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Get the Report →Connect to Live Sage 300 Data in MicroStrategy through CData Connect Server
Create a virtual database for Sage 300 in CData Connect Server and connect to it from MicroStrategy.
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 Sage 300 data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through creating a virtual database for Sage 300 in Connect Server and connecting to Connect Server in MicroStrategy to create a simple visualization of Sage 300 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 Sage 300 and connect from MicroStrategy to start performing analytics based on live Sage 300 data.
Connect to Sage 300 from MicroStrategy
To work with live Sage 300 data in MicroStrategy, we need to create a virtual database for Sage 300 in Connect Server.
Create a Virtual SQL Server Database for Sage 300 Data
CData Connect Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.
- Login to Connect Server and click Connections.
- Select "Sage 300" from Available Data Sources.
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Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Sage 300.
Sage 300 requires some initial setup in order to communicate over the Sage 300 Web API.
- Set up the security groups for the Sage 300 user. Give the Sage 300 user access to the
option under Security Groups (per each module required). - Edit both web.config files in the /Online/Web and /Online/WebApi folders; change the key AllowWebApiAccessForAdmin to true. Restart the webAPI app-pool for the settings to take.
- Once the user access is configured, click https://server/Sage300WebApi/ to ensure access to the web API.
Authenticate to Sage 300 using Basic authentication.
Connect Using Basic Authentication
You must provide values for the following properties to successfully authenticate to Sage 300. Note that the provider reuses the session opened by Sage 300 using cookies. This means that your credentials are used only on the first request to open the session. After that, cookies returned from Sage 300 are used for authentication.
- Url: Set this to the url of the server hosting Sage 300. Construct a URL for the Sage 300 Web API as follows: {protocol}://{host-application-path}/v{version}/{tenant}/ For example, http://localhost/Sage300WebApi/v1.0/-/.
- User: Set this to the username of your account.
- Password: Set this to the password of your account.
- Set up the security groups for the Sage 300 user. Give the Sage 300 user access to the
- Click Save Changes
- 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 Sage 300 data from MicroStrategy.
Connect to and Visualize Sage 300 Data Using MicroStrategy
You can connect to Sage 300 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 Sage 300 data in MicroStrategy.
- Open MicroStrategy and select your account.
- Click Add External Data, select Databases, and use Select Tables as the Import Option.
- In the Import from Tables wizard, click to add a new Data Source.
- Select "SQL Server" in the Database menu and select "SQL Server 2017" in the Version menu.
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Sat the connection properties as follows:
- Server Name: e.g. connect_server_url
- Port Number: 1433
- Database Name: the name of your Sage 300 connection (e.g. Sage3001)
- User: a Connect Server user
- Password: a Connect Server password
- Data Source Name: a name for the new external data source, like "CData Connect Sage 300"
- Expand the menu for the new data source and choose "Edit Catalog Options"
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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
- Select the new data source and select the Namespace that corresponds to your virtual Sage 300 database (like Sage3001).
- 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.
- 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.
- Choose a visualization, choose fields to display, and apply any filters to create a new visualization of Sage 300 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 Sage 300, while any unsupported operations (which can include SQL functions and JOIN operations) will be managed by the CData SQL engine embedded in Connect Cloud.
- 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 Sage 300 data. For more information on creating virtual databases for Sage 300 (and more than 200 other data sources), visit the Connect Server page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live Sage 300 data in MicroStrategy.