Quickstart: Use Data API builder with SQL

Article
05/13/2024

In this Quickstart, you build a set of Data API builder configuration files to target a local SQL database.

Prerequisites

Docker
.NET 8
A data management client
- If you don't have a client installed, install Azure Data Studio

Tip

Alternatively, open this Quickstart in GitHub Codespaces with all developer prerequisites already installed. Simply bring your own Azure subscription. GitHub accounts include an entitlement of storage and core hours at no cost. For more information, see included storage and core hours for GitHub accounts.

Install the Data API builder CLI

Install the Microsoft.DataApiBuilder package from NuGet as a .NET tool.

Use dotnet tool install to install the latest version of the Microsoft.DataApiBuilder with the --global argument.
```
dotnet tool install --global Microsoft.DataApiBuilder
```
Note

If the package is already installed, you will update the package instead using dotnet tool update.
```
dotnet tool update --global Microsoft.DataApiBuilder
```
Verify that the tool is installed with dotnet tool list using the --global argument.
```
dotnet tool list --global
```

Configure the local database

Start by configuring and running the local database to set the relevant credentials. Then, you can seed the database with sample data.

Get the latest copy of the mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2022-latest container image from Docker Hub.
```
docker pull mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2022-latest
```

Start the docker container by setting the password, accepting the end-user license agreement (EULA), and publishing port 1433. Replace <your-password> with a custom password.

docker run \
    --env "ACCEPT_EULA=Y" \
    --env "MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD=<your-password>" \
    --publish 1433:1433 \
    --detach \
    mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2022-latest

Connect to your local database using your preferred data management environment. Examples include, but aren't limited to: SQL Server Management Studio, Azure Data Studio, and the SQL Server extension for Visual Studio Code.

Tip

If you're using default networking for your Docker Linux container images, the connection string will likely be Server=localhost,1433;User Id=sa;Password=<your-password>;TrustServerCertificate=True;Encrypt=True;. Replace <your-password> with the password you set earlier.

Create a new bookshelf database and use the database for your remaining queries.

DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS bookshelf;
GO

CREATE DATABASE bookshelf;
GO

USE bookshelf;
GO

Create a new dbo.authors table and seed the table with basic data.

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS dbo.authors;
GO

CREATE TABLE dbo.authors
(
    id int not null primary key,
    first_name nvarchar(100) not null,
    middle_name nvarchar(100) null,
    last_name nvarchar(100) not null
)
GO

INSERT INTO dbo.authors VALUES
    (01, 'Henry', null, 'Ross'),
    (02, 'Jacob', 'A.', 'Hancock'),
    (03, 'Sydney', null, 'Mattos'),
    (04, 'Jordan', null, 'Mitchell'),
    (05, 'Victoria', null, 'Burke'),
    (06, 'Vance', null, 'DeLeon'),
    (07, 'Reed', null, 'Flores'),
    (08, 'Felix', null, 'Henderson'),
    (09, 'Avery', null, 'Howard'),
    (10, 'Violet', null, 'Martinez')
GO

Create configuration files

Create a baseline configuration file using the DAB CLI. Then, add a development configuration file with your current credentials.

Create a typical configuration file using dab init. Add the --connection-string argument with your database connection string from the first section. Replace <your-password> with the password you set earlier in this guide. Also, add the Database=bookshelf value to the connection string.
```
dab init --database-type "mssql" --host-mode "Development" --connection-string "Server=localhost,1433;User Id=sa;Database=bookshelf;Password=<your-password>;TrustServerCertificate=True;Encrypt=True;"
```

Add an Author entity using dab add.

dab add Author --source "dbo.authors" --permissions "anonymous:*"

Test API with the local database

Now, start the Data API builder tool to validate that your configuration files are merged during development.

Use dab start to run the tool and create API endpoints for your entity.
```
dab start
```
The output of the tool should include the address to use to navigate to the running API.
```
      Successfully completed runtime initialization.
info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[14]
      Now listening on: <http://localhost:5000>
info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[0]
```
Tip

In this example, the application is running on localhost at port 5000. Your running application may have a different address and port.
First, try the API manually by issuing a GET request to /api/Author.

Tip

In this example, the URL would be https://localhost:5000/api/Author. You can navigate to this URL using your web browser.
Next, navigate to the Swagger documentation page at /swagger.

Tip

In this example, the URL would be https://localhost:5000/swagger. Again, you can navigate to this URL using your web browser.

Next step

Quickstart: Deploy Data API builder to Azure

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