Connect to Sugar CRM 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 Sugar, Denodo users can work with live Sugar CRM data alongside other enterprise data sources. This article walks through creating a virtual data source for Sugar CRM in the Denodo Virtual DataPort Administrator.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Sugar CRM data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Sugar CRM, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Sugar CRM 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 Sugar CRM data using native data types.

Create the Sugar CRM Virtual Port

To connect to live Sugar CRM 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 Sugar 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 Sugar\lib\) to the Denodo external library directory (C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-sugarcrm-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.: sugarcrm
   • Database adapter: Generic
   • Driver class path: C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-sugarcrm-19
   • Driver class: cdata.jdbc.sugarcrm.SugarCRMDriver

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

     jdbc:sugarcrm:User=MyUser;Password=MyPassword;URL=MySugarCRMAccountURL;CacheMetadata=True;

     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 Sugar CRM JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.sugarcrm.jar

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

     The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid SugarCRM user credentials. This will use the default OAuth token created to allow client logins. OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret are required if you do not wish to use the default OAuth token.

     You can generate a new OAuth consumer key and consumer secret in Admin -> OAuth Keys. Set the OAuthClientId to the OAuth consumer key. Set the OAuthClientSecret to the consumer secret.

     Additionally, specify the URL to the SugarCRM account.

     Note that retrieving SugarCRM metadata can be expensive. It is advised that you store the metadata locally as described in the "Caching Metadata" chapter of the help documentation.

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

View Sugar CRM Data in the VirtualPort Administrator Tool

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

1. Click the "Create base view" button in the newly created VirtualPort (admin.SugarCRM).
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 Sugar CRM 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_sugarcrm_accounts) 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_sugarcrm_accounts 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 Sugar CRM data like you would any other data source in Denodo Platform, for example, querying Sugar CRM in the Denodo Data Catalog.

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