Visualize Live Aha! Data in Power BI (via CData Connect AI)

Power BI transforms your company's data into rich visuals for you to collect and organize so you can focus on what matters to you. When paired with CData Connect AI, you get access to Aha! data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to use CData Connect to create a live connection to Aha!, connect to Aha! data from Power BI and then create reports on Aha! data in Power BI.

Configure Aha! Connectivity for Power BI

Connectivity to Aha! from Power BI is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Aha! data from Power BI, we start by creating and configuring a Aha! connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "Aha!" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Aha!.

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

   Aha! API Profile Settings

   The Aha! API uses OAuth-based authentication.

   You will first need to register an OAuth app with Aha!. This can be done from your Aha! account under 'Settings' > 'Personal' > 'Developer' > 'OAuth Applications'. Additionally, set the Domain, found in the domain name of your Aha account. For example if your Aha account is acmeinc.aha.io, then the Domain should be 'acmeinc'.

   After setting the following in the connection string, 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 you specified in your app settings.
   • Domain: Set this in the ProfileSettings to your Aha domain.
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Aha! Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Aha! data from Power BI.

Query Aha! Tables

Follow the steps below to build a query to pull Aha! data into the report:

1. Open Power BI Desktop and click Get Data -> Online Services -> CData Connect AI and click "Connect"
2. Click "Sign in" and authenticate with your CData Connect AI account
3. After signing in, click "Connect"
4. Select tables in the Navigator dialog
5. Click Load to establish the connection to your Aha! data from Power BI

Create Aha! Data Visualizations

After connecting to the data into Power BI, you can create data visualizations in the Report view by dragging fields from the Fields pane onto the canvas. Select the dimensions and measures you wish to visualize along with the chart type.

Click Refresh to synchronize your report with any changes to the data.

Live Access to Aha! Data from Data Applications

With CData Connect AI you have a direct connection to Aha! data from Power BI. You can import more data, create new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating Aha! data.

To get SQL data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources (including Aha!) directly from your on-premise BI, reporting, ETL and other data applications, visit the CData Connect AI page and start a free trial.