Access Salesforce Data Cloud Data as a Remote Oracle Database



Use the Oracle ODBC Gateway and Heterogeneous Services technology to access Salesforce Data Cloud data from your Oracle system.

The Oracle Database Gateway for ODBC and Heterogeneous Services technology enable you to connect to ODBC data sources as remote Oracle databases. This article shows how to use the CData ODBC Driver for Salesforce Data Cloud to create a database link from Salesforce Data Cloud to Oracle and to query Salesforce Data Cloud data through the SQL*Plus tool. You can also create the database link and execute queries from SQL Developer.

Connect to Salesforce Data Cloud as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to Salesforce Data Cloud follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments.

Salesforce Data Cloud supports authentication via the OAuth standard.

OAuth

Set AuthScheme to OAuth.

Desktop Applications

CData provides an embedded OAuth application that simplifies authentication at the desktop.

You can also authenticate from the desktop via a custom OAuth application, which you configure and register at the Salesforce Data Cloud console. For further information, see Creating a Custom OAuth App in the Help documentation.

Before you connect, set these properties:

  • InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
  • OAuthClientId (custom applications only): The Client ID assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
  • OAuthClientSecret (custom applications only): The Client Secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.

When you connect, the driver opens Salesforce Data Cloud's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application.

The driver then completes the OAuth process as follows:

  • Extracts the access token from the callback URL.
  • Obtains a new access token when the old one expires.
  • Saves OAuth values in OAuthSettingsLocation so that they persist across connections.
  • For other OAuth methods, including Web Applications and Headless Machines, refer to the Help documentation.

    Windows

    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.

    Note: If you need to modify the DSN or create other Salesforce Data Cloud DSNs, you must use a system DSN and the bitness of the DSN must match your Oracle system. You can access and create 32-bit DSNs on a 64-bit system by opening the 32-bit ODBC Data Source Administrator from C:\Windows\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe.

    Linux

    If you are installing the CData ODBC Driver for Salesforce Data Cloud in a Linux environment, the driver installation predefines a system DSN. You can modify the DSN by editing the system data sources file (/etc/odbc.ini) and defining the required connection properties.

    /etc/odbc.ini

    [CData SalesforceDataCloud Source] Driver = CData ODBC Driver for Salesforce Data Cloud Description = My Description

    For specific information on using these configuration files, please refer to the help documentation (installed and found online).

    Set Connection Properties for Compatibility with Oracle

    The driver provides several connection properties that streamline accessing Salesforce Data Cloud data just as you would an Oracle database. Set the following properties when working with Salesforce Data Cloud data in SQL*Plus and SQL Developer. For compatibility with Oracle, you will need to set the following connection properties, in addition to authentication and other required connection properties.

    • MapToWVarchar=False

      Set this property to map string data types to SQL_VARCHAR instead of SQL_WVARCHAR. By default, the driver uses SQL_WVARCHAR to accommodate various international character sets. You can use this property to avoid the ORA-28528 Heterogeneous Services data type conversion error when the Unicode type is returned.

    • MaximumColumnSize=4000

      Set this property to restrict the maximum column size to 4000 characters.

    • IncludeDualTable=True

      Set this property to mock the Oracle DUAL table. SQL Developer uses this table to test the connection.

    Linux Configuration

    In Linux environments, Oracle uses UTF-8 to communicate with the unixODBC Driver manager, whereas the default driver encoding is UTF-16. To resolve this, open the file /opt/cdata/cdata-driver-for-salesforcedatacloud/lib/cdata.odbc.salesforcedatacloud.ini in a text editor and set the encoding.

    cdata.odbc.salesforcedatacloud.ini

    [Driver] DriverManagerEncoding = UTF-8

    Configure the ODBC Gateway, Oracle Net, and Oracle Database

    Follow the procedure below to set up an ODBC gateway to Salesforce Data Cloud data that enables you to query live Salesforce Data Cloud data as an Oracle database.

    1. Create the file initmysalesforcedcdb.ora in the folder oracle-home-directory/hs/admin and add the following setting:

      initmysalesforcedcdb.ora

      HS_FDS_CONNECT_INFO = "CData SalesforceDataCloud Sys"
    2. Add an entry to the listener.ora file. This file is located in oracle-home-directory/NETWORK/admin.

      If you are using the Database Gateway for ODBC, your listener.ora needs to have a SID_LIST_LISTENER entry that resembles the following:

      listener.ora

      SID_LIST_LISTENER = (SID_LIST = (SID_DESC = (SID_NAME = mysalesforcedcdb) (ORACLE_HOME = your-oracle-home) (PROGRAM = dg4odbc) ) )

      If you are using Heterogeneous Services, your listener.ora needs to have a SID_LIST_LISTENER entry that resembles the following:

      listener.ora

      SID_LIST_LISTENER = (SID_LIST = (SID_DESC = (SID_NAME = mysalesforcedcdb) (ORACLE_HOME = your-oracle-home) (PROGRAM = hsodbc) ) )
    3. Add the connect descriptor below in tnsnames.ora, located in oracle-home-directory/NETWORK/admin:

      tnsnames.ora

      mysalesforcedcdb = (DESCRIPTION= (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=localhost)(PORT=1521)) (CONNECT_DATA=(SID=mysalesforcedcdb)) (HS=OK) )
    4. Restart the listener.
    5. Test the configuration with the following command:

      tnsping mysalesforcedcdb
    6. Open SQL*Plus and create the database link with the command below:

      CREATE DATABASE LINK mysalesforcedcdb CONNECT TO "user" IDENTIFIED BY "password" USING 'mysalesforcedcdb';

    You can now execute queries in SQL*Plus like the one below (note the double quotation marks around the table name):

    SELECT * from "Account"@mysalesforcedcdb WHERE EmployeeCount = '250';

Ready to get started?

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Salesforce Data Cloud Icon Salesforce Data Cloud ODBC Driver

The Salesforce Data Cloud ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live data from Salesforce Data Cloud, directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity.

Access Salesforce Data Cloud data like you would a database - read, write, and update Salesforce Data Cloud 0, etc. through a standard ODBC Driver interface.