Visualize Procore 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 Procore data within Tableau.

CData Connect Server provides a pure SQL Server interface for Procore, allowing you to easily build reports from live Procore 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 Procore, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return the requested Procore data.

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

Create a Virtual SQL Server Database for Procore 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 "Procore" from Available Data Sources.
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Procore.

   Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the Procore Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Procore.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Procore (see below).

   Procore API Profile Settings

   To authenticate to Procore, and connect to your own data or to allow other users to connect to their data, you can use the OAuth standard.

   First, you will need to register an OAuth application with Procore. You can do so by logging to your Developer Account and going to Create New App. Follow all necessary steps to register your app. First you will need to create a new version of Sandbox Manifest and then promote it to Production in order to get your Production Crendentials. Your Oauth application will be assigned a client id and a client secret.

   After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

   • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
   • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to manage the process to obtain the OAuthAccessToken.
   • OAuthClientId: Set this to the client_id that is specified in you app settings.
   • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client_secret that is specified in you app settings.
   • CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI that is specified in your app settings
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 Procore data from Tableau Desktop.

Visualize Live Procore Data in Tableau Desktop

The steps below outline connecting to the virtual Procore 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 Procore 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 Procore Data from On-Premise Applications

At this point, you have a direct connection to live Procore 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 Procore) from desktop applications like Tableau refer to our CData Connect page or download a free trial.