If there is not a Service Default Company for the server, set the Company (e.g. 'CRONUS Canada, Inc.') as well.
In a multitenant installation, specify the tenant Id in Tenant (e.g. 'Cronus1').
Authenticating to Microsoft Dynamics NAV
To authenticate, set the User and Password properties to valid Microsoft Dynamics NAV logon credentials or Windows user credentials. Select the appropriate authentication method in AuthScheme.
Auth Schemes
The available authentication schemes are configured in IIS where Dynamics NAV is hosted. In IIS you can select to enable or disable Digest, Basic, Windows, or Anonymous authentication. Please consult with your Dynamics NAV admin to determine which authentication scheme is appropriate for you. Set AuthScheme to one of the following:
- NEGOTIATE (default) - It is part of the Windows authentication, also known as Kerberos.
- BASIC - Basic authentication.
- DIGEST - Digest authentication.
- NTLM - Part of the Windows authentication.
- NONE - Anonymous authentication.
Using the FireDAC Connection Editor
Complete the following steps to use the FireDAC Connection Editor to assign a Microsoft Dynamics NAV connection to a TFDConnection object:
- Open a project and drop a TFDPhysCDataDynamicsNAVDriverLink from the Tool Palette onto the Form Designer.
- Drop a TFDConnection object onto the Form Designer.
- Double-click the TFDConnection and select CDataDynamicsNAV in the Driver Id menu.
- Define the necessary connection properties.
- To execute ad-hoc SQL statements based on this connection, enter SQL commands on the SQL Script tab.
- In the Form Designer, select the TFDConnection object and set the Connected property to true.
Using the Data Explorer
Complete the following steps to use the Data Explorer to define persistent connections that can be shared across applications and projects:
- Click View > Tool Windows > Data Explorer in RAD Studio and expand the FireDAC node.
- Right-click the CData Microsoft Dynamics NAV Data Source node and click Add New Connection.
- Enter a name for the connection. The FireDAC Connection Editor opens.
Working with Persistent Connections
The connections you define in the Data Explorer can be assigned to a TFDConnection object by specifying the connection name in the TFDConnection object's ConnectionDefName property.
Browsing Data and Metadata
The Data Explorer also provides options for browsing Microsoft Dynamics NAV objects at design time:
- Expand the CData Microsoft Dynamics NAV Data Source node in the Data Explorer to view the defined connections.
- Expand a connection node to find the database objects available for a connection.
- Drill down to a database object to find metadata such as primary keys.
- To display data, double-click a table or view or right-click and click View.