Use the CData ODBC Driver for Suadeo in MicroStrategy Desktop

MicroStrategy is an analytics and mobility platform that enables data-driven innovation. When paired with the CData ODBC Driver for Suadeo, you gain database-like access to live Suadeo data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through adding Suadeo as a data source in MicroStrategy Desktop and creating a simple visualization of Suadeo data.

The CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Suadeo data in MicroStrategy due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from MicroStrategy to Suadeo, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Suadeo 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 visualize and analyze Suadeo data using native MicroStrategy data types.

Connect to Suadeo as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to Suadeo follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments.

The driver uses the OAuth 2.0 Resource Owner Password Credentials (ROPC) grant to authenticate to Suadeo. Authentication occurs directly using your credentials; there is no browser-based authorization flow or refresh token.

Set the following connection properties:

• URL: The base URL of your Suadeo instance.
• User: Your Suadeo username.
• Password: Your Suadeo password.
• AuthenticationName: The name identifier for the authentication configuration in your Suadeo instance. Different authentication names can be configured for different environments or use cases.

When you connect, the driver sends your credentials to the Suadeo OAuth token endpoint, receives an access token, and uses it for all subsequent requests. A new access token is obtained automatically when needed during the session.

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 Suadeo 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 Suadeo Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for Suadeo
Description = My Description
URL = https://mysuadeoinstance
User = username
Password = password
AuthenticationName = your_auth_name

For specific information on using these configuration files, please refer to the help documentation (installed and found online).

Connect to and Visualize Suadeo Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

In addition to connecting Suadeo in MicroStrategy enterprise products, you can connect to Suadeo in MicroStrategy Desktop. Follow the steps below to add Suadeo data as a dataset and create visualizations and reports of Suadeo data.

1. Open MicroStrategy Desktop and create a new dossier.
2. In the datasets panel, click New Data, select Databases, and select Type a Query as the Import Option.
3. Add a new data source and choose DSN data sources.
4. Choose the DSN you previously configured (likely CData Suadeo Sys) and select Generic DBMS in the Version menu.
5. Set the User and Password properties for the DSN (or use placeholder values) and name the data source.

6. Select the new database instance to view the tables. You may need to manually click the search icon in the Available Tables section to see the tables.
7. Create a SQL query for the Suadeo data (see below) and click Execute SQL to test the query.

   SELECT * FROM Customers
   

   NOTE: Since we create a live connection, we can execute a SELECT * query and utilize the filtering and aggregation features native to the MicroStrategy products.
8. Click Finish and choose to connect live.
9. Choose a visualization, choose fields to display (data types are discovered automatically through dynamic metadata discovery) and apply any filters to create a new visualization of Suadeo data. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to Suadeo, while any unsupported operations (which can include SQL functions and JOIN operations) will be managed client-side by the CData SQL Engine embedded in the driver.
10. Once you are finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

Using the CData ODBC Driver for Suadeo in MicroStrategy Desktop, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on Suadeo data. Read our other articles on connecting to Suadeo in MicroStrategy and connecting to Suadeo in MicroStrategy Web for more examples.