How to connect to Dynamics 365 in .NET With C#

Why dotConnect for Dynamics 365?

Easy integration with Dynamics 365

dotConnect efficiently resolves the connectivity challenges, allowing .NET applications to work with Dynamics 365 entities directly.

Interactive OAuth token generation

Support for Interactive OAuth authentication allows you to generate access and refresh tokens via a browser-based login flow.

User-friendly ADO.NET classes

Using familiar ADO.NET classes enables developers to work with Dynamics 365 data according to standard .NET patterns.

Advanced ORM support

The provider is fully compatible with EF Core, Dapper, NHibernate, and other ORM technologies for flexible data access in .NET applications.

Full ADO.NET compliance

The latest ADO.NET specifications ensure reliable integration with .NET frameworks and consistent behavior in enterprise applications.

Support & frequent updates

Priority technical support, full documentation, and product updates grant reliability and compatibility with Dynamics 365 and .NET.

Download and activate dotConnect for Dynamics 365

You can start using dotConnect for Dynamics 365 immediately with a 30-day free trial. Choose one of the following installation options:

30-day free trial version

dotnet add package Devart.Data.Dynamics

Install-Package Devart.Data.Dynamics

Start using dotConnect for Dynamics 365 in your project today with a free trial

Free 30-day trial

Connect using C#

We have created a console application. The code below ensures a connection to Dynamics 365 and retrieves the first rows from the role table.

using Devart.Data.Dynamics;

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
    string connectionString =
        "Authentication Type=RefreshTokenInteractive;" +
        "License Key=**********";

    using (DynamicsConnection connection = new DynamicsConnection(connectionString))
    {
        try
        {
        connection.Open();
        Console.WriteLine("Connection successful!");
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
        Console.WriteLine($"An error occurred: {ex.Message}");
        }
    }
  }
}

When the connection is established, your application successfully retrieves the first eight rows from the role table and displays them in the console.

The connection string in this code is the string containing the information necessary to establish a successful connection to Dynamics 365. The following table lists the valid names for values within the Dynamics 365 connection strings.

For the full list of all connection string parameters, refer to the detailed guideline.

Connect using Server Explorer

You can connect to your Dynamics 365 data using the Server Explorer. Right-click Data Connections and select Add Connection from the context menu.

It opens the Change Data Source dialog. Select dotConnect for Dynamics 365 from the list of installed data providers.

Fill in the connection properties and click Test Connection to verify the settings. You can connect to Dynamics 365.

After connecting, expand the newly-created data connection in the Server Explorer and view the data source structure, including all tables and table columns.

To view the data from some particular table, right-click it and select Retrieve Data from Table. This action opens a new query window with a SELECT statement to fetch the data from the table.

Connect with EF Core using Entity Developer

Entity Developer is a powerful visual ORM builder that enables developers to create EF Core models from Dynamics 365. If you don't have it already installed, close your Visual Studio instance, download Entity Developer, and install it following the on-screen instructions.

After that, follow the detailed illustrated guide to create your database model using Entity Developer. When this process is complete, the model you created opens for you to view it and start working with it.

Connect with EF Core using Scaffold-DbContext

Another method of connecting to Dynamics 365 involves using Entity Framework Core (EF Core) and the Scaffold-DbContext command. Here, we will generate the necessary EF Core model classes and DbContext based on the existing database schema.

First of all, we need to install the required NuGet packages via the Solution Explorer in Visual Studio and the Manage NuGet Packages options:

• Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools
• Devart.Data.Dynamics.EFCore

Open the Package Manager Console: Tools > NuGet Package Manager > Package Manager Console.

Run the following command to scaffold the DbContext and entity classes from your data source. Ensure to replace the connection string with your actual connection details.

Scaffold-DbContext "Server=test.crm4.dynamics.com;[email protected];Password=******;License Key=******;" Devart.Data.Dynamics.Entity.EFCore -OutputDir Models

Notice that the -OutputDir Models parameter specifies the output directory to store the generated model classes (in this case, it is Models). After running the scaffold command, EF Core will generate the DbContext class and entity classes in the specified output directory.

Review the generated code and check how it matches your database schema.

Conclusion

Dynamics 365 is a popular platform for data-driven business applications, and integrating it into your work environment is a common task for many organizations where ensuring stable connectivity between the database and the application is crucial. dotConnect for Dynamics 365 effectively resolves all challenges, allowing developers to connect directly to the data source and utilize it in their applications.

You can explore dotConnect for Dynamics 365 with a fully functional 30-day free trial. Experience its benefits firsthand and see how it can improve your daily workflows.

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