Use CData Connect AI to Access JD Edwards Data in Microsoft Power Pivot

Dibyendu Datta
Dibyendu Datta
Lead Technology Evangelist
Use CData Connect AI to connect to live JD Edwards data in the Power Pivot business intelligence tool.

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

Connect to JD Edwards from Power Pivot

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

Connect to JD Edwards 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. Adding a Connection
  2. Select "JD Edwards" from the Add Connection panel
    3. Selecting a data source
  3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to JD Edwards.

    The driver connects to JD Edwards through your Application Interface Services (AIS) Server. Set the following connection properties:

    • URL: The base HTTPS URL of your AIS Server (e.g., https://jde-ais.example.com:8300).
    • User: Your JD Edwards username.
    • Password: Your JD Edwards password.
    • Environment (optional): The JD Edwards environment to use (e.g., PD920 for production or DV920 for development). If not specified, the AIS Server's default environment is used.
    • Role (optional): The JD Edwards role for the session. If not specified, the AIS Server's default role is used.
    • DeviceName (optional): An identifier for the connecting device or application, used for auditing and logging on the AIS Server.
    • Jasserver (optional): The specific Java Application Server (JAS) instance to route requests through, useful in clustered environments.

    Choosing Which Data Is Exposed

    JD Edwards organizes tables and business views by System Code, and the driver exposes each System Code as its own schema. Use these properties to control which schemas are available:

    • DataModel: One or more ERP modules (comma-separated) whose System Codes are exposed as schemas, or All to expose every System Code in the connected instance. Defaults to FinancialManagement.
    • SystemCodes: A comma-separated list of additional System Codes to expose alongside those from DataModel (e.g., 42,43).

    When you connect, the driver sends your credentials to the AIS Server to obtain a session token and caches it. The driver requests a new token automatically before the session expires.

    Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
  4. Click Save & Test
  5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add JD Edwards Connection page and update the User-based permissions. Updating 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. Creating a new PAT
  4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Configure JD Edwards Endpoints for Power Pivot

After connecting to JD Edwards, 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). The Workspaces page. Adding a new Workspace.
  2. Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
  3. Select the JD Edwards connection (e.g. JDEdwards1) and click Next. Selecting an Asset (Salesforce is shown).
  4. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm. Selecting Tables (Salesforce is shown).
  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 JD Edwards data from Power Pivot.

Import JD Edwards 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 Starting the OData connection.
  2. Fill out the OData feed URL (e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}) The URL of the OData endpoint for Connect AI.
  3. On the next screen, select Basic and configure the username and password. Password will be your PAT. Authenticating with Connect AI

  4. Select the tables that you would like to import into Excel Selecting tables (Salesforce is shown.)

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

  6. Now, click the Power Pivot tab on the ribbon, and then select Add to Data Model. Loading data into Power Pivot (Salesforce is shown.) This can now work with your JD Edwards data in Power Pivot.

    The Pivot Table that is consuming OData feeds from Connect AI. (Salesforce is shown.)

Free Trial & More Information

If you are interested in connecting to your JD Edwards 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.

Ready to get started?

Learn more about CData Connect AI or sign up for free trial access:

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