Use Dash to Build to Web Apps on SAP SuccessFactors LMS Data

The rich ecosystem of Python modules lets you get to work quickly and integrate your systems more effectively. With the CData Python Connector for SAP SuccessFactors LMS, the pandas module, and the Dash framework, you can build SAP SuccessFactors LMS-connected web applications for SAP SuccessFactors LMS data. This article shows how to connect to SAP SuccessFactors LMS with the CData Connector and use pandas and Dash to build a simple web app for visualizing SAP SuccessFactors LMS data.

With built-in, optimized data processing, the CData Python Connector offers unmatched performance for interacting with live SAP SuccessFactors LMS data in Python. When you issue complex SQL queries from SAP SuccessFactors LMS, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to SAP SuccessFactors LMS and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations).

Connecting to SAP SuccessFactors LMS Data

Connecting to SAP SuccessFactors LMS data looks just like connecting to any relational data source. Create a connection string using the required connection properties. For this article, you will pass the connection string as a parameter to the create_engine function.

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.

After installing the CData SAP SuccessFactors LMS Connector, follow the procedure below to install the other required modules and start accessing SAP SuccessFactors LMS through Python objects.

Install Required Modules

Use the pip utility to install the required modules and frameworks:

pip install pandas
pip install dash
pip install dash-daq

Visualize SAP SuccessFactors LMS Data in Python

Once the required modules and frameworks are installed, we are ready to build our web app. Code snippets follow, but the full source code is available at the end of the article.

First, be sure to import the modules (including the CData Connector) with the following:

import os
import dash
import dash_core_components as dcc
import dash_html_components as html
import pandas as pd
import cdata.sapsuccessfactorslms as mod
import plotly.graph_objs as go

You can now connect with a connection string. Use the connect function for the CData SAP SuccessFactors LMS Connector to create a connection for working with SAP SuccessFactors LMS data.

cnxn = mod.connect("User=username;CompanyId=CompanyId;Url=https://api4.successfactors.com;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;")

Execute SQL to SAP SuccessFactors LMS

Use the read_sql function from pandas to execute any SQL statement and store the result set in a DataFrame.

df = pd.read_sql("SELECT ItemID, ItemTitle FROM Items WHERE Active = 'true'", cnxn)

Configure the Web App

With the query results stored in a DataFrame, we can begin configuring the web app, assigning a name, stylesheet, and title.

app_name = 'dash-sapsuccessfactorslmsedataplot'

external_stylesheets = ['https://codepen.io/chriddyp/pen/bWLwgP.css']

app = dash.Dash(__name__, external_stylesheets=external_stylesheets)
app.title = 'CData + Dash'

Configure the Layout

The next step is to create a bar graph based on our SAP SuccessFactors LMS data and configure the app layout.

trace = go.Bar(x=df.ItemID, y=df.ItemTitle, name='ItemID')

app.layout = html.Div(children=[html.H1("CData Extension + Dash", style={'textAlign': 'center'}),
	dcc.Graph(
		id='example-graph',
		figure={
			'data': [trace],
			'layout':
			go.Layout(title='SAP SuccessFactors LMS Items Data', barmode='stack')
		})
], className="container")

Set the App to Run

With the connection, app, and layout configured, we are ready to run the app. The last lines of Python code follow.

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run_server(debug=True)

Now, use Python to run the web app and a browser to view the SAP SuccessFactors LMS data.

python sapsuccessfactorslms-dash.py

Free Trial & More Information

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData Python Connector for SAP SuccessFactors LMS to start building Python apps with connectivity to SAP SuccessFactors LMS data. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.

Full Source Code

import os
import dash
import dash_core_components as dcc
import dash_html_components as html
import pandas as pd
import cdata.sapsuccessfactorslms as mod
import plotly.graph_objs as go

cnxn = mod.connect("User=username;CompanyId=CompanyId;Url=https://api4.successfactors.com;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;")

df = pd.read_sql("SELECT ItemID, ItemTitle FROM Items WHERE Active = 'true'", cnxn)
app_name = 'dash-sapsuccessfactorslmsdataplot'

external_stylesheets = ['https://codepen.io/chriddyp/pen/bWLwgP.css']

app = dash.Dash(__name__, external_stylesheets=external_stylesheets)
app.title = 'CData + Dash'
trace = go.Bar(x=df.ItemID, y=df.ItemTitle, name='ItemID')

app.layout = html.Div(children=[html.H1("CData Extension + Dash", style={'textAlign': 'center'}),
	dcc.Graph(
		id='example-graph',
		figure={
			'data': [trace],
			'layout':
			go.Layout(title='SAP SuccessFactors LMS Items Data', barmode='stack')
		})
], className="container")

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run_server(debug=True)