Presentation on the state of working with data as a software developer and the solution that standards-based drivers provide.

1. The State of Data Today
A Developer’s Dilemma

2. See the World as a Database
Agenda
• Introduction
• A Sample Company’s Data
• The Problem: Disparate APIs & SDKs
• The Solution: Common Interfaces
• Code Samples

3. See the World as a Database
• Over 2 decades of experience
(since 1994) in building
integration components.
• 80+ Data Sources
• ‘See the World as a Database’
About CData Software
• Started: 1994
• Location: Chapel Hill, NC
• CData Software (formerly
RSSBus), a spin-off of
/n software.

4. See the World as a Database
A Sample Company’s Data
QuickBooks (Accounting & PoS)
Exact Online (Warehousing & Logistics)
HubSpot (CRM)
Microsoft Project (Project/Scheduling)
On-premises & cloud-based MySQL databases
Facebook & Twitter (Social Media data)

5. See the World as a Database
Accessing A Sample Company’s Data
REST APIs
XML APIs
SDKs
Authentication
Basic & OAuth

6. See the World as a Database
The Problem: Disparate APIs & SDKs
REST/SOAP APIs & SDKs model data differently
SDKs are language-dependent
Changes break existing tools
Lack of data-centric functionality

7. See the World as a Database
The Solution: A Common Interface
Built using established standards
Developers learn a single protocol
Data-centric model
Power of SQL (JOINs, filtering, aggregation)
Easily browse data
API/SDK/data model changes are covered

8. See the World as a Database
Digging In: How Do They Work?
Mapping APIs & SDKs to a relational model
Tables and Views correspond with resources
One resource per row
Nested values represented as JSON
Sub-collections are treated as related tables
SQL queries roughly match HTTP verbs
Stored procedures are used for other operations

9. See the World as a Database
Digging In: How Do They Work?
INSERT means more than creating a resource
Major SQL features supported across sources
Complex queries utilize API/SDK calls and memory
Bulk operations are supported, where possible
Advanced queries utilize API/SDK functionality

10. See the World as a Database
When are SDK/APIs better?
Data streaming
Event-driven applications
Language-centric development

11. See the World as a Database
Code Sample: Reading MySQL Data
using System.Data.CData.MySQL;
String connectionString =
"User=myUser;Password=myPassword;Database=myDatabase;Server=myServer;Port=3306;";
using (MySQLConnection conn = new MySQLConnection(connectionString)) {
MySQLCommand cmd = new MySQLCommand("", conn);
MySQLDataReader rdr;
cmd.CommandText = "SELECT * FROM Orders";
rdr = cmd.ExecuteReader();
while (rdr.Read()) {
//process results
}
}

12. See the World as a Database
Code Sample: Updating QuickBooks Data
using System.Data.CData.QuickBooks;
String connectionString = "User=test;Password=test;URL=http://localhost:8166;";
using (QuickBooksConnection conn = new QuickBooksConnection(connectionString)) {
QuickBooksCommand cmd = new QuickBooksCommand("", conn);
cmd.CommandText = "UPDATE Customers SET Name='Hook, Captain' WHERE Id = @myId";
cmd.Parameters.Add(new QuickBooksParameter("myId", "12345678-9876543210"));
cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
}

13. See the World as a Database
Calling Stored Procedures
Stored procedures represent non-CRUD actions
Called using name and passing appropriate parameters
Results can be read, stored, and processed

14. See the World as a Database
Code Sample: Upload Media to Twitter
using System.Data.CData.Twitter;
String connectionString = "OAuthAccessToken=...;OAuthAccessTokenSecret=...;" +
"OAuthClientId=...;OAuthClientSecret=...;";
using (TwitterConnection conn = new TwitterConnection(connectionString)) {
TwitterCommand cmd = new TwitterCommand("UploadMedia", conn);
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;
cmd.Parameters.Add(new TwitterParameter("MediaFilePath#1", "path/to/file1"));
TwitterDataReader rdr = cmd.ExecuteReader();
while (rdr.Read()) {
//process results
}
}

15. See the World as a Database
Desktop/Server apps call the Stored Procedure:
GetOAuthAccessToken
Web apps call the Stored Procedures:
GetOAuthAuthorizationUrl
GetOAuthAccessToken
Optional: allow the Drivers to manage OAuth flow
Performing OAuth Authentication

16. See the World as a Database
Code Sample: Exact Online OAuth Flow
using System.Data.CData.ExactOnline;
string connectionString = "Region=’United States’;OAuthClientId=...;OAuthClientSecret=...;";
string accessToken, refreshToken, expiresIn;
accessToken = refreshToken = expiresIn = string.Empty;
using (ExactOnlineConnection conn = new ExactOnlineConnection(connectionString)){
ExactOnlineCommand cmd = new ExactOnlineCommand("GetOAuthAccessToken", conn);
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;
cmd.Parameters.Add(new ExactOnlineParameter("CallBackUrl", "https://localhost:7777"));
ExactOnlineDataReader reader = cmd.ExecuteReader();
if(reader.Read()){
accessToken = (string)reader["OAuthAccessToken"];
refreshToken = (string)reader["OAuthRefreshToken"];
expiresIn = (string)reader["ExpiresIn"];
}
}
connectionString += "OAuthAccessToken=" + accessToken + ";OAuthRefreshToken=" + refreshToken + ";";

17. See the World as a Database
Data Sources

18. See the World as a Database
Thank You!
In Conclusion
Learning Disparate APIs/SDKs are Costly
Common Interfaces Provide Easy Access to Data
Questions?