Connect to SAS Data Sets Data in RunMyProcess through Connect AI

Akorbi Digital RunMyProcess makes it easy to create applications for complex business applications, such as budget application and contract management. CData Connect AI creates a live connection to SAS Data Sets and can be used to generate an OData API (natively supported in RunMyProcess) for SAS Data Sets. By pairing RunMyProcess with CData Connect AI, you get true cloud-to-cloud connectivity to all your SaaS and cloud-based Big Data and NoSQL sources - no need to migrate your data or write your own integrations. Simply connect to Connect AI from RunMyProcess as you would any other REST service and get instant, live access to your SAS Data Sets data.

In this article, we walk through connecting to SAS Data Sets from CData Connect AI and accessing SAS Data Sets data through an OData feed in RunMyProcess.

Connect to SAS Data Sets from RunMyProcess

To work with live SAS Data Sets data in RunMyProcess, 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 RunMyProcess

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 RunMyProcess.

Retrieve SAS Data Sets Data from RunMyProcess DigitalSuite Studio

With the connection to SAS Data Sets and OData endpoints created, we are ready to add SAS Data Sets data to RunMyProcess for Retrieval.

Create a Provider

1. Log into RunMyProcess and open DigitalSuite Studio.
2. Click Resources to bring up the Resources page, then select then the CONNECTORS tab.
3. Click the + (New Provider) button to create a new provider, choose the account to use, then click Confirm.
4. In the provider settings page, configure the following properties.
   • URL: Set the OData endpoint in the Connect AI OData page: https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}.
   • Authentication Schema: Select Login/Password.
   • Login: Specify a CData Connect AI username (e.g. [email protected]).
   • Password: Specify the PAT of the Connect AI user.
   
5. Fill in the same properties in the ACCEPTANCE and TEST tabs. Note: You can copy the configured settings by clicking 'Copy this configuration button,' then pasting the content in the new tab by clicking 'Paste previously copied configuration.'
6. Click Save to save the properties.

Retrieve SAS Data Sets Data by Creating a Connector

1. In the CONNECTORS tab, click the button with three dots to create the provider, then select Add connector from the menu.
2. In the following page, set Connector URL to the OData endpoint configured in Connect AI (e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name})
3. Click Save then Launch to test the connector execution. Click Launch test to execute. The process is successful if you get the JSON response of your configured table information.

More Information & Free Trial

Now, you have created a provider and connector to retrieve SAS Data Sets data. For more information on creating OData feeds from SAS Data Sets (and more than 100 other data sources), visit the Connect AI page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live SAS Data Sets data in RunMyProcess.