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Connect to Salesforce Data in Ruby
Connect to Salesforce data in Ruby with ruby-dbi, dbd-odbc, and ruby-odbc.
The CData ODBC Driver for Salesforce makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live Salesforce data in Ruby. This article shows how to create a simple Ruby app that connects to Salesforce data, executes a query, and displays the results.
About Salesforce Data Integration
Accessing and integrating live data from Salesforce has never been easier with CData. Customers rely on CData connectivity to:
- Access to custom entities and fields means Salesforce users get access to all of Salesforce.
- Create atomic and batch update operations.
- Read, write, update, and delete their Salesforce data.
- Leverage the latest Salesforce features and functionalities with support for SOAP API versions 30.0.
- See improved performance based on SOQL support to push complex queries down to Salesforce servers.
- Use SQL stored procedures to perform actions like creating, retrieving, aborting, and deleting jobs, uploading and downloading attachments and documents, and more.
Users frequently integrate Salesforce data with:
- other ERPs, marketing automation, HCMs, and more.
- preferred data tools like Power BI, Tableau, Looker, and more.
- databases and data warehouses.
For more information on how CData solutions work with Salesforce, check out our Salesforce integration page.
Getting Started
Create an ODBC Connection to Salesforce Data
If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.
There are several authentication methods available for connecting to Salesforce: Login, OAuth, and SSO. The Login method requires you to have the username, password, and security token of the user.
If you do not have access to the username and password or do not wish to require them, you can use OAuth authentication.
SSO (single sign-on) can be used by setting the SSOProperties, SSOLoginUrl, and TokenUrl connection properties, which allow you to authenticate to an identity provider. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for more information.
Installing Ruby and Necessary Gems
If you do not have Ruby installed, refer to the Ruby installation page. With Ruby installed, you will need to install the ruby-dbi, dbd-odbc, and ruby-odbc gems:
gem install dbi
gem install dbd-odbc
gem install ruby-odbc
Create a Ruby App with Connectivity to Salesforce Data
Create a new Ruby file (for example: SalesforceSelect.rb) and open it in a text editor. Copy the following code into your file:
#connect to the DSN
require 'dbi'
cnxn = DBI.connect('DBI:ODBC:CData Salesforce Source','','')
#execute a SELECT query and store the result set
resultSet = cnxn.execute("SELECT Contact.Name, SUM(Account.AnnualRevenue) FROM Contact, Account GROUP BY Contact.Name")
#display the names of the columns
resultSet.column_names.each do |name|
print name, "\t"
end
puts
#display the results
while row = resultSet.fetch do
(0..resultSet.column_names.size - 1).each do |n|
print row[n], "\t"
end
puts
end
resultSet.finish
#close the connection
cnxn.disconnect if cnxn
With the file completed, you are ready to display your Salesforce data with Ruby. To do so, simply run your file from the command line:
ruby SalesforceSelect.rb
Writing SQL-92 queries to Salesforce allows you to quickly and easily incorporate Salesforce data into your own Ruby applications. Download a free trial today!
Ready to get started?
Download a free trial of the Salesforce ODBC Driver to get started:
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Salesforce ODBC Driver
The Salesforce ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live Salesforce account data, directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity.
Access Salesforce data like you would a database - read, write, and update Leads, Contacts, Opportunities, Accounts, etc. through a standard ODBC Driver interface.
