Access Live SAP Ariba Source Data in TIBCO Data Virtualization

TIBCO Data Virtualization (TDV) is an enterprise data virtualization solution that orchestrates access to multiple and varied data sources. When paired with the SAP Ariba Source Tibco DV Adapter, you get federated access to live SAP Ariba Source data directly within TIBCO Data Virtualization. This article explains how to deploy an adapter and create a new data source based on SAP Ariba Source.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData TIBCO DV Adapter offers unmatched performance for interacting with live SAP Ariba Source data. When you issue complex SQL queries to SAP Ariba Source, the adapter pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to SAP Ariba Source. Its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze SAP Ariba Source data using native data types.

Deploy the SAP Ariba Source TIBCO DV Adapter

1. In a console, navigate to the bin folder in the TDV Server installation directory. If there is a current version of the adapter installed, you will need to undeploy it.

   .\server_util.bat -server localhost -user admin -password ******** -undeploy -version 1 -name SAPAribaSource
   

2. Extract the CData TIBCO DV Adapter to a local folder and deploy the JAR file (tdv.saparibasource.jar) to the server from the extract location.

   .\server_util.bat -server localhost -user admin -password ******** -deploy -package /PATH/TO/tdv.saparibasource.jar
   

You may need to restart the server to ensure the new JAR file is loaded properly, which can be accomplished by running the composite.bat script located at: C:\Program Files\TIBCO\TDV Server <version>\bin. Note that reauthenticating to the TDV Studio is required after restarting the server.

Sample Restart Call

.\composite.bat monitor restart

Authenticate with SAP Ariba Source Using OAuth

Since SAP Ariba Source authenticates using the OAuth protocol and TDV Studio does not support browser-based authentication internally, you will need to create and run a simple Java application to retrieve the OAuth tokens. Once retrieved, the tokens are used to connect to SAP Ariba Source directly from the adapter.

Create the Java Application

1. Create a new Java file with preferred name for example GenOAuthSettings.java. This Java file leverages the SAPAribaSourceOAuth class contained within the TDV Adapter JAR to initiate a test connection and perform the required OAuth authentication flow
2. Copy and insert the following code into the .java file:

public class GenOAuthSettings {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
    	    if (args.length != 2) {
    			throw new Exception("Input must have two arguments: 'data source', 'connection string'");
    		}
    
    		String source = args[0].replace(" ", "").toLowerCase();
    		String connectionString = args[1];
    		String prefix;
    
    		if (source.equals("saparibasource")) {
    			prefix = "jdbc:saparibasource:";
    
    			com.cdata.cis.saparibasource.SAPAribaSourceOAuth oauth = new com.cdata.cis.saparibasource.SAPAribaSourceOAuth();
    
    			if (!connectionString.startsWith(prefix)) connectionString = prefix + connectionString;
    			oauth.generateOAuthSettingsFile(connectionString);
    		}
    		// More sources can be added below using the same format.  You must add the import statement and ensure the jar file resides in the classpath
			//            else if (source.equals("googlebigquery") || source.equals("bigquery")) {
			//                prefix = "jdbc:googlebigquery:";
			//
			//                com.cdata.cis.googlebigquery.GoogleBigQueryOAuth oauth = new com.cdata.cis.googlebigquery.GoogleBigQueryOAuth();
			//
			//                if (!connectionString.startsWith(prefix)) connectionString = prefix + connectionString;
			//                oauth.generateOAuthSettingsFile(connectionString);
			//            }
    		else {
				throw new Exception("Data Source not supported.  Available Data Sources: SAP Ariba Source");
			}
			
			System.out.println("Test Connection Successful!");
		} catch (Exception e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
		}
	}
}

3. Place the .java file in the same directory as the tdv.saparibasource.jar file. This is required to prevent classpath resolution errors during compilation and execution

Build and run the Java Application

1. Open Console and navigate to the directory containing the .java file and adapter jar
2. Compile the Java file using the following command:

javac -cp .;tdv.saparibasource.jar GenOAuthSettings.java

3. Execute the application using one of the following commands:

java -cp .;tdv.saparibasource.jar GenOAuthSettings "SAPAribaSource" "connection string"

This command initiates the OAuth authentication flow and generates the OAuth settings file at the location specified in the OAuthSettingsLocation parameter. Once you deploy the adapter and authenticate, you can create a new data source for SAP Ariba Source in TDV Studio.

Create a SAP Ariba Source Data Source in TDV Studio

With the SAP Ariba Source Tibco DV Adapter, you can easily create a data source for SAP Ariba Source and introspect the data source to add resources to TDV.

Create the Data Source

1. Right-click on the folder you wish to add the data source to and select New -> New Data Source
2. Scroll until you find the adapter (e.g. SAP Ariba Source) and click Next
3. Name the data source (e.g. CData SAP Ariba Source Source)
4. Fill in the required connection properties

In order to connect with SAP Ariba Source, set the following:

• API: Specify which API you would like the provider to retrieve SAP Ariba data from. Select the Supplier, Sourcing Project Management, or Contract API based on your business role (possible values are SupplierDataAPIWithPaginationV4, SourcingProjectManagementAPIV2, or ContractAPIV1).
• DataCenter: The data center where your account's data is hosted.
• Realm: The name of the site you want to access.
• Environment: Indicate whether you are connecting to a test or production environment (possible values are TEST or PRODUCTION).

If you are connecting to the Supplier Data API or the Contract API, additionally set the following:

• User: Id of the user on whose behalf API calls are invoked.
• PasswordAdapter: The password associated with the authenticating User.

If you're connecting to the Supplier API, set ProjectId to the Id of the sourcing project you want to retrieve data from.

Authenticating with OAuth

After setting connection properties, you need to configure OAuth connectivity to authenticate.

• Set AuthScheme to OAuthClient.
• Register an application with the service to obtain the APIKey, OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret.

  For more information on creating an OAuth application, refer to the Help documentation.

Automatic OAuth

After setting the following, you are ready to connect:

APIKey: The Application key in your app settings. OAuthClientId: The OAuth Client Id in your app settings. OAuthClientSecret: The OAuth Secret in your app settings.

When you connect, the provider automatically completes the OAuth process:

1. The provider obtains an access token from SAP Ariba and uses it to request data.
2. The provider refreshes the access token automatically when it expires.
3. The OAuth values are saved in memory relative to the location specified in OAuthSettingsLocation.

NOTE: Ensure that the OAuthSettingsLocation property in the DV Adapter is set to the same file path used during the OAuth authentication process. Additionally, set the InitiateOAuth property to REFRESH so that the adapter can automatically handle OAuth access-token refreshes in the background without requiring any user action.


5. Click Create & Close.

Introspect the Data Source

Once the data source is created, you can introspect the data source by right-clicking and selecting Open. In the dashboard, click Add/Remove Resources and select the Tables, Views, and Stored Procedures to include as part of the data source. Click Next and Finish to add the selected SAP Ariba Source tables, views, and stored procedures as resources.

After creating and introspecting the data source, you are ready to work with SAP Ariba Source data in TIBCO Data Virtualization just like you would any other relational data source. You can create views, query using SQL, publish the data source, and more.