Visualize SAP ByDesign Data in TIBCO Spotfire through OData

OData is a major protocol enabling real-time communication among cloud-based, mobile, and other online applications. The CData API Server provides SAP ByDesign data to OData consumers like TIBCO Spotfire. This article shows how to use the API Server and Spotfire's built-in support for OData to access SAP ByDesign data in real time.

Set Up the API Server

If you have not already done so, download the CData API Server. Once you have installed the API Server, follow the steps below to begin producing secure SAP ByDesign OData services:

Connect to SAP ByDesign

To work with SAP ByDesign data from TIBCO Spotfire, we start by creating and configuring a SAP ByDesign connection. Follow the steps below to configure the API Server to connect to SAP ByDesign data:

1. First, navigate to the Connections page.
2. Click Add Connection and then search for and select the SAP ByDesign connection.
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to SAP ByDesign.

   Set the following connection properties to connect to SAP ByDesign.

   • Url: Set this to the Url of your SAP ByDesign site. For example, https://test.sapbydesign.com
   • User: Set this to the username of your account.
   • Password: Set this to the password of your account.
   • CustomService or AnalyticsService: Only one of these must be specified. If you have a custom service you want to retrieve data from, specify CustomService. If you want to retrieve the reports of a analytical service, specify AnalyticsService.
     If neither is specified, 'cc_home_analytics.svc' will used as a default for the AnalyticsService property. If you are not sure what service to specify, you can always query the Services view to list available services.
   
4. After configuring the connection, click Save & Test to confirm a successful connection.

Configure API Server Users

Next, create a user to access your SAP ByDesign data through the API Server. You can add and configure users on the Users page. Follow the steps below to configure and create a user:

1. On the Users page, click Add User to open the Add User dialog.
2. Next, set the Role, Username, and Privileges properties and then click Add User.
3. An Authtoken is then generated for the user. You can find the Authtoken and other information for each user on the Users page:

Creating API Endpoints for SAP ByDesign

Having created a user, you are ready to create API endpoints for the SAP ByDesign tables:

1. First, navigate to the API page and then click Add Table .
2. Select the connection you wish to access and click Next.
3. With the connection selected, create endpoints by selecting each table and then clicking Confirm.

Gather the OData Url

Having configured a connection to SAP ByDesign data, created a user, and added resources to the API Server, you now have an easily accessible REST API based on the OData protocol for those resources. From the API page in API Server, you can view and copy the API Endpoints for the API:

Create Data Visualizations on External SAP ByDesign Data

1. Open Spotfire and click Add Data Tables -> OData.
2. In the OData Connection dialog, enter the following information:
   • Service URL: Enter the API Server's OData endpoint. For example: http://localhost:8080/api.rsc
   • Authentication Method: Select Username and Password.
   • Username: Enter the username of an API Server user. You can create API users on the Security tab of the administration console.
   • Password: Enter the authtoken of an API Server user.
   
3. Select the tables and columns you want to add to the dashboard. This example uses [Inventory Balance].
4. If you want to work with the live data, click the Keep Data Table External option. This option enables your dashboards to reflect changes to the data in real time.

   If you want to load the data into memory and process the data locally, click the Import Data Table option. This option is better for offline use or if a slow network connection is making your dashboard less interactive.

5. After adding tables, the Recommended Visualizations wizard is displayed. When you select a table, Spotfire uses the column data types to detect number, time, and category columns. This example uses ProductCategoryID in the Numbers section and ID in the Categories section.

After adding several visualizations in the Recommended Visualizations wizard, you can make other modifications to the dashboard. For example, you can apply a filter: After clicking the Filter button, the available filters for each query are displayed in the Filters pane.