Firebird and the Business Connectivity Services in SharePoint 2010

In this walkthrough we will demonstrate how to integrate Firebird database with Microsoft SharePoint 2010 through ODBC and display Firebird data on SharePoint 2010 page. In order to do that we will describe how to create a new external content type by means of BCS Meta Man.

1. Prerequisites:
   • Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010
   • Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional or higher
   • BCS Meta Man
   • Download and install Firebird ODBC driver (Windows 32-bit Full Install) for Microsoft Windows 32-bit http://www.firebirdsql.org/en/odbc-driver/ on a machine where BCS Meta Man runs
   • Download and install Firebird ODBC driver (Windows 64-bit Full Install) for Microsoft Windows 64-bit http://www.firebirdsql.org/en/odbc-driver/ on a machine where SharePoint 2010 runs
   • Firebird client component (it’s a part of Firebird server installer) for Microsoft Windows 32-bit http://www.firebirdsql.org/en/downloads/ on a machine where BCS Meta Man runs 
   • Firebird client component (it’s a part of Firebird server installer) for Microsoft Windows 64-bit http://www.firebirdsql.org/en/downloads/ on a machine where SharePoint 2010 runs  
2. Open Visual Studio 2010
3. Add a New Project
4. Expand the “SharePoint” node, select “Lightning Tools (2010)” node and then the “BCS Meta Man” project type
5. Give your project a name i.e FirebirdBCSMetaManDemo and click “OK”

   

6. On the next dialog box, enter the name of where you want to deploy your model, and click “Finish” button

   

7. If prompted, click “Trial” on the licensing dialog
8. To show the “BCS Meta Man Data Source Explorer” we need to enable it from the Menu item, this new window can be docked so it doesn’t get in your way

   

9. Click the “Add Connection” button to show the “Connection Dialog”
10. Select “ODBC Server” as Data Source type, enter Firebird ODBC connection string (for example it can be “DbName=cygnus:C:Program FilesFirebirdFirebird_2_5examplesempbuildEMPLOYEE.FDB; Driver=Firebird/InterBase(r) driver;Uid=SYSDBA;Pwd=masterkey;Trusted_Connection=true;”), enter double quotes as left and right delimiters and “?” as parameter symbol and click “Connect” button

    

11. The Data Source Explorer will now be populated with your Firebird data

    

12. We will be working with the ”DEPARTMENT” table, to add it to the Model , just drag it from the “Data Source Explorer” onto the “Diagram”
13. When you drop the table you will be shown the following dialog, we should choose “Database , click “OK”

    

14. Accept the default entity name by clicking “Next”

    

15. Accept the default “Identifiers” by clicking “Next”

    

16. Accept the default 3 methods to be created, click “Generate” (The default 3 methods are: “Finder” – Returns all items, “Specific Finder” – Returns a single item by identifier, “IdEnumerator” – Returns just the Identifiers for all of the items )

    

17. Press F5 to deploy, this will load up your SharePoint Page once deployed
18. Add a new External list by selection on SharePoint page “Site Action”->“More Options”->“External List”

    

19. Click on the icon to show the available External Content Types

    

20. Select our FirebirdBCSMetaManDemo.DEPARTMENT External Content Type, click “OK”

    

21. Click “Create”
22. Your External System data from Firebird database is now displayed in the SharePoint External List

    

We hope this walkthrough will be useful for you. If you have any questions feel free to email them to support@lightningtools.com

<Dmitry Kaloshin/>