Use the CData JDBC Driver for Outlook in MicroStrategy Desktop

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

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

Connect to and Visualize Outlook Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

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

1. Open MicroStrategy Desktop and create a new dossier.
2. In the datasets panel, click New Data, select Databases, and choose Select a Table as the Import Option.
3. Add a new data source and choose the DSN-less data sources option.
4. Choose Generic in the Database menu and Generic DBMS in the Version menu.
5. Click the link to show the connection string and opt to edit the connection string. In the Driver menu, select MicroStrategy Cassandra ODBC Driver. (MicroStrategy requires a certified driver to interface through JDBC; the actual driver will not be used.)
6. Set the connection string as follows and click OK:
   • Add the JDBC keyword to the connection string.
   • Set MSTR_JDBC_JAR_FOLDER to the path of the JAR file for the JDBC driver. (C:\Program Files\CData JDBC Driver for Outlook\lib\ on Windows.)
   • Set DRIVER to cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver, the driver class.
   • Set URL to the JDBC URL for the Outlook driver, setting the necessary connection properties.

     Using OAuth Authentication

     Microsoft Graph API uses OAuth 2.0 for authentication. You must register an application in the Microsoft Azure Portal to obtain OAuth credentials (Client ID and Client Secret).

     Obtaining OAuth Credentials

     1. Log in to the Azure Portal.
     2. Navigate to Azure Active Directory > App registrations.
     3. Click New registration to create a new application.
     4. Enter an application name and select the appropriate account types.
     5. Set the Redirect URI to your application's callback URL (e.g., http://localhost:33333 for desktop apps).
     6. Click Register to create the application.
     7. On the application overview page, copy the Application (client) ID - this is your OAuthClientId.
     8. Navigate to Certificates & secrets and create a new client secret.
     9. Copy the client secret value - this is your OAuthClientSecret.
     10. Navigate to API permissions and add the required Microsoft Graph API permissions:
         • Mail.Read - For accessing email messages
         • Contacts.Read - For accessing contacts
         • Calendars.Read - For accessing calendar events
         • Tasks.Read - For accessing To Do tasks
         • offline_access - For obtaining refresh tokens
     11. Click Grant admin consent to grant these permissions.

     Connecting with OAuth

     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 Outlook will automatically walk through the OAuth process in order to obtain the access token.
     • OAuthClientId: Set this to the Application (client) ID from Azure Portal.
     • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client secret value from Azure Portal.
     • TenantId: Set this to your Azure AD tenant identifier (GUID or domain name like 'contoso.onmicrosoft.com').
     • CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI you specified in your app registration (e.g., http://localhost:33333 for desktop apps).

     Example connection string

     Profile=C:\profiles\Outlook.apip;AuthScheme=OAuth;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;TenantId=your_tenant_id;CallbackUrl=http://localhost:33333;
     

     Built-in Connection String Designer

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

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.api.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.

   A typical connection string follows:

   JDBC;MSTR_JDBC_JAR_FOLDER=PATH\TO\JAR\;DRIVER=cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver;URL={jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Outlook.apip;AuthScheme=OAuth;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;TenantId=your_tenant_id;CallbackUrl=http://localhost:33333;};
   

   
7. Right-click on the new data source, and choose Edit catalog options.
8. Edit the SQL Statement to SELECT * FROM SYS_SCHEMAS to read the metadata from the JDBC Driver.
9. Select the new data source to view the available tables. You may need to manually click the search icon in the Available Tables section to see the tables.
10. Drag tables into the pane to import them. Note: Since we create a live connection, we can import whole tables and utilize the filtering and aggregation features native to the MicroStrategy products.
11. Click Finish and choose the option to connect Live. Live connections are possible and effective, thanks to the high-performance data processing native to CData JDBC Drivers.
12. Choose a visualization, choose fields to display, and apply any filters to create a new visualization of Outlook 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 Outlook, 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.
13. Once you are finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

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