2023:Data Connection (Node Type)

This article is about an older version of Grooper. Information may be out of date and UI elements may have changed.
2025	2023

STUB	This article is a stub. It contains minimal information on the topic and should be expanded.

database Data Connections connect Grooper to Microsoft SQL and supported ODBC databases. Once configured, Data Connections can be used to export data extracted from a document to a database, perform database lookups to validate data Grooper collects and other actions related to database management systems (DBMS).

• Grooper supports MS SQL Server connectivity with the "SQL Server" connection method.
• Grooper supports Oracle, PostgreSQL, Db2, and MySQL connectivity with the "ODBC" connection method.

Grooper can connect to a Microsoft SQL Server or ODBC-compliant providers (such as Oracle, Db2, MySQL and PostgreSQL).

Data Connections are primarily used for two reasons in Grooper

• To validate data extracted from a document or to populate fields using values stored in a database.
  • This is done using Database Lookups defined on Data Models.
• To export collected data to a database.
  • This is done using Data Exports defined using Export Behaviors

How To

Create a Data Connection

Data Connections can be created in any Grooper Project. Please see Configuring a Data Connection.

Use a Data Connection for Database Lookups

Please see Database Lookup.

Use a Data Connection for Data Export

Please see Configuring Export Behaviors for Data Export.

Known Issues

The Grooper installer ships with various prerequisite components which are installed before the Grooper application. This includes CLR type mappings for various SQL data types. Without additional components installed, users may experience the following error when attempting to preview database tables with unsupported CLR Types (such as geometry and geography data types):

InvalidOperationException: DataReader.GetFieldType(24) returned null.

To support additional CLR Types (including geometry and geography data types), users need to install the following prerequisite from Microsoft:

• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=100451

Words of caution on ODBC Data Connections

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BE AWARE: You will need to connect to an ODBC data source on both the web server and any machine hosting Activity Processing services ODBC data sources must be connected to from the Windows ODBC Data Sources Administrator before creating a Data Connection in Grooper. This must be done on the web server and any client machines hosting Activity Processing services. To create and configure the Data Connection from Design you need the ODBC connection on the web server. To run activities like Export you need it on whatever machine is hosting the Activity Processing services.

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BE AWARE: Not all ODBC databases are fully supported Grooper officially supports the following ODBC databases: MSSQL Oracle DB2 MySQL PostgreSQL While other database versions may also function with ODBC, they could potentially encounter issues, particularly with more advanced features or newer updates.