Connect to SAP BusinessObjects BI Data from Filemaker Pro (Mac)

FileMaker Pro is a cross-platform relational database application that allows users to visually modify a database. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, FileMaker Pro gets access to live SAP BusinessObjects BI data. This article demonstrates how to connect to SAP BusinessObjects BI using Connect Cloud and query SAP BusinessObjects BI data in FileMaker Pro.

CData Connect Cloud provides a pure SQL Server interface for SAP BusinessObjects BI, allowing you to query data from SAP BusinessObjects BI without replicating the data to a natively supported database. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Cloud pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to SAP BusinessObjects BI, leveraging server-side processing to return the requested SAP BusinessObjects BI data quickly.

Configure SAP BusinessObjects BI Connectivity for FileMaker Pro

Connectivity to SAP BusinessObjects BI from FileMaker Pro is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with SAP BusinessObjects BI data from FileMaker Pro, we start by creating and configuring a SAP BusinessObjects BI connection.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection

2. Select "SAP BusinessObjects BI" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to SAP BusinessObjects BI.

   To connect to your SAP Business Objects BI instance, you must set the following connection properties:

   • Url: set this to the rest API URL. After logging into the Central Management Console, choose 'Applications' from the combo box. Double-click on 'RESTful Web Service' and you'll see the access URL. By default it is, http://{Server-Name}:6405/biprws.
   • User: set this to the username of your instance.
   • Password: set this to the password of your instance.
   
4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add SAP BusinessObjects BI Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.

4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Connect to SAP BusinessObjects BI from FileMaker Pro using Connect Cloud

To establish a connection from FileMaker Pro to the CData Connect Cloud Virtual SQL Server API, follow these steps.

Configure the ODBC Connection to CData Connect Cloud

1. Download and install the Actual ODBC Driver for SQL Server (actualtech.com)
2. Configure a DSN for the Actual ODBC driver by setting the following properties:
   • URL: tds.cdata.com
   • Port: Change the port from 1433 to 14333
   • Username: Your Connect Cloud email address
   • Password: the PAT you created earlier

Query SAP BusinessObjects BI from FileMaker Pro

1. In the SQL Query Builder "SELECT" tab, select the columns to include as part of the query.
2. Open the "WHERE" tab of the SQL Query Builder and select "Show only selected columns."
3. In "Table.Column,"" select a table and a column name.
4. Set the "Operator" to =.
5. Select "Column," and then select the same table and column name as "Table.Column."
6. Click "Insert into SQL Query."
7. If no other modifications to the SQL query are required, click "Execute."

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