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 Sage 200

Before connecting, you must ensure that your account is registered for Sage API access. To do this:

1. Navigate to https://developer.columbus.sage.com/docs/services/api/uk/subscribe.
2. Select a subscription that contains the API of your Sage 200 edition (StandardUK or ProfessionalUK). The Sage 200 Unlimited subscription should contain the APIs of both editions.
3. Log in to the service to which you subscribed, and look at your profile. Make a note of the SubscriptionKey you find there.

To connect to Sage 200, specify the following connection properties:

• Schema: Specify the edition of Sage 200 in use; either StandardUK or ProfessionalUK.
• SubscriptionKey: The value you just retrieved from your subscription profile, above.

Authenticating to Sage 200

Sage 200 provides embedded OAuth credentials that simplify connection from a Desktop application or a Headless machine. To connect from a Web application, you must create a custom OAuth application, as described in Creating a Custom OAuth Application.

To connect via OAuth from all authentication flows, you must set AuthScheme to OAuth.

The following subsections describe how to authenticate to Sage 200 from the available oauth flows. For information about how to create a custom OAuth application, and why you might want to create one even for auth flows that already have embedded OAuth credentials, see Creating a Custom OAuth Application. For a complete list of connection string properties available in Sage 200, see Connection.

Desktop Applications

CData provides an embedded OAuth application that simplifies authentication at the desktop; that is, in situations where the user is using a local server not connected to the internet.

You can also authenticate from the desktop via a custom OAuth application, which you configure and register at the Sage 200 console. For further information, see Creating a Custom OAuth Application.

Before you connect, set these properties:

• InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. Used to automatically get and refresh the OAuthAccessToken.
• Custom OAuth applications only:
  • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
  • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
  • CallbackURL: The redirect URI defined when you registered your custom OAuth application.

When you connect, the component opens Sage 200's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application.

After you grant permissions to the application, the component completes the OAuth process:

1. Obtains an access token from Sage 200 and uses it to request data.
2. Saves the OAuth values in the path specified in OAuthSettingsLocation. These values persist across connections.

When the access token expires, the component refreshes it automatically.

Web Applications

Authenticating via the Web requires you to create and register a custom OAuth application with Sage 200, as described in Creating a Custom OAuth Application. You can then use the component to get and manage the OAuth token values.

This section describes how to get the OAuth access token, and how to have the driver refresh the OAuth access token automatically.

Get the OAuth access token:

1. To obtain the OAuthAccessToken, set these connection properties:
   • OAuthClientId: The client Id in your custom OAuth application settings.
   • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret in your custom OAuth application settings.

2. Call stored procedures to complete the OAuth exchange:
   • Call the GetOAuthAuthorizationURL stored procedure. Set the AuthMode input to WEB and the CallbackURL to the Redirect URI you specified in your custom OAuth application settings. The stored procedure returns the URL to the OAuth endpoint.
   • Navigate to the URL that the stored procedure returned in Step 1. Log in and authorize the web application. You are redirected back to the callback URL.
   • Call the GetOAuthAccessToken stored procedure. Set the AuthMode input to WEB. Set the Verifier input to the code parameter in the query string of the redirect URI.

After you obtain the access and refresh tokens, you can connect to data and refresh the OAuth access token automatically.

Automatic refresh of the OAuth access token:

To have the component automatically refresh the OAuth access token, do the following:

1. The first time you connect to data, set these connection parameters:
   • InitiateOAuth: REFRESH.
   • OAuthClientId: The client Id in your custom OAuth application settings.
   • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret in your custom OAuth application settings.
   • OAuthAccessToken: The access token returned by GetOAuthAccessToken.
   • OAuthSettingsLocation: The path where you want the component to save the OAuth values, which persist across connections.
2. On subsequent data connections, set:
   • InitiateOAuth
   • OAuthSettingsLocation

Headless Machines

If you need to log in to a resource that resides on a headless machine, you must authenticate on another device that has an internet browser. You can do this in either of the following ways:

• Option 1: Obtain the OAuthVerifier value.
• Option 2: Install the component on a machine with an internet browser and transfer the OAuth authentication values after you authenticate through the usual browser-based flow.

After you execute either Option 1 or Option 2, configure the driver to automatically refresh the access token on the headless machine.

Option 1: Obtaining and Exchanging a Verifier Code

To obtain a verifier code, you must authenticate at the OAuth authorization URL as follows:

1. Authenticate from the machine with an internet browser, and obtain the OAuthVerifier connection property.

   If you are using the embedded OAuth application, call the GetOAuthAuthorizationURL stored procedure. Open the URL returned by the stored procedure in a browser.

   If you are using a custom OAuth application, set these properties:

   • InitiateOAuth: OFF.
   • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
   • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.

2. Call the GetOAuthAuthorizationURL stored procedure. The stored procedure returns the CallbackURL established when the custom OAuth application was registered. (See Creating a Custom OAuth Application.)

   Copy this URL and paste it into a new browser tab.

3. Log in and grant permissions to the component. The OAuth application redirects you the redirect URI, with a parameter called code appended. Note the value of this parameter; you will need it later, to configure the OAuthVerifier connection property.

4. Exchange the OAuth verifier code for OAuth refresh and access tokens. On the headless machine, to obtain the OAuthAccessToken, set these connection properties:

   • InitiateOAuth: REFRESH.
   • OAuthVerifier: The noted verifier code (the value of the code parameter in the redirect URI).
   • OAuthSettingsLocation: persist the encrypted OAuth authentication values to the specified file.
   • Custom OAuth applications only:
     • OAuthClientId: The client Id in your custom OAuth application settings.
     • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret in the custom OAuth application settings.

5. Test the connection to generate the OAuth settings file.

6. You are ready to connect after you re-set these properties:

   • InitiateOAuth: REFRESH.
   • OAuthSettingsLocation: The file containing the encrypted OAuth authentication values. To enable the automatic refreshing of the access token, be sure that this file gives read and write permissions to the component.
   • Custom OAuth applications only:
     • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
     • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.

Option 2: Transferring OAuth Settings

Prior to connecting on a headless machine, you must install and create a connection with the driver on a device that supports an internet browser. Set the connection properties as described above in "Desktop Applications".

After completing the instructions in "Desktop Applications", the resulting authentication values are encrypted and written to the path specified by OAuthSettingsLocation. The default filename is OAuthSettings.txt.

Test the connection to generate the OAuth settings file, then copy the OAuth settings file to your headless machine.

To connect to data via the headless machine, set these connection properties:

• InitiateOAuth: REFRESH
• OAuthSettingsLocation: The path to the OAuth settings file you copied from the machine with the browser. To enable automatic refreshing of the access token, ensure that this file gives read and write permissions to the component.
• Custom OAuth applications only:
  • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
  • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.

Using the FireDAC Connection Editor

Complete the following steps to use the FireDAC Connection Editor to assign a Sage 200 connection to a TFDConnection object:

1. Open a project and drop a TFDPhysCDataSage200DriverLink from the Tool Palette onto the Form Designer.
2. Drop a TFDConnection object onto the Form Designer.
3. Double-click the TFDConnection and select CDataSage200 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 Sage 200 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 Sage 200 objects at design time:

• Expand the CData Sage 200 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.