Create Data Visualizations Based On AlloyDB Data in Mode

Mode is a collaborative data platform that combines SQL, R, Python, and visual analytics in one place. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, you get instant, cloud-to-cloud access to AlloyDB data for use in data visualizations. This article shows how to connect to AlloyDB in Connect Cloud, connect to AlloyDB data in Mode, and create a simple visualization using that data.

CData Connect Cloud provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for AlloyDB, allowing you to build data visualizations from live AlloyDB data in Mode — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. In order to create visualizations, users write SQL queries to gather data. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Cloud pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to AlloyDB, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return the requested AlloyDB data.

Configure AlloyDB Connectivity for Mode

Connectivity to AlloyDB from Mode is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with AlloyDB data from Mode, we start by creating and configuring a AlloyDB connection.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "AlloyDB" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to AlloyDB.

   The following connection properties are usually required in order to connect to AlloyDB.

   • Server: The host name or IP of the server hosting the AlloyDB database.
   • User: The user which will be used to authenticate with the AlloyDB server.
   • Password: The password which will be used to authenticate with the AlloyDB server.

   You can also optionally set the following:

   • Database: The database to connect to when connecting to the AlloyDB Server. If this is not set, the user's default database will be used.
   • Port: The port of the server hosting the AlloyDB database. This property is set to 5432 by default.

   Authenticating with Standard Authentication

   Standard authentication (using the user/password combination supplied earlier) is the default form of authentication.

   No further action is required to leverage Standard Authentication to connect.

   Authenticating with pg_hba.conf Auth Schemes

   There are additional methods of authentication available which must be enabled in the pg_hba.conf file on the AlloyDB server.

   Find instructions about authentication setup on the AlloyDB Server here.

   Authenticating with MD5 Authentication

   This authentication method must be enabled by setting the auth-method in the pg_hba.conf file to md5.

   Authenticating with SASL Authentication

   This authentication method must be enabled by setting the auth-method in the pg_hba.conf file to scram-sha-256.

   Authenticating with Kerberos

   The authentication with Kerberos is initiated by AlloyDB Server when the ∏ is trying to connect to it. You should set up Kerberos on the AlloyDB Server to activate this authentication method. Once you have Kerberos authentication set up on the AlloyDB Server, see the Kerberos section of the help documentation for details on how to authenticate with Kerberos.

4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add AlloyDB Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to AlloyDB data from Mode.

Connect to AlloyDB in Mode

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect Cloud from Mode to create a new AlloyDB data source.

1. Log-in to Mode
2. In the top-left corner of the screen, click the down-arrow next to your name and select Connect a Database...
3. On the next screen, select Microsoft SQL Server.
4. Enter the Microsoft SQL Server credentials:
   • Display Name: the name for the connection.
   • Host/Port: enter tds.cdata.com in the Host field and 14333 in the Port field.
   • Database name: enter the Connection Name of the CData Connect Cloud data source you want to connect to (for example, AlloyDB1).
   • Username: enter your CData Connect Cloud username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect Cloud interface. For example, test@cdata.com
   • Password: enter the PAT you generated on the Settings page
   Leave the rest of the connection settings at their default values unless you need to modify them.
5. At the bottom of the page, click Connect to ensure that you can connect to CData Connect Cloud.
6. Upon success, the following screen appears.

Your connection is now available for use in Mode. To connect to additional data sources from your CData Connect Cloud account, repeat the setup steps above, changing the value for Database for each data source.

Creating A Mode Visualization

To create a visualization in Mode, follow these steps:

1. On the current screen, click New Report. The SQL query text editor appears. Enter the following query: SELECT * FROM [AlloyDB].[Orders]; Click Run. The app now shows the query result:
2. Running the query activates the New Chart tab. Click this tab and select Pie Chart.
3. Now, drop a dimension in the Color section and a measure in the Angle section.

   We have now created a visualization of AlloyDB data in Mode using CData Connect Cloud!

Get CData Connect Cloud

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