Analyze ServiceDesk Plus Data in Infragistics Reveal

Reveal is a data visualization solution provided by Infragistics and can be paired with the CData API Server to build dynamic dashboards from live ServiceDesk Plus data. The CData API Server generates an OData API for ServiceDesk Plus, which is natively consumable in Reveal. In this article, we walk through connecting to ServiceDesk Plus in API Server and connecting to the API Server from Infragistics Reveal to create a simple dashboard.

Connect to ServiceDesk Plus from API Server

CData API Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.

1. Open API Server and click Settings -> Connection -> Add Connection
2. Select "ServiceDesk Plus"
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to ServiceDesk Plus.

   Using OAuth Authentication

   ServiceDeskPlus uses Zoho OAuth 2.0 for secure authentication. To set up OAuth access:

   1. Register your application in the Zoho Developer Console at https://api-console.zoho.com
   2. Configure your redirect URI to match your application setup
   3. Note your Client ID and Client Secret from the application settings

   After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

   • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
   • OAuthClientId: Set this to your Zoho application Client ID.
   • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to your Zoho application Client Secret.
   • Scope: Set this to the required ServiceDeskPlus permissions (default includes read access to requests, problems, assets, and projects).
   • Domain: Set this to your ServiceDeskPlus domain
   • Portal: Set this to your ServiceDeskPlus portal

   Example Connection String

   Profile=C:\profiles\ServiceDeskPlus.apip;ProfileSettings="Portal=itdesk;Domain=.in;Scope=SDPOnDemand.requests.READ SDPOnDemand.problems.READ SDPOnDemand.assets.READ SDPOnDemand.projects.READ";AuthScheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;
   

   

Add ServiceDesk Plus Resource Definitions in API Server

After connecting to ServiceDesk Plus, create Resources, which represent API endpoints for ServiceDesk Plus data.

1. Click Settings -> Resources -> Add Resource
2. Select the ServiceDesk Plus connection
3. Select the table you wish to retrieve and click Next
4. (Optional) Edit the resource to select specific fields and more
5. Save the settings

Add an API Server User

Create a User to connect to ServiceDesk Plus from Reveal through API Server.

1. Click Settings -> Users
2. Click Add
3. Configure a User with access to the ServiceDesk Plus Connection and Resource(s)

(Optional) Configure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)

When accessing and connecting to multiple different domains from an application such as Ajax, there is a possibility of violating the limitations of cross-site scripting. In that case, configure the CORS settings in Settings -> Server.

• Enable cross-origin resource sharing (CORS): ON
• Allow all domains without '*': ON
• Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, PUT, POST, OPTIONS
• Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Authorization

Save the changes to the settings.

Create a Dashboard in Reveal

With the API Server configured, we can visualize ServiceDesk Plus data in Reveal.

1. Log into Reveal and click Dashboards -> New
2. Click Data Source -> OData Feed
3. Specify the API Server API endpoint URL, for example: https://serverurl/api.rsc
4. Select Generic Credentials and specify the API Server username and authentication token
5. Select the entity you wish to visualize
6. Select fields and choose a chart type

More Information & Free Trial

At this point, you have created a simple dashboard from live ServiceDesk Plus data. For more information on creating OData feeds from ServiceDesk Plus (and more than 150 other sources), visit the API Server page. Download a free, 30-day trial and start working live ServiceDesk Plus data in tools that consume OData APIs.