I have discussed in previous articles how Sage CRM has the ability to link to external databases. Once an external database table is linked to Sage CRM the data in the table can be made available within the Interactive Dashboard.
Another benefit of changing the External Access of the linked table to allow SData access is that this table will be available to the SData schema and so available to any third party application.
The article below discussed how to make the Suppliers table of the Northwind database available as an SData source.
Making an External Table Available as an SData Gadget in the Interactive Dashboard
If we use the Suppliers table as an example, once SData access has been confirmed you can access the Supplier information with RESTful SData requests.
These requests all follow the standard URL that are described in the documentation.
e.g.
- http://[servname]/sdata/[installname]j/sagecrm/-/suppliers/$schema
- http://[servname]/sdata/[installname]j/sagecrm/-/suppliers
- http://[servname]/sdata/[installname]j/sagecrm/-/suppliers(supplierid eq '3')
Note: You will have to handle security when accessing the SData provider. Please see the article: Security and the SData Gadget and ReadOnly SData provider.
An external application can then make a request to Sage CRM for data that actually exists in another database.
e.g.
http://myserver/sdata/crmdppj/sagecrm/-/suppliers(supplierid eq '3')
Sage CRM will then return the XML
http://richardsj-lt/sdata/crmdppj/sagecrm/-/suppliers(supplierid eq '3') 2010-10-28T12:36:14+01:00 (313) 555-5735 48104 Sales Representative Grandma Kelly's Homestead 707 Oxford Rd.Ann Arbor Regina Murphy (313) 555-3349 3