Import Harvest Data into the Power BI Service for Visualizations

Power BI transforms your company's data into rich visuals for you to collect and organize so you can focus on what matters to you. When paired with CData Connect Server, you get access to Harvest data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to use the CData Connect Server to generate an OData feed for Harvest, import Harvest data into Power BI and then create reports on Harvest data in the Power BI service.

NOTE: You can also use the on-premise data gateway and the SQL interface in Connect Server to connect to Harvest data in real-time (instead of importing the data). Read how in the related Knowledge Base article.

Create a Virtual SQL Database for Harvest Data

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

1. Login to Connect Server and click Connections.
2. Select "Harvest" from Available Data Sources.
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Harvest.

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

   Harvest API Profile Settings

   To authenticate to Harvest, you can use either Token authentication or the OAuth standard. Use Basic authentication to connect to your own data. Use OAuth to allow other users to connect to their data.

   Using Token Authentication

   To use Token Authentication, set the APIKey to your Harvest Personal Access Token in the ProfileSettings connection property. In addition to APIKey, set your AccountId in ProfileSettings to connect.

   Using OAuth Authentication

   First, register an OAuth2 application with Harvest. The application can be created from the "Developers" section of Harvest ID.

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

   • ProfileSettings: Set your AccountId in ProfileSettings.
   • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
   • OAuthClientId: Set this to the client ID that you specified in your app settings.
   • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client secret that you specified in your app settings.
   • CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI that you specified in your app settings.
   • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to manage how the driver obtains and refreshes the OAuthAccessToken.
4. Click Save Changes
5. Click Privileges -> Add and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions.

Connecting to Connect Server from Power BI

To import and visualize your Harvest data in the Power BI service, add a Connect Server API user, add Harvest OData endpoints in Connect Server, and create & publish a dataset from Power BI Desktop to the service.

Add a Connect Server User

Create a User to connect to Harvest from Power BI through Connect Server.

1. Click Users -> Add
2. Configure a User.
3. Click Save Changes and make note of the Authtoken for the new user.
4. Click Database and select the Harvest virtual database.
5. On the Privileges tab, add the newly created user (with at least SELECT permissions) and click Save Changes.

Publish a Dataset from Power BI Desktop

With the Harvest connection configured in Connect Server, you can create a dataset in Power BI desktop using SQL Server connectivity and publish the dataset to the Power BI service.

1. Open Power BI Desktop and click Get Data -> Other -> SQL Server and click "Connect"
2. Set Server to the address and port of your CData Connect instance (localhost:8033 by default) and set Database to the name of the virtual database you just created (API1)
3. Use "Database" authentication, enter the credentials for a CData Connect user and click "Connect"
4. Select tables in the Navigator dialog
5. Click Load to import the data into Power BI
6. Define any relationships between the selected entities on the Relationships tab.
7. Click Publish (from the Home menu) and select a Workspace.

Build Reports and Dashboards on Harvest Data in the Power BI Service

Now that you have published a dataset to the Power BI service, you can create new reports and dashboards based on the published data:

1. Log in to PowerBI.com.
2. Click Workspaces and select a workspace.
3. Click Create and select Report.
4. Select the published dataset for the report.
5. Choose fields and visualizations to add to your report.

SQL Access to Harvest Data from Applications

Now you have a direct connection to live Harvest data from the Power BI service. You can create more data sources and new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating Harvest data.

To get SQL data access to 200+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your applications, see the CData Connect Server.