Use CData Connect AI to Access SAS Data Sets Data in Microsoft Power Pivot

This article will explain how to use CData Connect AI to present SAS Data Sets data as OData services and then consume the data in Microsoft Excel's Power Pivot business intelligence tool. Follow the steps below to retrieve and edit SAS Data Sets data in Power Pivot.

Connect to SAS Data Sets from Power Pivot

To work with SAS Data Sets data from Power Pivot, we need to connect to SAS Data Sets from Connect AI, provide user access to the connection, and create a Workspace for the SAS Data Sets data.

Connect to SAS Data Sets from Connect AI

CData Connect AI uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

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

2. Select "SAS Data Sets" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to SAS Data Sets.

   Set the following connection properties to connect to your SAS DataSet files:

   Connecting to Local Files

   • Set the Connection Type to "Local." Local files support SELECT, INSERT, and DELETE commands.
   • Set the URI to a folder containing SAS files, e.g. C:\PATH\TO\FOLDER\.

   Connecting to Cloud-Hosted SAS DataSet Files

   While the driver is capable of pulling data from SAS DataSet files hosted on a variety of cloud data stores, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE are not supported outside of local files in this driver.

   Set the Connection Type to the service hosting your SAS DataSet files. A unique prefix at the beginning of the URI connection property is used to identify the cloud data store and the remainder of the path is a relative path to the desired folder (one table per file) or single file (a single table). For more information, refer to the Getting Started section of the Help documentation.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add SAS Data Sets 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.

Configure SAS Data Sets Endpoints for Power Pivot

After connecting to SAS Data Sets, create a workspace for your desired table(s).

1. Navigate to the Workspaces page and click Add to create a new Workspace (or select an existing workspace).
2. Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
3. Select the SAS Data Sets connection (e.g. SASDataSets1) and click Next.
4. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm.
5. Make note of the OData Service URL for your workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}

With the connection, PAT, and Workspace configured, you are ready to connect to SAS Data Sets data from Power Pivot.

Import SAS Data Sets Tables in Power Pivot

Follow the steps below to import tables that can be refreshed on demand:

1. In Excel, click Data -> Get Data -> From Other Sources -> From OData Feed
2. Fill out the OData feed URL (e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name})
3. On the next screen, select Basic and configure the username and password. Password will be your PAT.

4. Select the tables that you would like to import into Excel

5. After selecting your table(s) and clicking Load, you should see the data appear in an Excel spreadsheet

6. Now, click the Power Pivot tab on the ribbon, and then select Add to Data Model. This can now work with your SAS Data Sets data in Power Pivot.

   

Free Trial & More Information

If you are interested in connecting to your SAS Data Sets data (or data from any of our other supported data sources) from Power Pivot, sign up for a free trial of CData Connect AI today! For more information on Connect AI and to see what other data sources we support, refer to our CData Connect AI page.