Use the CData ODBC Driver for Gumroad in MicroStrategy Desktop

MicroStrategy is an analytics and mobility platform that enables data-driven innovation. When paired with the CData ODBC Driver for Gumroad, you gain database-like access to live Gumroad data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through adding Gumroad as a data source in MicroStrategy Desktop and creating a simple visualization of Gumroad data.

The CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Gumroad data in MicroStrategy due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from MicroStrategy to Gumroad, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Gumroad 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 Gumroad data using native MicroStrategy data types.

Connect to Gumroad as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to Gumroad follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments.

Using OAuth Authentication

To authenticate to Gumroad and connect to your own data or to allow other users to connect to their data, you can use the OAuth 2.0 standard. This is the recommended authentication method.

First you need to register an OAuth application with Gumroad. You can create an OAuth application by visiting your Gumroad account settings at https://app.gumroad.com/settings/advanced and navigating to the Applications section.

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

• AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
• InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. The CData API Profile for Gumroad will automatically walk through the OAuth process in order to obtain the access token.
• OAuthClientID: Set this to the client_id that is specified in your app settings.
• OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client_secret that is specified in your app settings.
• CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI you specified in your app settings.

Example connection string

Profile=C:\profiles\Gumroad.apip;AuthScheme=OAuth;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackUrl=your_callback_url;

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 Gumroad 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 Gumroad
Description = My Description
Profile = C:\profiles\Gumroad.apip
AuthScheme = OAuth
InitiateOAuth = GETANDREFRESH
OAuthClientId = your_client_id
OAuthClientSecret = your_client_secret
CallbackUrl = your_callback_url

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

Connect to and Visualize Gumroad Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

In addition to connecting Gumroad in MicroStrategy enterprise products, you can connect to Gumroad in MicroStrategy Desktop. Follow the steps below to add Gumroad data as a dataset and create visualizations and reports of Gumroad data.

1. Open MicroStrategy Desktop and create a new dossier.
2. In the datasets panel, click New Data, select Databases, and select Type a Query as the Import Option.
3. Add a new data source and choose DSN data sources.
4. Choose the DSN you previously configured (likely CData API Sys) and select Generic DBMS in the Version menu.
5. Set the User and Password properties for the DSN (or use placeholder values) and name the data source.

6. Select the new database instance to view the tables. You may need to manually click the search icon in the Available Tables section to see the tables.
7. Create a SQL query for the Gumroad data (see below) and click Execute SQL to test the query.

   SELECT * FROM CustomFields
   

   NOTE: Since we create a live connection, we can execute a SELECT * query and utilize the filtering and aggregation features native to the MicroStrategy products.
8. Click Finish and choose to connect live.
9. Choose a visualization, choose fields to display (data types are discovered automatically through dynamic metadata discovery) and apply any filters to create a new visualization of Gumroad data. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to Gumroad, while any unsupported operations (which can include SQL functions and JOIN operations) will be managed client-side by the CData SQL Engine embedded in the driver.
10. Once you are finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

Using the CData ODBC Driver for Gumroad in MicroStrategy Desktop, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on Gumroad data. Read our other articles on connecting to Gumroad in MicroStrategy and connecting to Gumroad in MicroStrategy Web for more examples.