Connect to SAP Data in DBVisualizer

The CData JDBC Driver for SAP implements JDBC standards to provide connectivity to SAP data in applications ranging from business intelligence tools to IDEs. This article shows how to establish a connection to SAP data in DBVisualizer and use the table editor to load SAP data.

Create a New JDBC Data Source for SAP Data

Follow the steps below to use the Driver Manager to provide connectivity to SAP data from DBVisualizer tools.

1. In DBVisualizer, click Tools -> Driver Manager -> Create a New Driver.
2. Enter a name for the data source.
3. Enter the following in the URL Format box: jdbc:saperp:
   The DBVisualizer Driver Manager.
4. In the User Specified tab, click the Open File button and select the cdata.jdbc.saperp.jar file, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
5. In the Driver Class menu, select the SAPERPDriver class, cdata.jdbc.saperp.SAPERPDriver.

Define the Connection to the JDBC Data Source

Follow the steps below to save connection properties in the JDBC URL.

1. In the Database tab, right-click the Database Connection node and click Create a Database Connection.

2. In the Connection section, set the following options:

   • Database Type: If you selected the wizard option, the database type is automatically detected. If you selected the "No Wizard" option, select the Generic or Auto Detect option in the Database Type menu.
   • Driver: Select the driver you just created.

   • Database URL: Enter the full JDBC URL. The syntax of the JDBC URL is jdbc:saperp: followed by the connection properties in a semicolon-separated list of name-value pairs.

     The driver supports connecting to an SAP system using the JCo JAR file. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for information on using the Jco JAR file.

     In addition, you can connect to an SAP system using Web services (SOAP). To use Web services, you must enable SOAP access to your SAP system and set the Client, RFCUrl, User, and Password properties, under the Authentication section.

     For more information, see this guide on obtaining the connection properties needed to connect to any SAP system.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the SAP JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.saperp.jar

     Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

     When you configure the JDBC URL, 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.

     A typical connection string is below:

     jdbc:saperp:Host=sap.mydomain.com;User=EXT90033;Password=xxx;Client=800;System Number=09;ConnectionType=Classic;Location=C:/mysapschemafolder;
   • Database UserId: The username to use to authenticate to SAP.
   • Database Password: The password to use to authenticate to SAP.

3. On the Connection tab, click Connect.

To browse through tables exposed by the SAP JDBC Driver, right-click a table and click Open in New Tab.

To execute SQL queries, use the SQL Commander tool: Click SQL Commander -> New SQL Commander. Select the Database Connection, Database, and Schema from the available menus.

See the "Supported SQL" chapter in the help documentation for more information on the supported SQL. See the "Data Model" chapter for table-specific information.