Use the CData ODBC Driver for Foursquare in SAS for Real-Time Reporting and Analytics

SAS is a software suite developed for advanced analytics, multivariate analysis, business intelligence, data management, and predictive analytics. When you pair SAS with the CData ODBC Driver for Foursquare, you gain database-like access to live Foursquare data from SAS, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. This article explains how to create a library for Foursquare in SAS and create a simple report based on real-time Foursquare data.

The CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Foursquare data in SAS due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from SAS to Foursquare, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Foursquare 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 easily visualize and analyze Foursquare data in SAS.

Connect to Foursquare as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to Foursquare follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments (the ODBC Driver for Foursquare must be installed on the machine hosting the SAS System).

Using API Key Authentication

Foursquare Places API uses Service Key (Bearer token) authentication. To obtain a Service Key:

1. Go to the Foursquare Developer Console at https://foursquare.com/developers/
2. Create a new project or select an existing one
3. Navigate to the API Keys section
4. Generate a new Service Key for the Places API

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
• ServiceKey: Set this to your Foursquare Service Key obtained from the Developer Console.
• XPlacesApiVersion: (Optional) Set this to the API version date. Defaults to 2025-06-17.

Example APIKey connection string

Profile=C:\profiles\Foursquare.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_personal_access_token';

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.

Windows

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.

Linux

If you are installing the CData ODBC Driver for Foursquare in a Linux environment, the driver installation predefines a system DSN. You can modify the DSN by editing the system data sources file (/etc/odbc.ini) and defining the required connection properties.

/etc/odbc.ini

[CData API Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for Foursquare
Description = My Description
Profile = C:\profiles\Foursquare.apip
AuthScheme = APIKey
ProfileSettings = 'APIKey = your_personal_access_token'

For specific information on using these configuration files, please refer to the help documentation (installed and found online).

Create a Foursquare Library in SAS

Connect to Foursquare in SAS by adding a library based on the CData ODBC Driver for Foursquare.

1. Open SAS and expand Libraries in the Explorer pane.
2. In the Active Libraries window, right-click and select New.
3. Name your library (odbclib), select ODBC as the Engine, and click to Enable at startup (if you want the library to persist between sessions).
4. Set Data Source to the DSN you previously configured and click OK.

Create a View from a Foursquare Query

SAS natively supports querying data either using a low-code, point-and-click Query tool or programmatically with PROC SQL and a custom SQL query. When you create a View in SAS, the defining query is executed each time the view is queried. This means that you always query live Foursquare data for reports, charts, and analytics.

Using the Query Tool

1. In SAS, click Tools -> Query
2. Select the table sources and the table(s) you wish to pull data from. Then, click OK.
3. Select columns and right-click to add filtering, ordering, grouping, etc.
4. Create a local view to contain the query results by right-clicking the SQL Query Tool window, selecting Show Query, and clicking Create View. Name the View and click OK.

Using PROC SQL

1. In SAS, navigate to the Editor window.
2. Use PROC SQL to query the data and create a local view.
   NOTE: This procedure creates a view in the Work library. You can optionally specify a library in the create view statement.

   proc sql;
     create view autocomplete_view as
     select 
       , 
        
     from 
       odbclib.autocomplete 
     where 
       Query = 'abc';
   quit;
   

3. Click Run -> Submit to execute the query and create a local view.

Report On or Visualize Foursquare Data in SAS

With a local view created, you can report, visualize, or otherwise analyze Foursquare data using the powerful SAS features. Print a simple report using PROC PRINT and create a basic graph based on the data using PROC GCHART.

Print an HTML Report

1. In SAS, navigate to the Editor window.
2. Use PROC PRINT to print an HTML report for the Foursquare Autocomplete data.

   proc print data=autocomplete;
     title "Foursquare Autocomplete Data";
   run;
   

   

Print a Chart

1. In SAS, navigate to the Editor window.
2. Use PROC GCHART to create a chart for the Autocomplete data.

   proc gchart data=autocomplete;
     pie  / sumvar=
         value=arrow
         percent=arrow
         noheading
         percent=inside plabel=(height=12pt)
         slice=inside value=none
         name='AutocompleteChart';
   run;