Connect to Excel Online Data in the Denodo Platform

Denodo Platform is a data virtualization product providing a single point of contact for enterprise database data. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver for Excel Online, Denodo users can work with live Excel Online data alongside other enterprise data sources. This article walks through creating a virtual data source for Excel Online in the Denodo Virtual DataPort Administrator.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Excel Online data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Excel Online, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Excel Online and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). Its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze Excel Online data using native data types.

Create the Excel Online Virtual Port

To connect to live Excel Online data from Denodo, you need to copy the JDBC Driver JAR file to the external library directory for Denodo and create a new JDBC Data Source from the Virtual DataPort Administrator tool.

1. Download the CData JDBC Driver for Excel Online installer, unzip the package, and run the JAR file to install the driver.
2. Copy the JAR File (and license file if it exists) from the installation location (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for Excel Online\lib\) to the Denodo external library directory (C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-excelonline-19).
3. Open the Denodo Virtual DataPort Administrator tool and navigate to the Server Explorer tab.
4. Right-click "admin" and select New -> Data source -> JDBC.
5. Configure the JDBC Connection:
   • Name: your choice, e.g.: excelonline
   • Database adapter: Generic
   • Driver class path: C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-excelonline-19
   • Driver class: cdata.jdbc.excelonline.ExcelOnlineDriver

   • Database URI: Set this to a JDBC URL using the necessary connection properties. For example,

     jdbc:excelonline:InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH

     Information on creating the Database URI follows:

     Built-In Connection String Designer

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

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.excelonline.jar

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

     You can connect to a workbook by providing authentication to Excel Online and then setting the following properties:

     • Workbook: Set this to the name or Id of the workbook.

       If you want to view a list of information about the available workbooks, execute a query to the Workbooks view after you authenticate.

     • UseSandbox: Set this to true if you are connecting to a workbook in a sandbox account. Otherwise, leave this blank to connect to a production account.

     You use the OAuth authentication standard to authenticate to Excel Online. See the Getting Started section in the help documentation for a guide. Getting Started also guides you through executing SQL to worksheets and ranges.

6. Click the "Test connection" button to confirm the configuration and click Save.

View Excel Online Data in the VirtualPort Administrator Tool

After creating the data source, you can create a base view of Excel Online data for use in the Denodo Platform.

1. Click the "Create base view" button in the newly created VirtualPort (admin.ExcelOnline).
2. Expand the object tree and select the objects (tables) you wish to import.
3. Click the "Create selected" button to create views of the Excel Online data.
   Optional: Click "Create associations from foreign keys" to define relationships between the objects.
4. With the view(s) created, navigate to a table (cdata_excelonline_test_xlsx_sheet1) in the Server Explorer and double-click the selected table.
5. In the new tab, click "Execution panel" to open a query panel.
6. Customize the query in the "Execute" tab or use the default:

   SELECT * FROM cdata_excelonline_test_xlsx_sheet1 CONTEXT ('i18n'='us_est', 'cache_wait_for_load'='true')
   

7. Click Execute to view the data.

With the base view created, you can now work with live Excel Online data like you would any other data source in Denodo Platform, for example, querying Excel Online in the Denodo Data Catalog.

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Excel Online and start working with your live Excel Online data in Denodo Platform. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.