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Get the Report →Use the CData ODBC Driver for Snowflake in SAS for Real-Time Reporting and Analytics
Connect to real-time Snowflake data in SAS for reporting, analytics, and visualizations using the CData ODBC Driver for Snowflake.
SAS is a software suite developed for advanced analytics, multivariate analysis, business intelligence, data management, and predictive analytics. When you pair SAS with the CData ODBC Driver for Snowflake, you gain database-like access to live Snowflake data from SAS, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. This articles walks through creating a library for Snowflake in SAS and creating a simple report based on real-time Snowflake data.
The CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Snowflake data in SAS due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from SAS to Snowflake, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Snowflake and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations (often SQL functions and JOIN operations) client-side. With built-in dynamic metadata querying, you can easily visualize and analyze Snowflake data in SAS.
About Snowflake Data Integration
CData simplifies access and integration of live Snowflake data. Our customers leverage CData connectivity to:
- Reads and write Snowflake data quickly and efficiently.
- Dynamically obtain metadata for the specified Warehouse, Database, and Schema.
- Authenticate in a variety of ways, including OAuth, OKTA, Azure AD, Azure Managed Service Identity, PingFederate, private key, and more.
Many CData users use CData solutions to access Snowflake from their preferred tools and applications, and replicate data from their disparate systems into Snowflake for comprehensive warehousing and analytics.
For more information on integrating Snowflake with CData solutions, refer to our blog: https://www.cdata.com/blog/snowflake-integrations.
Getting Started
Connect to Snowflake as an ODBC Data Source
Information for connecting to Snowflake follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments (the ODBC Driver for Snowflake must be installed on the machine hosting the SAS System).
To connect to Snowflake:
- Set User and Password to your Snowflake credentials and set the AuthScheme property to PASSWORD or OKTA.
- Set URL to the URL of the Snowflake instance (i.e.: https://myaccount.snowflakecomputing.com).
- Set Warehouse to the Snowflake warehouse.
- (Optional) Set Account to your Snowflake account if your URL does not conform to the format above.
- (Optional) Set Database and Schema to restrict the tables and views exposed.
See the Getting Started guide in the CData driver documentation for more information.
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.
Windows
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.
Linux
If you are installing the CData ODBC Driver for Snowflake in a Linux environment, the driver installation predefines a system DSN. You can modify the DSN by editing the system data sources file (/etc/odbc.ini) and defining the required connection properties.
/etc/odbc.ini
[CData Snowflake Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for Snowflake
Description = My Description
User = Admin
Password = test123
Server = localhost
Database = Northwind
Warehouse = TestWarehouse
Account = Tester1
For specific information on using these configuration files, please refer to the help documentation (installed and found online).
Create a Snowflake Library in SAS
Connect to Snowflake in SAS by adding a library based on the CData ODBC Driver for Snowflake.
- Open SAS and expand Libraries in the Explorer pane.
- In the Active Libraries window, right-click and select New.
- Name your library (odbclib), select ODBC as the Engine, and click to Enable at startup (if you want the library to persist between sessions).
- Set Data Source to the DSN you previously configured and click OK.
Create a View from a Snowflake Query
SAS natively supports querying data either using a low-code, point-and-click Query tool or programmatically with PROC SQL and a custom SQL query. When you create a View in SAS, the defining query is executed each time the view is queried. This means that you always query live Snowflake data for reports, charts, and analytics.
Using the Query Tool
- In SAS, click Tools -> Query
- Select the table sources and the table(s) you wish to pull data from. Then, click OK.
- Select columns and right-click to add filtering, ordering, grouping, etc.
- Create a local view to contain the query results by right-clicking the SQL Query Tool window, selecting Show Query, and clicking Create View. Name the View and click OK.
Using PROC SQL
- In SAS, navigate to the Editor window.
- Use PROC SQL to query the data and create a local view.
NOTE: This procedure creates a view in the Work library. You can optionally specify a library in the create view statement.proc sql; create view products_view as select id, productname from odbclib.products where Id = '1'; quit;
- Click Run -> Submit to execute the query and create a local view.
Report On or Visualize Snowflake Data in SAS
With a local view created, you can report, visualize, or otherwise analyze Snowflake data using the powerful SAS features. Print a simple report using PROC PRINT and create a basic graph based on the data using PROC GCHART.
Print an HTML Report
- In SAS, navigate to the Editor window.
- Use PROC PRINT to print an HTML report for the Snowflake Products data.
proc print data=products; title "Snowflake Products Data"; run;
Print a Chart
- In SAS, navigate to the Editor window.
- Use PROC GCHART to create a chart for the Products data.
proc gchart data=products; pie id / sumvar=productname value=arrow percent=arrow noheading percent=inside plabel=(height=12pt) slice=inside value=none name='ProductsChart'; run;