Creating Data Connections

Go to the Data Connections screen and select Add Group to create a group to keep your connections organized.

Adding a new connection group to the tree on the Data Connections screen. In this example, the group is called "Oracle Connections" to group all connections to Oracle databases.

Connection Groups

Connection groups are logical groupings that help keep connections organized. You don’t need to use connection groups, but they make it easier to authorize connections for use by an application, or to grant users and groups permissions to several connections at once.

Give your connection group a logical name. Select the connection group, then select Add Connection.

Adding a data connection within the Oracle Connetions group.

Select the type of database you want to connect to:

Choose from ADO/OLE DB, Cloud Connector, SQL Server, or Oracle connection.

Note: ADO/OLE DB connections MUST be created and edited from the server, either logged in directly or via a tool such as Remote Desktop. If you create an ADO/OLE DB connection while logged in elsewhere, you will only see the drivers for your local system and the connection may fail when attempting to use it from a machine that does not have those drivers installed.

The other connection types can be created or edited from any machine, since they are not dependent on local database drivers.

Choose the desired connection type, then select Next.

On the General tab of the Edit Data Connection dialog, enter the name that you wish users to see for this connection. You may also choose to add some notes for the connection. The notes are only visible in MAPS.

Edit Data Connection dialog, General tab. Connection name: Test Connection. Created by: Administrator. Created date: 6/2/16. Modified by: Administrator. Modified date: 6/2/16. Notes: "This is a test connection-- do not use for production purposes".

Configuring Driver Properties

The Driver Properties screen is where you configure settings specific to the database driver you are using.


Oracle Native Driver

Enter the Oracle Home you wish to use, or leave it set to <default> if your server has only one Oracle Home. The Service Name is the name of the Oracle database you wish to use.

After selecting Oracle as the database driver, the list of properties for an Oracle connection appear below. Oracle Home: OraDb11g_home1. Service Name: DEVL8. User Name: evisions. Password: <hidden>.

You can opt to specify a username and password at the connection level, or leave it blank depending on how you decide to configure your user/group rules later on. The most basic method of connection is to enter a username and password here that all users who use this connection will use to access the database.

SQL Server Native Driver

Enter the name of the server and database that you wish to use.

After selecting MSSQL as the database driver, the list of properties for a SQL Server connection appear below. Server: EVISQL. User Name: evisions. Password: <hidden>. Database: Helpdesk.

You can opt to specify a username and password at the connection level, or leave it blank depending on how you decide to configure your user/group rules later on. The most basic method of connection is to enter a username and password here that all users who use this connection will use to access the database.

ADO Driver

Click the ellipses on the right of the ADO Connection String field to generate the connection string.

After selecting ADO as the database driver, the ADO Connection String field appears. Select the ellipses at the end of the string (or press Alt-Down) when focus is in the field) to open the ADO build dialog to build the connection string.

On the Provider tab of the Data Link Properties dialog, select the OLE DB provider you wish to use.

Data Link Properties dialog showing providers such as the Microsoft Jet OLE DB provider, Access Database Engine, Microsoft provider for ODBC Drivers, Oracle, and SQL Server, and finally the Oracle Provider for OLE DB.

If you do not see the required provider, ensure that it has been installed on the MAPS server and that you are running the MAPS Configuration from the server itself. The providers shown here are those installed on the machine you are working on.

Note: If you are connecting to an Oracle database, we strongly recommend using the Oracle Provider for OLE DB and not the Microsoft OLE DB Provider for Oracle, as there are some known issues with the Microsoft provider.

Select Next to continue.

The remainder of the configuration process will vary depending on which OLE DB provider you are using. In this case, the Oracle provider requires that the database name (from the tnsnames.ora file on the MAPS server) be entered. Fill in the appropriate information for your connection type.

Connection tab of the Data Link Properties dialog. 1. Enter the data source and/or location of the data: (TEST8). 2. Enter information to log on to the server: Use a specific user name and password.

If you will be using the username and password defined in the connection string, check the Allow saving password box. Otherwise, you can configure connection credentials on a per-user or per-group basis later on the User/Group Rules screen.

Test the connection by clicking the Test Connection button at the bottom of the Connection tab. This will verify that the connection string is properly defined and that you have entered correct credentials for the database.

Select OK to save your settings.

Cloud Connector

If you are setting up a Cloud Connector to pull in third-party data, please refer to the Cloud Connector documentation for configuration details.

Salesforce Connector

If you are setting up a connection to a Salesforce environment, please refer to the Salesforce Connector documentation for configuration details.


Specifying the SQL Formatting

The SQL Formatting screen is where you specify the database format to use for communications via this data connection. You must select the correct SQL formatting options in order for queries to execute correctly. These options are used when generating queries in the Argos Visual Designer and for parsing queries in Argos and FormFusion.

You can choose from five predefined formats, define a custom SQL format, or let MAPS choose the correct format. When possible, you should choose the exact format for your database. The predefined settings include ANSI SQL-92, Jet, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, and Unidata.

Edit Data Connection dialog, SQL Formatting tab. Select a SQL Format from the dropdown.

Authorizing the Connection

At this point you will need to authorize the data connection for use with one or more applications. Right-click anywhere in the Authorized for use with pane on the right and select Add Application. Select the application(s) to authorize for this data connection.

Data Connections screen. After selecting Add application, a dialog appears with the list of applications (Argos, Configuration, FormFusion, and/or IntelleCheck). Select the desired applications, then select OK.

Authorizing the Connection for Applications

You can authorize a data connection for use with an application on the Data Connections screen, or from the Applications screen. If you have set up a connection group, you can authorize applications for the entire group at once.

For more information on data connection configuration, refer to the Data Connections section of the MAPS Help..