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Connect to OData data source

The Bold Reports supports connecting OData web services through REST API.

Choose OData data source

To configure the OData data source, follow the below steps:

Click on the Data icon in the configuration panel.
In the DATA configuration panel, click on the NEW DATA button.
In the connection type panel, choose the OData data source type.

Create OData data source

After clicking the data source, the NEW DATASOURCE configuration panel opens. Follow the below steps to create OData data source:

Specify the data source name without special characters, in Name field.
Enter a valid OData REST API endpoint in the URL textbox. Refer the OData API documentation for more details.

Example: https://services.odata.org/V4/Northwind/Northwind.svc/Orders
Choose one of the Method from the drop-down for the provided REST API. Options are GET and POST.
If required by the REST API, provide key value pairs in Headers.
Choose a Data Format from the drop-down based on the response of your provided REST API. Options are JSON and XML.
Choose an Authentication Type supported by the data source. Options are Basic http authentication and None. Learn more about Authentication Types.

If you choose GET method type, the basic configuration looks something similar to below image,

GET configuration

Based on the REST API service which you use, pass the headers, parameters or raw data, data format and authentication type.

Click on the Connect to proceed with query design pane. The left pane will show the key fields of JSON data retrieved from OData Rest API request. Left schema

Drag and drop the table from the left pane in the query design view page and execute. Its corresponding values will be shown in grid for preview. New connection panel

Note: In schema tree, the nested fields in the specified OData service will be shown as flat structure.

Click Finish to save the data source with a relevant name to proceed with designing report. New connection panel

Data format

You can choose the Data format of the response for the provided Rest API in the Data format drop-down.

Data Format

CSV data format

Once you select the CSV format, the Separator options will show as below. You can choose the separator from the given options.

CSV Data Format

Authentication types

You can set authentication type, either as None or Basic HTTP Authentication.

Use None type in following cases,

To connect OData services without any authentication, choose None under Authentication Type.
If your data source supports API Key/API Token authentication, pass these values under Header(s) by clicking +Add. Choose None under Authentication Type.

Use Basic Http authentication, if your OData service requires username and password to authenticate. Choose Basic HTTP Authentication under Authentication Type and input the username and password.

Pass dynamic values

You can pass dynamic values for URL, headers, and parameters using Expressions. To set an expression for required fields, click on the square icon provided for respective field. For example, follow the below steps to set expression for URL field.

Click on the square icon in right corner of URL field to open expression menu,
Choose Expression option from the menu,
Now, this will launch the expression dialog,
Enter the required expression and click OK.
Now, the square icon will be indicated with black color and URL field denoted with <<Exp>>,

To reset the expression, choose Reset option from the menu. Specify other required connection settings and click Connect. Once you click on connect for the first time, it will prompt for a actual URL to load data in query design.

Enter expression