Visualize Sage 300 Data in Tableau

The CData ODBC Driver for Sage 300 enables you to access live Sage 300 data in business intelligence tools like Tableau. In this article, you will integrate Sage 300 data into a dashboard that reflects changes to Sage 300 data in real time.

The CData ODBC drivers offer unmatched performance for interacting with live Sage 300 data in Tableau due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from Tableau to Sage 300, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Sage 300 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 Sage 300 data using native Tableau data types.

Connect to Sage 300 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.

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.

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.

Add Sage 300 Data to a Dashboard

1. Click Connect to Data -> More Servers -> Other Databases (ODBC).
   Select the CData Data Source Name (for example: CData Sage300 Source).
2. In the Database menu, select CData.
3. In the Table box, enter a table name or click New Custom SQL to enter an SQL query. This article retrieves the OEInvoices table.
4. Drag the table onto the join area. At this point, you can include multiple tables, leveraging the built-in SQL engine to process complex data requests.
5. In the Connection menu, select the Live option, so that you skip loading a copy of the data into Tableau and instead work on real-time data. The optimized data processing native to CData ODBC drivers enables unmatched performance in live connectivity.
6. Click the tab for your worksheet. Columns are listed as Dimensions and Measures, depending on the data type. The CData driver discovers data types automatically, allowing you to leverage the powerful data processing and visualization features of Tableau.
7. Drop the InvoiceUniquifier column in the Dimensions pane onto the dashboard. When you select dimensions, Tableau builds a query to the driver. The results are grouped based on that dimension. In Tableau, the raw query is automatically modified as you select dimensions and measures.

8. Drag the ApprovedLimit column in the Measures field onto the Detail and Color buttons. Tableau executes the following query:

   SELECT InvoiceUniquifier, SUM(ApprovedLimit) FROM OEInvoices GROUP BY InvoiceUniquifier

   When you select a measure, Tableau executes a command to the driver to calculate a summary function, such as SUM, AVG, etc., on the grouped values. The SQL engine (embedded within the driver) is leveraged to process the aggregation of the data, where needed, providing a seamless experience in Tableau, regardless of the data source.

   To change the summary function, open the ApprovedLimit menu and select the summary you want in the Measure command.

9. You can create other charts using dimensions and measures to build SQL queries visually:

With the CData ODBC Driver for Sage 300, you get live connectivity to your Sage 300 data, allowing you to build real-time charts, graphs, and more.