Reply.io Reporting and Star Schemas in OBIEE

The CData ODBC Driver for Reply.io is a standard database driver that can integrate real-time access to Reply.io data into your data warehouse or directly into your reporting tool. This article shows how to bypass the data warehouse and import operational Reply.io data into Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE).

See the knowledge base for ODBC integrations with ETL tools like Informatica PowerCenter. For an ETL solution into Oracle Warehouse Builder, use the driver with the Oracle ODBC Gateway to Access Reply.io Data as a Remote Oracle Database.

Connect to Reply.io as an ODBC Data Source

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

The Reply.io API uses API Key authentication via the x-api-key request header.

Using API Key Authentication

Your Reply.io API key is required to create a connection. To obtain your API key:

1. Log into your Reply.io account.
2. Click your profile icon and select Settings.
3. Navigate to the API section.
4. Copy your API Key.

After obtaining your API key, set the following connection properties:

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
• APIKey: Set this to your Reply.io API key.
• UserEmail (optional): Set this to the email address of the Reply.io user on whose behalf requests are made.

Example connection string:

Profile=C:\profiles\ReplyIO.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key';

When you configure the DSN, 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.

Import Reply.io Metadata

Follow the steps below to use the OBIEE Client Tools to import Reply.io metadata into an OBIEE repository. You can then integrate Reply.io data into your business models.

1. Open the Administration Tool and click File -> New Repository.

2. In the Connection Type menu, select ODBC 3.5 and select the CData DSN.
3. Select the metadata types you want to import under the Relational Sources option and then select Reply.io tables.