Create Power BI Reports on Real-Time ApprovalMax Data
With built-in support for ODBC on Microsoft Windows, the CData ODBC Drivers provide self-service integration with self-service analytics tools such as Microsoft Power BI. The CData ODBC Driver for ApprovalMax links your Power BI reports to operational ApprovalMax data. You can monitor ApprovalMax data through dashboards and ensure that your analysis reflects ApprovalMax data in real time by scheduling refreshes or refreshing on demand. This article details how to use the ODBC driver to create real-time visualizations of ApprovalMax data in Microsoft Power BI Desktop and then upload to Power BI.
The CData ODBC Drivers offer unmatched performance for interacting with live ApprovalMax data in Power BI due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from Power BI to ApprovalMax, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to ApprovalMax and utilizes the embedded SQL Engine to process unsupported operations (often SQL functions and JOIN operations) client-side. With built-in dynamic metadata querying, you can visualize and analyze ApprovalMax data using native Power BI data types.
Connect to ApprovalMax as an ODBC Data Source
If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.
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.
Create Data Visualizations
After creating an ODBC DSN, follow the steps below to connect to the ApprovalMax ODBC DSN from Power BI Desktop:
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Open Power BI Desktop and click Get Data -> More... to open the Get Data window.
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In the Get Data window select Other -> ODBC to open the next window.
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Select the DSN in the menu. If you know the SQL query you want to use to import data, you can expand the Advanced options node and enter the query in the SQL Statement box. Otherwise, click OK to continue.
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Choose Default or Custom as the authentication option and click Connect.
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Select tables in the Navigator dialog.
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Click Transform Data to edit the query. The table you imported is displayed in the Power Query Editor. In the Power Query Editor, you can enrich your local copy of ApprovalMax data with other data sources, pivot ApprovalMax columns, and more. Power BI detects each column's data type from the ApprovalMax metadata retrieved by the driver.
Power BI records your modifications to the query in the Applied Steps section, adjusting the underlying data retrieval query that is executed to the remote ApprovalMax data. When you click Close and Apply, Power BI executes the data retrieval query.
Otherwise, click Load to pull the data into Power BI.
Create Data Visualizations
After pulling the data into Power BI, you can create data visualizations in the Report view by dragging fields from the Fields pane onto the canvas. Follow the steps below to create a pie chart (Salesforce shown):
- Select the pie chart icon in the Visualizations pane.
- Select a dimension in the Fields pane: for example, Name.
- Select a measure in the Fields pane: for example, Annual Revenue.
You can change sort options by clicking the ellipsis (...) button for the chart. Options to select the sort column and change the sort order are displayed.
You can use both highlighting and filtering to focus on data. Filtering removes unfocused data from visualizations; highlighting dims unfocused data. You can highlight fields by clicking them:
You can apply filters at the page level, at the report level, or to a single visualization by dragging fields onto the Filters pane. To filter on the field's value, select one of the values that are displayed in the Filters pane.
Click Refresh to synchronize your report with any changes to the data.
Free Trial & More Information
If you are interested in connecting to your ApprovalMax data from Microsoft Power BI, or any applications that support ODBC connectivity, download a free, 30-day trial of the CData ODBC Driver for ApprovalMax. As always, our world-class support team is ready to answer any questions you may have.