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Analyze Dynamics CRM Data in Infragistics Reveal
Use the CData API Server to create an OData API on top of Dynamics CRM data and visualize live Dynamics CRM data in Ingragistics Reveal.
Reveal is a data visualization solution provided by Infragistics and can be paired with the CData API Server and Dynamics CRM ADO.NET Provider to build dynamic dashboards from live Dynamics CRM data. The CData API Server generates an OData API for Dynamics CRM, which is natively consumable in Reveal. In this article, we walk through connecting to Dynamics CRM in API Server and connecting to the API Server from Infragistics Reveal to create a simple dashboard.
About Dynamics CRM Data Integration
CData simplifies access and integration of live Microsoft Dynamics CRM data. Our customers leverage CData connectivity to:
- Read and write data in the Dynamics CRM 2011+ Services and Dynamics CRM Online.
- Extend the native features of Dynamics CRM with customizable caching and intelligent query aggregation and separation.
- Authenticate securely with Dynamics CRM in a variety of ways, including Azure Active Directory, Azure Managed Service Identity credentials, and Azure Service Principal using either a client secret or a certificate.
CData customers use our Dynamics CRM connectivity solutions for a variety of reasons, whether they're looking to replicate their data into a data warehouse (alongside other data sources) or analyze live Dynamics CRMa data from their preferred data tools inside the Microsoft ecosystem (Power BI, Excel, etc.) or with external tools (Tableau, Looker, etc.).
Getting Started
Connect to Dynamics CRM from API Server
CData API Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.
- Open API Server and click Settings -> Connection -> Add Connection
- Select "Dynamics CRM"
- Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Dynamics CRM.
The connection string options meet the authentication and connection requirements of different Dynamics CRM instances. To connect to your instance, set the User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, to valid Dynamics CRM user credentials and set the Url to a valid Dynamics CRM server organization root. Additionally, set the CRMVersion property to 'CRM2011+' or 'CRMOnline'. IFD configurations are supported as well; set InternetFacingDeployment to true.
Additionally, you can provide the security token service (STS) or AD FS endpoint in the STSURL property. This value can be retrieved with the GetSTSUrl stored procedure. Office 365 users can connect to the default STS URL by simply setting CRMVersion.
Add Dynamics CRM Resource Definitions in API Server
After connecting to Dynamics CRM, create Resources, which represent API endpoints for Dynamics CRM data.
- Click Settings -> Resources -> Add Resource
- Select the Dynamics CRM connection
- Select the table you wish to retrieve and click Next
- (Optional) Edit the resource to select specific fields and more
- Save the settings
Add an API Server User
Create a User to connect to Dynamics CRM from Reveal through API Server.
- Click Settings -> Users
- Click Add
- Configure a User with access to the Dynamics CRM Connection and Resource(s)
(Optional) Configure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)
When accessing and connecting to multiple different domains from an application such as Ajax, there is a possibility of violating the limitations of cross-site scripting. In that case, configure the CORS settings in Settings -> Server.
- Enable cross-origin resource sharing (CORS): ON
- Allow all domains without '*': ON
- Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, PUT, POST, OPTIONS
- Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Authorization
Save the changes to the settings.
Create a Dashboard in Reveal
With the API Server configured, we can visualize Dynamics CRM data in Reveal.
- Log into Reveal and click Dashboards -> New
- Click Data Source -> OData Feed
- Specify the API Server API endpoint URL, for example: https://serverurl/api.rsc
- Select Generic Credentials and specify the API Server username and authentication token
- Select the entity you wish to visualize
- Select fields and choose a chart type
More Information & Free Trial
At this point, you have created a simple dashboard from live Dynamics CRM data. For more information on creating OData feeds from Dynamics CRM (and more than 150 other sources), visit the API Server page. Download a free, 30-day trial and start working live Dynamics CRM data in tools that consume OData APIs.
