Visualize Kintone Data in Tableau Desktop (through CData Connect)

Tableau is a visual analytics platform transforming the way businesses use data to solve problems. When paired with CData Connect (or Connect Server), you can easily get access to live Kintone data within Tableau.

CData Connect Server provides a pure SQL Server interface for Kintone, allowing you to easily build reports from live Kintone data in Tableau Desktop — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you build visualizations, Tableau Desktop generates SQL queries to gather data. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Server pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Kintone, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return the requested Kintone data.

This article shows how to create a virtual SQL Server database for Kintone, connect to the virtual database in Tableau, and build a simple chart.

Create a Virtual SQL Server Database for Kintone Data

CData Connect Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.

1. Login to Connect Server and click Connections.
2. Select "Kintone" from Available Data Sources.
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Kintone.

   In addition to the authentication values, set the following parameters to connect to and retrieve data from Kintone:

   • Url: The URL of your account.
   • GuestSpaceId: Optional. Set this when using a guest space.

   Authenticating with Kintone

   Kintone supports the following authentication methods.

   Using Password Authentication

   You must set the following to authenticate:

   • User: The username of your account.
   • Password: The password of your account.

   Using Basic Authentication

   If the basic authentication security feature is set on the domain, supply the additional login credentials with BasicAuthUser and BasicAuthPassword. Basic authentication requires these credentials in addition to User and Password.

   Using Client SSL

   Instead of basic authentication, you can specify a client certificate to authenticate. Set SSLClientCert, SSLClientCertType, SSLClientCertSubject, and SSLClientCertPassword. Additionally, set User and Password to your login credentials.

4. Click Save Changes
5. Click Privileges -> Add and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions.

With the virtual database created, you are ready to connect to Kintone data from Tableau Desktop.

Visualize Live Kintone Data in Tableau Desktop

The steps below outline connecting to the virtual Kintone database in CData Connect and building a simple visualization from the data.

1. Open Tableau and click "Microsoft SQL Server" under Connect -> To a Server.
2. In the connection wizard, enter the values for your CData Connect instance and click "Sign In"
   • Server: the address of your Connect instance and port of the TDS endpoint, separated by a comma (default port is: 1433)
   • Database: the virtual database you configured for the Kintone data
   • Username & Password: the credentials for a CData Connect user
3. Select your newly created database and the table(s) you wish to visualize (defining relationships for JOINed tables as needed).
4. Select Dimensions and Measures and configure your visualization.

SQL Access to Kintone Data from On-Premise Applications

At this point, you have a direct connection to live Kintone data from your Tableau Desktop workbook. You can create new visualizations, build dashboards, and more. For more information on gaining SQL access to data from more than 200 SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources (including Kintone) from desktop applications like Tableau refer to our CData Connect page or download a free trial.