Visualize Act CRM Data in TIBCO Spotfire through ADO.NET

TIBCO Spotfire is a data visualization and business intelligence software developed by TIBCO Software Inc. It allows users to connect, visualize, and share insights from various data sources in real-time. Spotfire provides interactive dashboards, data analytics, and predictive analytics capabilities, enabling users to explore data, uncover trends, and make data-driven decisions. It is commonly used in businesses and organizations to analyze large datasets, gain valuable insights, and improve decision-making processes. Learn more at https://www.tibco.com/analytics.

In this article, we will guide you through the process of utilizing the CData ADO.NET Provider for Act CRM within TIBCO Spotfire. You will learn how to establish a connection and build a basic dashboard.

1. Add the CData ADO.NET data source by clicking Add Data Tables.
2. Click Add -> Database.
3. Select the provider and click Configure.
4. Define the connection settings. Below is a typical connection string:

   URL=https://myActCRMserver.com;User=myUser;Password=myPassword;ActDatabase=MyDB;

   The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid Act! user credentials. In addition to the authentication values, see the following:

   • Connecting to Act! Premium

     In addition to the authentication values, the URL to Act! is also required; for example https://eup1-iis-04.eu.hosted.act.com/.

     Additionally, you must specify the ActDatabase you will connect to. This is found by going to the About Act! Premium menu of your account, at the top right of the page, in the ? menu. Use the Database Name in the window that appears.

   • Connecting to Act! Premium Cloud

     To connect to your Act! Premium Cloud account, you also need to specify the ActCloudName property. This property is found in the URL address of the Cloud account; for example https://eup1-iis-04.eu.hosted.act.com/ActCloudName/.

   Note that retrieving ActCRM metadata can be expensive. It is advised that you set the CacheMetadata property to store the metadata locally.

   When you configure the connection, 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.

5. Select the tables that you want to add to the dashboard. This example uses Activities. You can also specify an SQL query. The driver supports the standard SQL syntax.
6. If you want to work with the live data, click the Keep Data Table External option. This option enables your dashboards to reflect changes to the data in real time.

   If you want to load the data into memory and process the data locally, click the Import Data Table option. This option is better for offline use or if a slow network connection is making your dashboard less interactive.

7. After adding tables, the Recommended Visualizations wizard is displayed. When you select a table, Spotfire uses the column data types to detect number, time, and category columns. This example uses Subject in the Numbers section and ActivityDisplayName in the Categories section.

After adding several visualizations in the Recommended Visualizations wizard, you can make other modifications to the dashboard. For example, you can apply a filter: After clicking the Filter button, the available filters for each query are displayed in the Filters pane.