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 SuiteCRM V4.1 API

You can connect to SuiteCRM data via the V4.1 API by simply setting the following connection properties:

• Schema: Set this to suitecrmv4.
• Url: Set this to the URL associated with the SuiteCRM application, for example http://suite.crm.com.
• User: Set this to the user associated with the SuiteCRM account.
• Password: Set this to the password associated with the SuiteCRM account.

Note that retrieving SuiteCRM metadata can be expensive. It is advised that you store the metadata locally as described in Caching Metadata.

Connecting To SuiteCRM V8 API

Before Connecting

Before you connect to SuiteCRM V8 API you will need to first configure it in your SuiteCRM instance. The API can be configured in SuiteCRM version 7.10+. To configure the API, please follow the steps written in the SuiteCRM JSON API docs, found here: https://docs.suitecrm.com/developer/api/developer-setup-guide/json-api/#_before_you_start_calling_endpoints .

The SuiteCRM V8 API uses OAuth2.0 as its main method of authentication using 2 types of grant type, password or client credentials. Please see Using OAuth Authentication for a guide on how to connect with OAuth.

Using the FireDAC Connection Editor

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

1. Open a project and drop a TFDPhysCDataSuiteCRMDriverLink from the Tool Palette onto the Form Designer.
2. Drop a TFDConnection object onto the Form Designer.
3. Double-click the TFDConnection and select CDataSuiteCRM 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 SuiteCRM 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 SuiteCRM objects at design time:

• Expand the CData SuiteCRM 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.