Learn more
 

Ready to get started?

Learn more or sign up for a free trial:

CData Connect Server

In this article

Related articles

Visualize ADP Data in Tableau Desktop (through CData Connect)


Create a virtual SQL Server database for ADP data in CData Connect (or Connect Server) and build visualizations from live ADP data in Tableau Desktop.

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 ADP data within Tableau.

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

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

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

    Connect to ADP by specifying the following properties:

    • SSLClientCert: Set this to the certificate provided during registration.
    • SSLClientCertPassword: Set this to the password of the certificate.
    • UseUAT: The connector makes requests to the production environment by default. If using a developer account, set UseUAT = true.
    • RowScanDepth: The maximum number of rows to scan for the custom fields columns available in the table. The default value will be set to 100. Setting a high value may decrease performance.

    The connector uses OAuth to authenticate with ADP. OAuth requires the authenticating user to interact with ADP using the browser. For more information, refer to the OAuth section in the Help documentation.

  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 ADP data from Tableau Desktop.

Visualize Live ADP Data in Tableau Desktop

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

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