Data

Audience: Low-code Engineers

Skill Prerequisites: Actions, Tokens, SQL, HTTP

The Data actions move data in and out of your application. They run SQL against a database, import lists into tables, call web services from the server, and send form values back to the browser or on to another page. One of them clears the server cache, so the site shows data you changed directly.

Choosing an action

Action	What it does	Use it to
Run SQL Query	Runs a SQL script against the application database or another database. It can save values from the first row of the result in tokens.	Load one record, insert or update rows, or call a stored procedure.
Import List into Database	Saves the items of a list into a SQL Server table. It can insert them all, or merge them with the rows already there.	Import the rows of an uploaded CSV or Excel file, or keep a table in sync with an outside source.
Clear Cache Item	Removes items from the server cache: the items whose key starts with a given text, the pages or portal cache, or the whole cache.	Make the site show new values after you change data directly with SQL.
Server Request	Sends an HTTP request from the server and saves the response in tokens.	Call a REST API, SOAP service or webhook, or upload files to an API.
Repost Data	Sends the user's browser to another URL with an HTTP POST that carries the values you choose.	Hand off to an external checkout page that expects posted form fields.
Update Form Data (AJAX)	Sends the form's current values back to the browser and refreshes the fields, without reloading the page.	Show values that a button's actions looked up or calculated on the server.
Save Report in the Database (Obsolete)	Saves the current form data as a form report entry.	Maintain existing forms that use form reports. For new applications, save the data to your own table with Run SQL Query.
Server Request (Obsolete)	The older version of Server Request, without file uploads or client certificates.	Nothing new. Use Server Request instead.

Licensing

Run SQL Query, Server Request and Server Request (Obsolete) require the Data Integration feature to be licensed. If it isn't, they fail with a not-licensed error.

Working with databases

• One row or many. Run SQL Query only reads the first row of the result. To loop over many rows, load them with Create List from SQL. To write a whole list to a table, use Import List into Database instead of one Run SQL Query per item. It's much faster.
• Which database. Both actions take a connection string, or the name of a connection string in web.config. If it's empty, the application database is used. Run SQL Query can also use a Database connector. Import List into Database only works with SQL Server, and the table must already exist with a primary key.
• Tokens in SQL. Run SQL Query replaces tokens with SQL-safe text, but you add the quotes. Bind Tokens are safer, because the values are sent as real SQL parameters.
• The cache. When you change data directly with SQL, the site can keep showing old values. Add Clear Cache Item afterwards, and clear only what you need. Clearing the cache slows down the site for everyone until the data is cached again.

Server or browser?

• Server Request runs on the server. The user stays on the page, and the response is saved in tokens for the next actions.
• Repost Data posts from the user's browser. The user leaves the page and ends up on the target. The values are placed in the page as hidden inputs before posting, so don't post secrets such as API keys.
• Update Form Data (AJAX) sends the form's values back to the browser and refreshes the fields. Any token with the same name as a field becomes that field's new value.

Repost Data and Update Form Data (AJAX) are only available in Forms. Both are final actions, so no actions after them run. Put them last in a button's actions.

When something fails

The actions that can fail handle On Error differently, so check each page:

• Run SQL Query. The On Error actions run, then execution continues with the next action.
• Server Request. The On Error actions run. Then the action fails, unless an On Error action ends execution or Ignore Errors is checked.
• Import List into Database. The On Error actions run, then the action still fails, unless an On Error action ends execution itself.

For turning query results or responses into lists and tokens, see Lists Objects and Parsing. For listing data, see Datasource.

Revised 10/02/2026