Access Live ServiceDesk Plus Data in SAS JMP via ODBC

You can use the CData API Driver for ODBC to integrate live data into your statistical analysis with SAS JMP. The driver proxies your queries directly to the ServiceDesk Plus API, ensuring that your analysis reflects any changes to the data. The CData ODBC Driver supports the standard SQL used by JMP in the background as you design reports.

This article shows how to access ServiceDesk Plus data into a report and create data visualization. It also shows how to use SQL to query ServiceDesk Plus data from the JMP Query Builder.

Access ServiceDesk Plus Data as an ODBC Data Source

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

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;

When you configure the DSN, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

Import ServiceDesk Plus Data with the Query Builder

After you have created the ServiceDesk Plus DSN, you can use SQL to invoke the capabilities of the ServiceDesk Plus API. Follow the steps below to execute some supported queries in the Query Builder:

1. In SAS JMP, click File -> Database -> Query Builder. The Select Database Connection dialog is displayed.
2. Click New Connection.
3. On the Machine Data Source tab, select the ODBC DSN you configured and then click Next.
4. The Select Tables for Query dialog is displayed and in the Available Tables section, select a table and click Primary. After choosing the primary table, click Build Query to open the Query Builder.
5. As you drag Available Columns to the Included Columns tab, the underlying SQL query is updated and you can view the generated SQL Query in the SQL tab.
6. Click Run Query to display the data.
7. To refresh the results with the current data, right-click Update from Database and click Run Script.

Visualize ServiceDesk Plus Data

After importing, you can use the Graph Builder to create graphs visually. To open the Graph Builder, click the Graph Builder button in the toolbar.

1. Drag a dimension column onto the x axis. For example, .
2. Drag a measure column onto the y axis. For example, .
3. Select a chart type. For example, a bar chart.