Use the CData JDBC Driver for JD Edwards in MicroStrategy

MicroStrategy is an analytics and mobility platform that enables data-driven innovation. When you pair MicroStrategy with the CData JDBC Driver for JD Edwards, you gain database-like access to live JD Edwards data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through creating a database instance for JD Edwards in MicroStrategy Developer and create a Warehouse Catalog for the JD Edwards data.

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

Connect to JD Edwards in MicroStrategy Developer

You can connect to JD Edwards in MicroStrategy Developer by adding a database instance based on the CData JDBC Driver for JD Edwards.^* Before you begin, you will need to install the JDBC Driver for JD Edwards on the machine hosting the MicroStrategy Intelligence Server that your instance of MicroStrategy Developer is connected to.

1. Open MicroStrategy Developer and select a Project Source.
2. Navigate to Administration -> Configuration Managers -> Database Instances and right-click to add a new instance.
3. Name the instance, select Generic DBMS as the database connection type, and create a new database connection.
4. In the database connection wizard, name the connection and create a new Database Login name, setting the user and password for JD Edwards.
5. On the Advanced tab for the connection wizard, set the additional connection string parameters as follows.
   • Add the JDBC keyword to the connection string.
   • Set MSTR_JDBC_JAR_FOLDER to the path of the directory containing the JAR file for the JDBC driver. (C:\Program Files\CData JDBC Driver for JD Edwards\lib\ on Windows.)
   • Set DRIVER to cdata.jdbc.jdedwards.JDEdwardsDriver, the driver class.
   • Set URL to the JDBC URL for the JD Edwards driver, which contains the necessary connection properties.

     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.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the JD Edwards JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

     
     java -jar cdata.jdbc.jdedwards.jar
     

     Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

     

     When you configure the JDBC URL, 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.

   Typical additional connection string properties follow:

   
   JDBC;MSTR_JDBC_JAR_FOLDER=PATH\TO\JAR\;DRIVER=cdata.jdbc.jdedwards.JDEdwardsDriver;URL={jdbc:jdedwards:URL=https://your-jde-environment-app.example.com;User=admin;Password=myPassword;};
   

   
6. Ensure that you have not selected an ODBC data source (this will trigger MicroStrategy to use the additional connection string parameters to build the database instance) and click OK.
7. Click OK to close the database instance wizard.
8. In the Project Source, right-click the project and open the Project configuration.
9. Navigate to Database Instances, select the newly created database instance, and click OK.
10. Close MicroStrategy Developer and restart the connected MicroStrategy Intelligence Server to complete the database instance creation.

With the database instance configured, you will now be able to connect to JD Edwards data from the Warehouse Catalog and Data Import.

Connect to JD Edwards Data from the Warehouse Catalog

Once you have created a database instance based on the JDBC Driver for JD Edwards, you can connect to data from the Warehouse Catalog.

1. Select your project and click Schema -> Warehouse Catalog.
2. In the Read Settings for the Catalog, click Settings and set the queries to retrieve the schema:
   • To retrieve the list of tables, use the following query:

     
     SELECT 
       * 
     FROM 
       SYS_TABLES
             

   • To retrieve the list of columns for selected tables, use the following query:

     
     SELECT DISTINCT 
       CatalogName NAME_SPACE, 
       TableName TAB_NAME, 
       ColumnName COL_NAME, 
       DataTypeName DATA_TYPE, 
       Length DATA_LEN, 
       NumericPrecision DATA_PREC, 
       NumericScale DATA_SCALE 
     FROM 
       SYS_TABLECOLUMNS 
     WHERE 
       TableName IN (#TABLE_LIST#) 
     ORDER BY
       1,2,3
             

   
3. Select tables to be used in the project.

Using the CData JDBC Driver for JD Edwards in MicroStrategy, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on JD Edwards data. Read our other articles on connecting to JD Edwards in MictroStrategy Web and connecting to JD Edwards in MicroStrategy Desktop for more information.

Note: Connecting using a JDBC Driver requires a 3- or 4-Tier Architecture.