Build an OLAP Cube in SSAS from HCL Domino Data



Establish a connection to HCL Domino data data from SQL Server Analysis Services, and use the HCL Domino Data Provider to build OLAP cubes for use in analytics and reporting.

SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) serves as an analytical data engine employed in decision support and business analytics, offering high-level semantic data models for business reports and client applications like Power BI, Excel, Reporting Services reports, and various data visualization tools. When coupled with the CData ADO.NET Provider for HCL Domino, you gain the capability to generate cubes from HCL Domino data, facilitating more profound and efficient data analysis.

In this article, we will guide you through the process of developing and deploying a multi-dimensional model of HCL Domino data by creating an Analysis Services project in Visual Studio. To proceed, ensure that you have an accessible SSAS instance and have installed the ADO.NET Provider.

Creating a Data Source for HCL Domino

Start by creating a new Analysis Service Multidimensional and Data Mining Project in Visual Studio. Next, create a Data Source for HCL Domino data in the project.

  1. In the Solution Explorer, right-click Data Source and select New Data Source.
  2. Opt to create a data source based on an existing or new connection and click New.
  3. In the Connection Manager, select CData ADO.NET Provider for HCL Domino, enter the necessary connection properties, and click Next.

    Connecting to Domino

    To connect to Domino data, set the following properties:

    • URL: The host name or IP of the server hosting the Domino database. Include the port of the server hosting the Domino database. For example: http://sampleserver:1234/
    • DatabaseScope: The name of a scope in the Domino Web UI. The driver exposes forms and views for the schema governed by the specified scope. In the Domino Admin UI, select the Scopes menu in the sidebar. Set this property to the name of an existing scope.

    Authenticating with Domino

    Domino supports authenticating via login credentials or an Azure Active Directory OAuth application:

    Login Credentials

    To authenticate with login credentials, set the following properties:

    • AuthScheme: Set this to "OAuthPassword"
    • User: The username of the authenticating Domino user
    • Password: The password associated with the authenticating Domino user

    The driver uses the login credentials to automatically perform an OAuth token exchange.

    AzureAD

    This authentication method uses Azure Active Directory as an IdP to obtain a JWT token. You need to create a custom OAuth application in Azure Active Directory and configure it as an IdP. To do so, follow the instructions in the Help documentation. Then set the following properties:

    • AuthScheme: Set this to "AzureAD"
    • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
    • OAuthClientId: The Client ID obtained when setting up the custom OAuth application.
    • OAuthClientSecret: The Client secret obtained when setting up the custom OAuth application.
    • CallbackURL: The redirect URI defined when you registered your app. For example: https://localhost:33333
    • AzureTenant: The Microsoft Online tenant being used to access data. Supply either a value in the form companyname.microsoft.com or the tenant ID.

      The tenant ID is the same as the directory ID shown in the Azure Portal's Azure Active Directory > Properties page.

    When you configure the connection, 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.

  4. Set the impersonation method to Inherit and click Next.
  5. Name the data source (CData HCL Domino Source) and click Finish.

Creating a Data Source View

After you create the data source, create the data source view.

  1. In the Solution Explorer, right-click Data Source Views and select New Data Source View.
  2. Select the data source you just created (CData HCL Domino Source) and click Next.
  3. Choose a foreign key match pattern that matches your underlying data source and click Next.
  4. Select HCL Domino tables to add to the view and click Next.
  5. Name the view and click Finish

Based on the foreign key match scheme, relationships in the underlying data will be automatically detected. You can view (and edit) these relationships by double clicking Data Source View.

Note that adding a secondary data source to the Data Source View is not supported. When working with multiple data sources, SSAS requires both sources to support remote queries via OpenRowset which is unavailable in the ADO.NET Provider.

Creating a Cube for HCL Domino

The last step before you can process the project and deploy HCL Domino data to SSAS is creating the cubes.

  1. In the Solution Explorer, right-click Cubes and select New Cube
  2. Select "Use existing tables" and click Next.
  3. Select the tables that will be used for measure group tables and click Next.
  4. Select the measures you want to include in the cube and click Next.
  5. Select the dimensions to be created, based on the available tables, and click Next.
  6. Review all of your selections and click Finish.

Process the Project

With the data source, data source view, and cube created, you are ready to deploy the cube to SSAS. To configure the target server and database, right-click the project and select properties. Navigate to deployment and configure the Server and Database properties in the Target section.

After configuring the target server and database, right-click the project and select Process. You may need to build and deploy the project as a part of this step. Once the project is built and deployed, click Run in the Process Database wizard.

Now you have an OLAP cube for HCL Domino data in your SSAS instance, ready to be analyzed, reported, and viewed. Get started with a free, 30-day trial of the CData ADO.NET Provider for HCL Domino.

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