Build Interactive Dashboards from Dropbox Data in Amazon QuickSight

Amazon QuickSight allows users to build interactive dashboards in the cloud. When paired with CData Connect Server, you get direct access to Dropbox data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to create a virtual database for Dropbox in Connect Server and build dashboards in Amazon QuickSight with access to Dropbox data.

CData Connect Server provides a pure MySQL interface for Dropbox, allowing you to easily build visualizations from Dropbox data in Amazon QuickSight. By importing your Dropbox data into the Amazon QuickSight "Super-fast, Parallel, In-memory Calculation Engine" (SPICE), you can leverage the powerful data processing features of the Amazon ecosystem to build responsive dashboards. And with the ability to schedule refreshes of the data stored in SPICE, you control how up-to-date your dashboards are.

Create a Virtual MySQL Database for Dropbox Data

CData Connect Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.

1. Login to Connect Server and click Connections.
2. Select "Dropbox" from Available Data Sources.
3. Dropbox uses OAuth to authenticate. Click Connect to authenticate with Dropbox.
4. Click Privileges -> Add and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions.

With the virtual database created, you are ready to build visualizations in Amazon QuickSight.

Import Dropbox Data into SPICE and Create Interactive Dashboards

The steps below outline creating a new data set based on the virtual Dropbox database in Connect Server, importing the dataset into SPICE, and building a simple visualization from the data.

1. Log into Amazon QuickSight and click "Manage data."
2. Click "New data set," select MySQL as the data source, configure the connection to your Connect Server instance, and click "Create data source."
3. Select a table to visualize (or submit a custom SQL query for your data).
4. Click "Edit/Preview data" to customize the data set.
5. Select "Import to SPICE for quicker analytics" and click "Visualize."
6. Select fields to visualize and a visual type.

Schedule Refreshes for SPICE Data Sets

QuickSight users can schedule refreshes for data sets that are imported into SPICE, ensuring that data being analyzed is only as old as the most recent refresh.

1. Navigate to the QuickSight home page.
2. Click "Manage data."
3. Select the data set you wish to refresh.
4. Click "Schedule refresh."
5. Click Create, configure the refresh settings (time zone, repeat frequency, and starting datetime), and click Create.

SQL Access to Dropbox Data from Applications

At this point, you have a direct connection to Dropbox data from your Amazon QuickSight dashboard. You can create new visualizations, build interactive dashboards, and more. For more information on gaining SQL access to data from more than 100 SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources from applications like Amazon QuickSight, refer to our Connect Server page.