Create Reports from Azure Data Catalog Data in Looker Studio

Looker Studio, formerly known as Google Data Studio, empowers users to craft customized reports featuring data visualizations that can be shared with clients while reflecting your brand identity. When combined with CData Connect AI, you gain immediate cloud-to-cloud access to Azure Data Catalog data to create visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article provides step-by-step instructions on establishing a virtual database for Azure Data Catalog and generating reports from Azure Data Catalog data within Looker Studio.

CData Connect AI offers a seamless cloud-to-cloud interface tailored for Azure Data Catalog, making it straightforward to construct reports directly from live Azure Data Catalog data within Looker Studio without the need for data replication. As you create visualizations, Looker Studio generates queries to retrieve data. With its inherent optimized data processing capabilities, CData Connect AI efficiently channels all supported query operations, including filters, JOINs, and more, directly to Azure Data Catalog. This leverages server-side processing to swiftly provide the requested Azure Data Catalog data.

Configure Azure Data Catalog Connectivity for Looker Studio

Connectivity to Azure Data Catalog from Looker Studio is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Azure Data Catalog data from Looker Studio, we start by creating and configuring a Azure Data Catalog connection.

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

2. Select "Azure Data Catalog" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Azure Data Catalog.

   You can optionally set the following to read the different catalog data returned from Azure Data Catalog.

   CatalogName: Set this to the CatalogName associated with your Azure Data Catalog. To get your Catalog name, navigate to your Azure Portal home page > Data Catalog > Catalog Name

   Connect Using OAuth Authentication

   You must use OAuth to authenticate with Azure Data Catalog. OAuth requires the authenticating user to interact with Azure Data Catalog using the browser. For more information, refer to the OAuth section in the help documentation.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Azure Data Catalog Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Azure Data Catalog data from Looker Studio.

Visualize Live Azure Data Catalog Data from Looker Studio

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect AI from Looker Studio to create a new Azure Data Catalog data source and build a simple visualization from the data.

1. Log into Looker Studio, click data sources, create a new data source, and choose CData Connect AI Connector.

2. Click Authorize and allow access to your Google account.
3. Click Authorize to authenticate with your CData Connect AI instance
4. In the CData Connect AI Connector in Looker Studio select Connections to import from the dropdown and click Next

5. Now select a Connection (e.g. AzureDataCatalog1) and click Next
6. Select a Table (e.g. Tables) or use a Custom Query and click Connect to continue
7. If needed, modify columns, click Create Report, and add the data source to the report.

8. Select a visualization style and add it to the report.
9. Select Dimensions and Measures to customize your visualization.

Live Access to Azure Data Catalog Data from Cloud Applications

Now you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Azure Data Catalog data from your Looker Studio workbook. You can create more data sources and new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating Azure Data Catalog data.

Try CData Connect AI and get real-time data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications.