Use the CData ODBC Driver for Azure Analysis Services in MicroStrategy Desktop

MicroStrategy is an analytics and mobility platform that enables data-driven innovation. When paired with the CData ODBC Driver for Azure Analysis Services, you gain database-like access to live Azure Analysis Services data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through adding Azure Analysis Services as a data source in MicroStrategy Desktop and creating a simple visualization of Azure Analysis Services data.

The CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Azure Analysis Services data in MicroStrategy due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from MicroStrategy to Azure Analysis Services, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Azure Analysis Services 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 Azure Analysis Services data using native MicroStrategy data types.

Connect to Azure Analysis Services as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to Azure Analysis Services follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments.

To connect to Azure Analysis Services, set the Url property to a valid server, for instance, asazure://southcentralus.asazure.windows.net/server, in addition to authenticating. Optionally, set Database to distinguish which Azure database on the server to connect to.

Azure Analysis Services uses the OAuth authentication standard. OAuth requires the authenticating user to interact with Azure Analysis Services using the browser. You can connect without setting any connection properties for your user credentials. See the Help documentation for more information.

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.

Windows

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.

Linux

If you are installing the CData ODBC Driver for Azure Analysis Services in a Linux environment, the driver installation predefines a system DSN. You can modify the DSN by editing the system data sources file (/etc/odbc.ini) and defining the required connection properties.

/etc/odbc.ini

For specific information on using these configuration files, please refer to the help documentation (installed and found online).

Connect to and Visualize Azure Analysis Services Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

In addition to connecting Azure Analysis Services in MicroStrategy enterprise products, you can connect to Azure Analysis Services in MicroStrategy Desktop. Follow the steps below to add Azure Analysis Services data as a dataset and create visualizations and reports of Azure Analysis Services data.

1. Open MicroStrategy Desktop and create a new dossier.
2. In the datasets panel, click New Data, select Databases, and select Type a Query as the Import Option.
3. Add a new data source and choose DSN data sources.
4. Choose the DSN you previously configured (likely CData AAS Sys) and select Generic DBMS in the Version menu.
5. Set the User and Password properties for the DSN (or use placeholder values) and name the data source.
6. Select the new database instance to view the tables. You may need to manually click the search icon in the Available Tables section to see the tables.
7. Create a SQL query for the Azure Analysis Services data (see below) and click Execute SQL to test the query. SELECT * FROM Customer NOTE: Since we create a live connection, we can execute a SELECT * query and utilize the filtering and aggregation features native to the MicroStrategy products.
8. Click Finish and choose to connect live.
9. Choose a visualization, choose fields to display (data types are discovered automatically through dynamic metadata discovery) and apply any filters to create a new visualization of Azure Analysis Services data. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to Azure Analysis Services, while any unsupported operations (which can include SQL functions and JOIN operations) will be managed client-side by the CData SQL Engine embedded in the driver.
10. Once you are finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

Using the CData ODBC Driver for Azure Analysis Services in MicroStrategy Desktop, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on Azure Analysis Services data. Read our other articles on connecting to Azure Analysis Services in MicroStrategy and connecting to Azure Analysis Services in MicroStrategy Web for more examples.