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.

Modeling XML/JSON/CSV Data

The DataModel property controls how your data is represented into tables.

• Document (default): Model a top-level, document view of your REST data. The component returns nested object arrays as aggregated XML/JSON/CSV objects.
• FlattenedDocuments: Implicitly join nested array objects and parent objects into a single table.
• Relational: View nested object arrays as individual, related tables containing a primary key and a foreign key that links to the parent document.

Set Format to XML, JSON, or CSV in accordance with the data structuring standard used by the REST source you want to connect to. and set DataModel to more closely match the data representation to the structure of your data.

Next Steps

• See Modeling REST Data for information on customizing schema discovery and executing SQL to REST.
• See Fine-Tuning Data Access for more advanced connection settings: fine-tune the default data modeling settings, connect through a firewall, or troubleshoot connections.

Using the FireDAC Connection Editor

Complete the following steps to use the FireDAC Connection Editor to assign a REST connection to a TFDConnection object:

1. Open a project and drop a TFDPhysCDataRESTDriverLink from the Tool Palette onto the Form Designer.
2. Drop a TFDConnection object onto the Form Designer.
3. Double-click the TFDConnection and select CDataREST in the Driver Id menu.
4. Define the necessary connection properties.
5. To execute ad-hoc SQL statements based on this connection, enter SQL commands on the SQL Script tab.
6. 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:

1. Click View > Tool Windows > Data Explorer in RAD Studio and expand the FireDAC node.
2. Right-click the CData REST Data Source node and click Add New Connection.
3. 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 REST objects at design time:

• Expand the CData REST 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.