Use CData Connect AI to Access FormSite Data in Microsoft Power Pivot

This article will explain how to use CData Connect AI to present FormSite data as OData services and then consume the data in Microsoft Excel's Power Pivot business intelligence tool. Follow the steps below to retrieve FormSite data in Power Pivot.

Connect to FormSite from Power Pivot

To work with FormSite data from Power Pivot, we need to connect to FormSite from Connect AI, provide user access to the connection, and create a Workspace for the FormSite data.

Connect to FormSite from Connect AI

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

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

2. Select "FormSite" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to FormSite.

   Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the FormSite Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\FormSite.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for FormSite (see below).

   FormSite API Profile Settings

   Log into your Formsite account and visit the Admin Portal to generate or retrieve your API key. Your ServerNumber is the numeric part of your server URL and UserDirectory is your account's directory path.

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

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Configure FormSite Endpoints for Power Pivot

After connecting to FormSite, create a workspace for your desired table(s).

1. Navigate to the Workspaces page and click Add to create a new Workspace (or select an existing workspace).
2. Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
3. Select the FormSite connection (e.g. API1) and click Next.
4. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm.
5. Make note of the OData Service URL for your workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}

With the connection, PAT, and Workspace configured, you are ready to connect to FormSite data from Power Pivot.

Import FormSite Tables in Power Pivot

Follow the steps below to import tables that can be refreshed on demand:

1. In Excel, click Data -> Get Data -> From Other Sources -> From OData Feed
2. Fill out the OData feed URL (e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name})
3. On the next screen, select Basic and configure the username and password. Password will be your PAT.

4. Select the tables that you would like to import into Excel

5. After selecting your table(s) and clicking Load, you should see the data appear in an Excel spreadsheet

6. Now, click the Power Pivot tab on the ribbon, and then select Add to Data Model. This can now work with your FormSite data in Power Pivot.

   

Free Trial & More Information

If you are interested in connecting to your FormSite data (or data from any of our other supported data sources) from Power Pivot, sign up for a free trial of CData Connect AI today! For more information on Connect AI and to see what other data sources we support, refer to our CData Connect AI page.