Use the CData JDBC Driver for HCL Domino in MicroStrategy Web

MicroStrategy is an analytics and mobility platform that enables data-driven innovation. When you pair MicroStrategy with the CData JDBC Driver for HCL Domino, you gain database-like access to live HCL Domino data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through adding HCL Domino as an external data source in MicroStrategy Web and creating a simple visualization of HCL Domino data.

The CData JDBC driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live HCL Domino data in MicroStrategy due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from MicroStrategy to HCL Domino, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to HCL Domino and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations (often SQL functions and JOIN operations) client-side. With built-in dynamic metadata querying, you can visualize and analyze HCL Domino data using native MicroStrategy data types.

Connect to and Visualize HCL Domino Data using MicroStrategy Web

You can connect to HCL Domino in MicroStrategy Web by adding a data source based on the CData JDBC Driver for HCL Domino.^* Before you begin, you will need install the JDBC Driver for HCL Domino on the machine hosting the MicroStrategy Intelligence Server that your instance of MicroStrategy Web is connected to. Once you have created a data source you can build dynamic visualizations of HCL Domino data in MicroStrategy Web.

1. Open MicroStrategy Web and select your project.
2. Click Add External Data, select Databases, and use Select Tables as the Import Option.
3. In the Import from Tables wizard, click to add a new Data Source.
4. Select Generic in the Database menu and select Generic DBMS in the Version menu.
5. Click the link to show the connection string and opt to edit the connection string. In the Driver menu, select MicroStrategy Cassandra ODBC Driver (MicroStrategy requires a certified driver to interface through JDBC, the actual driver will not be used).
6. Set the connection string to the following: JDBC;MSTR_JDBC_JAR_FOLDER=PATH\TO\JAR\;DRIVER=cdata.jdbc.domino.DominoDriver;URL={jdbc:domino:Server=https://domino.corp.com;AuthScheme=OAuthPassword;User=my_domino_user;Password=my_domino_password;};

   Connecting to Domino

   To connect to Domino data, set the following properties:

   • URL: The host name or IP of the server hosting the Domino database. Include the port of the server hosting the Domino database. For example: http://sampleserver:1234/
   • DatabaseScope: The name of a scope in the Domino Web UI. The driver exposes forms and views for the schema governed by the specified scope. In the Domino Admin UI, select the Scopes menu in the sidebar. Set this property to the name of an existing scope.

   Authenticating with Domino

   Domino supports authenticating via login credentials or an Azure Active Directory OAuth application:

   Login Credentials

   To authenticate with login credentials, set the following properties:

   • AuthScheme: Set this to "OAuthPassword"
   • User: The username of the authenticating Domino user
   • Password: The password associated with the authenticating Domino user

   The driver uses the login credentials to automatically perform an OAuth token exchange.

   AzureAD

   This authentication method uses Azure Active Directory as an IdP to obtain a JWT token. You need to create a custom OAuth application in Azure Active Directory and configure it as an IdP. To do so, follow the instructions in the Help documentation. Then set the following properties:

   • AuthScheme: Set this to "AzureAD"
   • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
   • OAuthClientId: The Client ID obtained when setting up the custom OAuth application.
   • OAuthClientSecret: The Client secret obtained when setting up the custom OAuth application.
   • CallbackURL: The redirect URI defined when you registered your app. For example: https://localhost:33333
   • AzureTenant: The Microsoft Online tenant being used to access data. Supply either a value in the form companyname.microsoft.com or the tenant ID.

     The tenant ID is the same as the directory ID shown in the Azure Portal's Azure Active Directory > Properties page.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

   For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the HCL Domino JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.domino.jar

   Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

   When you configure the JDBC URL, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

7. Right-click on the new data source, and choose Edit catalog options.
8. Edit the SQL Statement to SELECT * FROM SYS_SCHEMAS to read the metadata from the JDBC Driver.
9. Select the new data source to view the available tables. You may need to manually click the search icon in the Available Tables section to see the tables.
10. Drag tables into the pane to import them. Note: Since we create a live connection, we can import whole tables and utilize the filtering and aggregation features native to the MicroStrategy products to customize our datasets.
11. Click Finish, choose to the option to connect live, save the query, and choose the option to create a new dossier. Live connections are possible and effective, thanks to high-performance data processing native to CData JDBC drivers.
12. Choose a visualization, choose fields to display and apply any filters to create a new visualization of HCL Domino data. Data types are discovered automatically through dynamic metadata discovery. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to HCL Domino, while any unsupported operations (which can include SQL functions and JOIN operations) will be managed client-side by the CData SQL engine embedded in the driver.
13. Once you have finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

Using the CData JDBC Driver for HCL Domino in MicroStrategy Web, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on HCL Domino data. Read our other articles on connecting to HCL Domino in MicroStrategy and connecting to HCL Domino in MicroStrategy Desktop for more examples.

Note: Connecting using a JDBC Driver requires a 3- or 4-Tier Architecture.