Create an SAP BusinessObjects Universe on the CData ODBC Driver for Salesforce Data Cloud



Provide connectivity to Salesforce Data Cloud data through an SAP BusinessObjects universe.

This article shows how to create and publish an SAP BusinessObjects universe on the CData ODBC Driver for Salesforce Data Cloud. You will connect to Salesforce Data Cloud data from the Information Design Tool as well as the Web Intelligence tool.

Connect to Salesforce Data Cloud 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.

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.

    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.

    Create an ODBC Connection to Salesforce Data Cloud Data

    This section shows how to create a connection to the Salesforce Data Cloud ODBC data source in the Information Design Tool. After you create a connection, you can analyze data or create a BusinessObjects universe.

    1. Right-click your project and click New -> New Relational Connection.

    2. In the wizard that is displayed, enter a name for the connection.
    3. Select Generic -> Generic ODBC datasource -> ODBC Drivers and select the DSN.

    4. Finish the wizard with the default values for connection pooling and custom parameters.

    Analyze Salesforce Data Cloud Data in the Information Design Tool

    In the Information Design Tool, you can use both published and local ODBC connections to browse and query data.

    1. In the Local Projects view, double-click the connection (the .cnx file) to open the Salesforce Data Cloud data source.

    2. On the Show Values tab, you can load table data and enter SQL queries. To view table data, expand the node for the table, right-click the table, and click Show Values. Values will be displayed in the Raw Data tab.

    3. On the Analysis tab, you can drag and drop columns onto the axes of a chart.

    Publish the Local Connection

    To publish the universe to the CMS, you additionally need to publish the connection.

    1. In the Local Projects view, right-click the connection and click Publish Connection to a Repository.

    2. Enter the host and port of the repository and connection credentials.

    3. Select the folder where the connection will be published.

    4. In the success dialog that results, click Yes to create a connection shortcut.

    Create a Universe on the ODBC Driver for Salesforce Data Cloud

    You can follow the steps below to create a universe on the ODBC driver for Salesforce Data Cloud. The universe in this example will be published to a repository, so it uses the published connection created in the previous step.

    1. In the Information Design Tool, click File->New Universe.

    2. Select your project.

    3. Select the option to create the universe on a relational data source.

    4. Select the shortcut to the published connection.

    5. Enter a name for the Data Foundation.

    6. Import tables and columns that you want to access as objects.

    7. Enter a name for the Business Layer.

    Publish the Universe

    You can follow the steps below to publish the universe to the CMS.

    1. In the Local Projects view, right-click the business layer and click Publish -> To a Repository.

    2. In the Publish Universe dialog, enter any integrity checks before importing.

    3. Select or create a folder on the repository where the universe will be published.

    Query Salesforce Data Cloud Data in Web Intelligence

    You can use the published universe to connect to Salesforce Data Cloud in Web Intelligence.

    1. Open Web Intelligence from the BusinessObjects launchpad and create a new document.

    2. Select the Universe option for the data source.

    3. Select the Salesforce Data Cloud universe. This opens a Query Panel. Drag objects to the Result Objects pane to use them in the query.

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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.