Query Anaplan Data through ODBC in Node.js

Node.js is a JavaScript runtime environment that allows you to run JavaScript code outside of a browser. With the CData ODBC Driver for Anaplan, you can access live Anaplan data from Node.js apps and scripts. In this article, we walk through installing node-odbc and the required tools to create a simple Node.js app with access to live Anaplan data.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Anaplan data in Node.js. When you issue complex SQL queries from Node.js to Anaplan, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Anaplan and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations).

Connecting to Anaplan Data

If you have not already done so, provide values for the required connection properties in the data source name (DSN). You can use the built-in Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to configure the DSN. This is also the last step of the driver installation. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for a guide to using the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure a DSN.

Authenticating to Anaplan

The driver supports authenticating with Basic, Certificate, or OAuth. In every case, set Region to the region where your Anaplan account data is hosted (e.g., US1, which is the default).

Using Basic Authentication

Set AuthScheme to Basic, then supply your Anaplan User and Password. If your workspace uses single sign-on (SSO), you must be assigned as an Exception User to use Basic authentication.

Using Certificate Authentication

Set AuthScheme to Certificate, then supply the Certificate, CertificateType, and PrivateKey properties (and the matching CertificatePassword / PrivateKeyPassword if either is encrypted). The certificate must be a CA-issued X.509 certificate registered with your Anaplan tenant administrator.

Using OAuth Authentication

Register a custom OAuth application in Anaplan, then set the following properties:

• OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
• OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
• CallbackURL: The redirect URI defined when you registered your application.
• InitiateOAuth: Set to GETANDREFRESH to have the driver manage the OAuth token exchange and refresh automatically.

See the Getting Started chapter of the help documentation for a guide to creating a custom OAuth app and using OAuth.

Building node-odbc

In order to connect to Anaplan through the CData ODBC Driver, you need to build node-odbc manually (after installing the required tools).

Installing the Required Tools

The following commands install the tools required to build node-odbc (note the -g parameter, which installs the tools globally).

npm i -g windows-build-tools
npm i -g node-gyp

Building node-odbc

After installing the required tools, create a directory for the Node.js app and install odbc (which builds the binary for us to use in our Node.js script).

mkdir nodeodbc
cd nodeodbc
npm i -g node

Querying Anaplan from Node.js

With the ODBC Driver installed, a DSN Configured, and node-odbc built, we are ready to query live Anaplan data from a Node.js app. The sample code below connects to a specific DSN and queries the Sales table.

myscript.js

const odbc = require('odbc');

async function queryAnaplan() {
    const connection = await odbc.connect(`DSN=CData Anaplan Source`);
    const data = await connection.query('SELECT Region, Product FROM Sales');
    console.log(data);
}

queryAnaplan();

Once you write the app, use node to execute the script:

node myscript.js

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData ODBC Driver for Anaplan and start working with your live Anaplan data in Node.js. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.