Connect to Live IBM Cloud Object Storage Data in MicroStrategy through CData Connect Server

MicroStrategy is an analytics and mobility platform that enables data-driven innovation. When you pair MicroStrategy with CData Connect Server, you gain database-like access to live IBM Cloud Object Storage data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through creating a virtual database for IBM Cloud Object Storage in Connect Server and connecting to Connect Server in MicroStrategy to create a simple visualization of IBM Cloud Object Storage data.

As a hosted integration platform, Connect Server is ideal for working with cloud-based BI and analytics tools. With no servers to configure or data proxies to set up, you can simply use the web-based UI to create a virtual database for IBM Cloud Object Storage and connect from MicroStrategy to start performing analytics based on live IBM Cloud Object Storage data.

Connect to IBM Cloud Object Storage from MicroStrategy

To work with live IBM Cloud Object Storage data in MicroStrategy, we need to create a virtual database for IBM Cloud Object Storage in Connect Server.

Create a Virtual SQL Server Database for IBM Cloud Object Storage 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 "IBM Cloud Object Storage" from Available Data Sources.
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to IBM Cloud Object Storage.

   Register a New Instance of Cloud Object Storage

   If you do not already have Cloud Object Storage in your IBM Cloud account, follow the procedure below to install an instance of SQL Query in your account:

   1. Log in to your IBM Cloud account.
   2. Navigate to the page, choose a name for your instance and click Create. You will be redirected to the instance of Cloud Object Storage you just created.

   Connecting using OAuth Authentication

   There are certain connection properties you need to set before you can connect. You can obtain these as follows:

   API Key

   To connect with IBM Cloud Object Storage, you need an API Key. You can obtain this as follows:

   1. Log in to your IBM Cloud account.
   2. Navigate to the Platform API Keys page.
   3. On the middle-right corner click "Create an IBM Cloud API Key" to create a new API Key.
   4. In the pop-up window, specify the API Key name and click "Create". Note the API Key as you can never access it again from the dashboard.

   Cloud Object Storage CRN

   If you have multiple accounts, you will need to specify the CloudObjectStorageCRN explicitly. To find the appropriate value, you can:

   • Query the Services view. This will list your IBM Cloud Object Storage instances along with the CRN for each.
   • Locate the CRN directly in IBM Cloud. To do so, navigate to your IBM Cloud Dashboard. In the Resource List, Under Storage, select your Cloud Object Storage resource to get its CRN.

   Connecting to Data

   You can now set the following to connect to data:

   • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
   • ApiKey: Set this to your API key which was noted during setup.
   • CloudObjectStorageCRN (Optional): Set this to the cloud object storage CRN you want to work with. While the connector attempts to retrieve this automatically, specifying this explicitly is recommended if you have more than Cloud Object Storage account.

   When you connect, the connector completes the OAuth process.

   1. Extracts the access token and authenticates requests.
   2. Saves OAuth values in OAuthSettingsLocation to be persisted across connections.
4. Click Save Changes
5. Click Privileges -> Add and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions.

With the virtual database created, you are ready to connect to IBM Cloud Object Storage data from MicroStrategy.

Connect to and Visualize IBM Cloud Object Storage Data Using MicroStrategy

You can connect to IBM Cloud Object Storage in MicroStrategy by adding a data source based on the native SQL Server functionality. Once you have created a data source, you can build dynamic visualizations of IBM Cloud Object Storage data in MicroStrategy.

1. Open MicroStrategy and select your account.
2. Click Add External Data, select Databases, and use Select Tables as the Import Option.
3. In the Import from Tables wizard, click to add a new Data Source.
4. Select "SQL Server" in the Database menu and select "SQL Server 2017" in the Version menu.
5. Sat the connection properties as follows:
   • Server Name: e.g. connect_server_url
   • Port Number: 1433
   • Database Name: the name of your IBM Cloud Object Storage connection (e.g. IBMCloudObjectStorage1)
   • User: a Connect Server user
   • Password: a Connect Server password
   • Data Source Name: a name for the new external data source, like "CData Connect IBM Cloud Object Storage"
6. Expand the menu for the new data source and choose "Edit Catalog Options"
7. Edit the "SQL statement retrieve columns ..." query to include TABLE_SCHEMA = '#?Schema_Name?#' in the WHERE clause, and click Apply and then OK (the complete query is below).
   
   

   SELECT DISTINCT 
     TABLE_SCHEMA NAME_SPACE, 
     TABLE_NAME TAB_NAME, 
     COLUMN_NAME COL_NAME, 
     (CASE 
       WHEN 
         (DATA_TYPE LIKE '%char' AND (CHARACTER_SET_NAME='utf8' OR CHARACTER_SET_NAME='usc2')) 
       THEN 
         CONCAT('a',DATA_TYPE) 
       ELSE 
         DATA_TYPE 
     END) DATA_TYPE, 
     CHARACTER_MAXIMUM_LENGTH DATA_LEN, 
     NUMERIC_PRECISION DATA_PREC, 
     NUMERIC_SCALE DATA_SCALE 
   FROM 
     INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS 
   WHERE 
     TABLE_NAME 
   IN 
     (#TABLE_LIST#) AND TABLE_SCHEMA='#?Schema_Name?#' 
   ORDER BY 
     1,2,3
   

8. Select the new data source and select the Namespace that corresponds to your virtual IBM Cloud Object Storage database (like IBMCloudObjectStorage1).
9. Drag tables into the pane to insert then. Note: Since we create a live connection, we can insert whole tables and utilize the filtering and aggregation features native to the MicroStrategy products to customize our datasets.
10. Click Finish, choose the option to connect live, save the query, and choose the option to create a new dossier. Live connections are possible and effective, thanks to high-performance data processing native to CData Connect Cloud.
11. Choose a visualization, choose fields to display, and apply any filters to create a new visualization of IBM Cloud Object Storage data. Data types are discovered automatically through dynamic metadata discovery. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to IBM Cloud Object Storage, while any unsupported operations (which can include SQL functions and JOIN operations) will be managed by the CData SQL engine embedded in Connect Cloud.
12. Once you have finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

Using CData Connect Server with MicroStrategy, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on IBM Cloud Object Storage data. For more information on creating virtual databases for IBM Cloud Object Storage (and more than 200 other data sources), visit the Connect Server page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live IBM Cloud Object Storage data in MicroStrategy.