Connect to SAP SuccessFactors LMS Data as an External Data Source using PolyBase

PolyBase for SQL Server allows you to query external data by using the same Transact-SQL syntax used to query a database table. When paired with the CData ODBC Driver for SAP SuccessFactors LMS, you get access to your SAP SuccessFactors LMS data directly alongside your SQL Server data. This article describes creating an external data source and external tables to grant access to live SAP SuccessFactors LMS data using T-SQL queries.

NOTE: PolyBase is only available on SQL Server 19 and above.

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

Configure SAP SuccessFactors LMS Connectivity for PolyBase

Connectivity to SAP SuccessFactors LMS from PolyBase is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with SAP SuccessFactors LMS data from PolyBase, we start by creating and configuring a SAP SuccessFactors LMS connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "SAP SuccessFactors LMS" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to SAP SuccessFactors LMS.

   SAP SuccessFactors LMS uses OAuth authentication. Before connecting, you must configure an OAuth application tied to your SAP SuccessFactors LMS account.

   To establish a connection, set the following properties:

   • User: Your SAP SuccessFactors LMS username.
   • CompanyId: Your SAP SuccessFactors company identifier.
   • Url: The SAP SuccessFactors API URL (e.g., https://api4.successfactors.com).
   • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
   • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.

   See the Getting Started chapter of the help documentation for a guide to creating a custom OAuth app and using OAuth.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add SAP SuccessFactors LMS Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the 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.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to SAP SuccessFactors LMS data from Polybase.

Create an External Data Source for SAP SuccessFactors LMS Data

After configuring the connection, you need to create a credential database for the external data source.

Creating a Credential Database

Execute the following SQL command to create credentials for the external data source connected to SAP SuccessFactors LMS data.

NOTE: Set IDENTITY to your Connect AI username and set SECRET to your Personal Access Token.

CREATE DATABASE SCOPED CREDENTIAL ConnectCloudCredentials
WITH IDENTITY = 'yourusername', SECRET = 'yourPAT';

Create an External Data Source for SAP SuccessFactors LMS

Execute a CREATE EXTERNAL DATA SOURCE SQL command to create an external data source for SAP SuccessFactors LMS with PolyBase:

CREATE EXTERNAL DATA SOURCE ConnectCloudInstance
WITH ( 
  LOCATION = 'sqlserver://tds.cdata.com:14333',
  PUSHDOWN = ON,
  CREDENTIAL = ConnectCloudCredentials
);

Create External Tables for SAP SuccessFactors LMS

After creating the external data source, use CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE statements to link to SAP SuccessFactors LMS data from your SQL Server instance. The table column definitions must match those exposed by CData Connect AI. You can use the Data Explorer in Connect AI to see the table definition.

Sample CREATE TABLE Statement

Execute a CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE SQL command to create the external table(s), using the collation and setting the LOCATION to three-part notation for the connection, catalog, and table. The statement to create an external table based on a SAP SuccessFactors LMS Items would look similar to the following.

CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE Items(
  ItemID COLLATE [nvarchar](255) NULL,
  ItemTitle COLLATE [nvarchar](255) NULL,
  ...
) WITH ( 
  LOCATION='SAPSuccessFactorsLMS1.SAPSuccessFactorsLMS.Items',
  DATA_SOURCE=ConnectCloudInstance
);

Having created external tables for SAP SuccessFactors LMS in your SQL Server instance, you are now able to query local and remote data simultaneously. To get live data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your SQL Server database, try CData Connect AI today!