Access Live SharePoint Excel Services Data in TIBCO Data Virtualization

TIBCO Data Virtualization (TDV) is an enterprise data virtualization solution that orchestrates access to multiple and varied data sources. When paired with the CData TIBCO DV Adapter for SharePoint Excel Services, you get federated access to live SharePoint Excel Services data directly within TIBCO Data Virtualization. This article walks through deploying an adapter and creating a new data source based on SharePoint Excel Services.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData TIBCO DV Adapter offers unmatched performance for interacting with live SharePoint Excel Services data. When you issue complex SQL queries to SharePoint Excel Services, the adapter pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to SharePoint Excel Services. Its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze SharePoint Excel Services data using native data types.

Deploy the SharePoint Excel Services TIBCO DV Adapter

1. In a console, navigate to the bin folder in the TDV Server installation directory. If there is a current version of the adapter installed, you will need to undeploy it.

   .\server_util.bat -server localhost -user admin -password ******** -undeploy -version 1 -name ExcelServices
   

2. Extract the CData TIBCO DV Adapter to a local folder and deploy the JAR file (tdv.excelservices.jar) to the server from the extract location.

   .\server_util.bat -server localhost -user admin -password ******** -deploy -package /PATH/TO/tdv.excelservices.jar
   

You may need to restart the server to ensure the new JAR file is loaded properly, which can be accomplished by running the composite.bat script located at: C:\Program Files\TIBCO\TDV Server <version>\bin. Note that reauthenticating to the TDV Studio is required after restarting the server.

Sample Restart Call

.\composite.bat monitor restart

Create a SharePoint Excel Services Data Source in TDV Studio

With the CData TIBCO DV Adapter for SharePoint Excel Services, you can easily create a data source for SharePoint Excel Services and introspect the data source to add resources to TDV.

Create the Data Source

1. Right-click on the folder you wish to add the data source to and select New -> New Data Source.
2. Scroll until you find the adapter (e.g. SharePoint Excel Services) and click Next.
3. Name the data source (e.g. CData SharePoint Excel Services Source).

4. Fill in the required connection properties.

   The URL, User, and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid credentials for SharePoint Online, SharePoint 2010, or SharePoint 2013. Additionally, the Library property must be set to a valid SharePoint Document Library and the File property must be set to a valid .xlsx file in the indicated Library.

5. Click Create & Close.

Introspect the Data Source

Once the data source is created, you can introspect the data source by right-clicking and selecting Open. In the dashboard, click Add/Remove Resources and select the Tables, Views, and Stored Procedures to include as part of the data source. Click Next and Finish to add the selected SharePoint Excel Services tables, views, and stored procedures as resources.

After creating and introspecting the data source, you are ready to work with SharePoint Excel Services data in TIBCO Data Virtualization just like you would any other relational data source. You can create views, query using SQL, publish the data source, and more.