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Get the Report →Build Semantic Layer Views for Act CRM Data in APOS Live Data Gateway
Use the CData Connect Cloud and APOS Live Data Gateway to build Semantic Layer Views for Act CRM data.
APOS Live Data Gateway (LDG) serves as a data connection and data transformation solution, facilitating live data connectivity and broadening data source possibilities for SAP Analytics Cloud and other SAP solutions. When integrated with CData Connect Cloud, users have the capability to construct semantic layer views for real-time access to Act CRM data, enabling real-time analytics on Act CRM in a manner akin to working with a relational database.
CData Connect Cloud offers a dedicated SQL Server interface for Act CRM, enabling data querying directly from Act CRM without the need to replicate data to a native database. With pre-optimized data processing capabilities, CData Connect Cloud efficiently directs all supported SQL operations, including filters and JOINs, directly to Act CRM. This harnesses server-side processing to swiftly retrieve the requested Act CRM data.
Configure Act CRM Connectivity for APOS Live Data Gateway
Connectivity to Act CRM from APOS Live Data Gateway is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Act CRM data from APOS Live Data Gateway, we start by creating and configuring a Act CRM connection.
- Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
- Select "Act CRM" from the Add Connection panel
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Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Act CRM.
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:
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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.
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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.
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- Click Create & Test
- Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Act CRM Connection page and update the User-based permissions.
Add a Personal Access Token
If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.
- Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
- On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
- Give your PAT a name and click Create.
- The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.
Connecting to Act CRM & Creating a Semantic Layer View
After configuring the connection in CData Connect Cloud you are ready to connect to Act CRM in the Live Data Gateway Admin tool and build a semantic layer view in the Live Data Gateway Web UI.
Configuring the Connection to Act CRM
- Log into your APOS Live Data Gateway Manager
- If you haven't already, update your APOS LDG license file
- Click File -> Configurations
- Click on the "..." Menu for the License
- Select the license file from the APOS team that includes your CData Connect Cloud license
- In the APOS Live Data Gateway Manager, click "Add"
- In the APOS Live Data Gateway On the Connection tab, configure the connection:
- Set Data Source to "Database"
- Set Database to "JDBC Generic"
- Set Connection String to a connection string similar to the following, using the name of the connection you configured earlier, e.g.
jdbc:sqlserver://tds.cdata.com:14333;databaseName=ActCRM1
- Set Driver Class to "com.CData.connect.Driver" (this should be set by default)
- Click Test Connection
- Click Save
- Give your connection a unique prefix (e.g. "actcrm")
- Highlight the newly created connection and click File -> "Approve Users For Web UI"
- Approve the appropriate DB users to create views and click "Save"
At this point, we are ready to build our semantic layer view in the Live Data Gateway Web UI.
Creating a Semantic Layer View
- In your browser, navigate to the APOS Live Data Gateway Portal
- Select a Connection (e.g. "actcrm")
- Set User Name and Password to your Connect Cloud username and PAT .
- Click "Login"
- Once connected, click "Semantic Layer" to create a new semantic layer view
- Click "New Semantic Layer View"
- Set the Semantic Layer View Prefix and Semantic Layer View Name
- Click "Step 2"
- Select the table(s) and column(s) you wish to include in your view
- Click "Step 3"
- Select the Measures from the available table columns
- Click "Step 5" (we skipped the "Extra Dimensions" step)
- Add any Variable Prompts
- Click "Step 6"
- Define any Table Joins
- Click "Review"
- Review you semantic layer view and click "Save"
With the Semantic Layer View created, you are ready to access your Act CRM data through the APOS Live Data Gateway, enabling real-time data connectivity to Act CRM data from SAP Analytics Cloud and other SAP solutions.
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