Build Dashboards with ApprovalMax Data in DBxtra

The CData ODBC driver for ApprovalMax enables access to live data from ApprovalMax under the ODBC standard, allowing you work with ApprovalMax data in a wide variety of BI, reporting, and ETL tools and directly, using familiar SQL queries. This article shows how to connect to ApprovalMax data as a generic ODBC Data Provider and create charts, reports, and dashboards based on ApprovalMax data in DBxtra.

Connect to ApprovalMax Data

1. If you have not already done so, provide values for the required connection properties in the data source name (DSN). You can configure the DSN using the built-in Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator. 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.
   
   

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

   ApprovalMax API Profile Settings

   To authenticate to ApprovalMax and connect to your own data or to allow other users to connect to their data, the ApprovalMax Public API requires the OAuth 2.0 authorization code flow.

   First, you will need to register an OAuth application with ApprovalMax. Sign in to the ApprovalMax Developer Portal (https://developer.approvalmax.com/applications) and create a new application. Your OAuth application will be assigned a Client ID and a Client Secret, and you must register at least one Redirect URI (Callback URL).

   A Premium ApprovalMax subscription (or active trial) is required to use the Public API.

   After setting the following connection properties, 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 shown in your application settings on the ApprovalMax Developer Portal.
   • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the Client Secret that is shown in your application settings on the ApprovalMax Developer Portal.
   • CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI that is registered in your application settings.
   • Scope: (Optional) Override the default OAuth scopes. The default value openid offline_access https://www.approvalmax.com/scopes/public_api/read grants read-only access to all tables in this profile and enables refresh tokens. Use the principle of least privilege when narrowing this scope.

   The OAuth Authorization URL is https://identity.approvalmax.com/connect/authorize and the Token URL is https://identity.approvalmax.com/connect/token. Both authorization_code and refresh_token grant types are supported.

   When you configure the DSN, 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.

2. Open the DBxtra application and in the New menu click Project and name the Project.
3. Select ODBC Connection as the Data Connection Type.
4. Click the browse option () for the Data Source.
5. In the Data Link Properties window, select Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers on the Provider tab.
6. On the Connection tab, select the Data Source Name and the initial catalog to use (CData).
7. Name the Connection and select the appropriate User Groups.
8. Double-click the Connection from within the Project to connect to the data.

Create a Dashboard with ApprovalMax Data

You are now ready to create a dashboard with ApprovalMax data.

1. Right-click Report Objects under the Project and select New Report Object.
2. In the new Report Object, click the link to create the Query.
3. In the Select Data Connection window, select the newly created data connection.
4. On the Query tab, expand the connection objects and select the Tables, Views, and specific columns you wish to include in your dashboard. You can specify search requirements and even create complex queries which include JOINs and aggregations.
5. On the Dashboard tab, select the visualizations and features for your dashboard. Assign the data values from the query to the appropriate fields for the Dashboards items (Values, Series, etc.)

With a new Dashboard created, you are ready to begin analysis of ApprovalMax data. Thanks to the ODBC Driver for ApprovalMax, you can refresh the Dashboard and immediately see any changes made at the source. In the same way, you can create and view Reports with live, up-to-date ApprovalMax data.