Visualize Live ShipEngine Data in Power BI (via CData Connect AI)

Power BI transforms your company's data into rich visuals for you to collect and organize so you can focus on what matters to you. When paired with CData Connect AI, you get access to ShipEngine data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to use CData Connect to create a live connection to ShipEngine, connect to ShipEngine data from Power BI and then create reports on ShipEngine data in Power BI.

Configure ShipEngine Connectivity for Power BI

Connectivity to ShipEngine from Power BI is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with ShipEngine data from Power BI, we start by creating and configuring a ShipEngine connection.

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

2. Select "ShipEngine" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to ShipEngine.

   Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the ShipEngine Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\ShipEngine.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for ShipEngine (see below).

   ShipEngine API Profile Settings

   Retrieve your ShipEngine API Key from the Dashboard at app.shipengine.com under API Management.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add ShipEngine Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to ShipEngine data from Power BI.

Query ShipEngine Tables

Follow the steps below to build a query to pull ShipEngine data into the report:

1. Open Power BI Desktop and click Get Data -> Online Services -> CData Connect AI and click "Connect"
2. Click "Sign in" and authenticate with your CData Connect AI account
3. After signing in, click "Connect"
4. Select tables in the Navigator dialog
5. Click Load to establish the connection to your ShipEngine data from Power BI

Create ShipEngine Data Visualizations

After connecting to the data into Power BI, you can create data visualizations in the Report view by dragging fields from the Fields pane onto the canvas. Select the dimensions and measures you wish to visualize along with the chart type.

Click Refresh to synchronize your report with any changes to the data.

Live Access to ShipEngine Data from Data Applications

With CData Connect AI you have a direct connection to ShipEngine data from Power BI. You can import more data, create new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating ShipEngine data.

To get SQL data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources (including ShipEngine) directly from your on-premise BI, reporting, ETL and other data applications, visit the CData Connect AI page and start a free trial.