Discover how a bimodal integration strategy can address the major data management challenges facing your organization today.
Get the Report →Create Datasets from Excel Online in Domo Workbench and Build Visualizations of Excel Online Data in Domo
Use the CData ODBC Driver for Excel Online to create datasets from Excel Online data in Domo Workbench and then build visualizations in the Domo service.
Domo helps you manage, analyze, and share data across your entire organization, enabling decision makers to identify and act on strategic opportunities. Domo Workbench provides a secure, client-side solution for uploading your on-premise data to Domo. The CData ODBC Driver for Excel Online links Domo Workbench to operational Excel Online data. You can build datasets from Excel Online data using standard SQL queries in Workbench and then create real-time visualizations of Excel Online data in the Domo service.
The CData ODBC Drivers offer unmatched performance for interacting with live Excel Online data in Domo due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from Domo to Excel Online, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Excel Online 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 Excel Online data using native Domo data types.
Connect to Excel Online 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.
You can connect to a workbook by providing authentication to Excel Online and then setting the following properties:
-
Workbook: Set this to the name or Id of the workbook.
If you want to view a list of information about the available workbooks, execute a query to the Workbooks view after you authenticate.
- UseSandbox: Set this to true if you are connecting to a workbook in a sandbox account. Otherwise, leave this blank to connect to a production account.
You use the OAuth authentication standard to authenticate to Excel Online. See the Getting Started section in the help documentation for a guide. Getting Started also guides you through executing SQL to worksheets and ranges.
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.
After creating a DSN, you will need to create a dataset for Excel Online in Domo Workbench using the Excel Online DSN and build a visualization in the Domo service based on the dataset.
Build a Dataset for Excel Online Data
You can follow the steps below to build a dataset based on a table in Excel Online in Domo Workbench using the CData ODBC Driver for Excel Online.
- Open Domo Workbench and, if you have not already, add your Domo service server to Workbench. In the Accounts submenu, click Add New, type in the server address (i.e., domain.domo.com) and click through the wizard to authenticate.
- In the DataSet Jobs submenu, click Add New.
- Name the dataset job (i.e., ODBC Excel Online Test_xlsx_Sheet1), select ODBC Connection Provider as the transport method, and click through the wizard.
- In the newly created DataSet Job, navigate to Source and click to configure the settings.
- Select System DSN for the Connection Type.
- Select the previously configured DSN (CData ExcelOnline Sys) for the System DSN.
- Click to validate the configuration.
- Below the settings, set the Query to a SQL query:
SELECT * FROM Test_xlsx_Sheet1
NOTE: By connecting to Excel Online data using an ODBC driver, you simply need to know SQL in order to get your data, circumventing the need to know Excel Online-specific APIs or protocols. - Click preview.
- Check over the generated schema, add any transformations, then save and run the dataset job.
With the dataset job run, the dataset will be accessible from the Domo service, allowing you to build visualizations, reports, and more based on Excel Online data.
Create Data Visualizations
With the DataSet Job saved and run in Domo Workbench, we are ready to build visualizations of the Excel Online data in the Domo service.
- Navigate to the Data Center.
- In the data warehouse, select the ODBC data source and drill down to our new dataset.
- With the dataset selected, choose to create a visualization.
- In the new card:
- Drag a Dimension to the X Value.
- Drag a Measure to the Y Value.
- Choose a Visualization.
With the CData ODBC Driver for Excel Online, you can build custom datasets based on Excel Online data using only SQL in Domo Workbench and then build and share visualizations and reports through the Domo service.