Connection to Dynamics AX database from external software

Hi all, I am assigned to add functionality to perform calculations on Dynamics transactions data in external module developed by my sister-company in Java. I am new to Dynamics AX and want to make sure - as database is stored in SQL Server 2008, there will be no issue to connect to the database from external source (using JDBC), and have read-only access? Thanks for replys!

Accessing DB directly is possible, but not recommended - it bypasses AX security, you would have to replicate any AX application logic you need (including things like virtual companies and table inheritance) and so on. Therefore you should rather go through AOS.

To connect from a Java application, the best option is to use a web service. AX2012 AOS itself serves as a WCF host. In older versions, you need a middle-tier component (typically IIS) exposing a web service and communicating with AX via the Business Connector.

Hi all,

i also wanted to ask similar query. My Q is i want to access one AX table’s data outside AX through some VB.net code. is this connectivity possible? Actually we want to track or trace that AX table’s data inside a simple VB.net application or program you can say.

what will i need to do for achieving this?

Yes, it’s possible, nevertheless your options depend on your version of AX. The recommended way is using WCF, which is directly supported in VB.NET.