Create Reports from Sybase Data in Looker Studio

Looker Studio, formerly known as Google Data Studio, empowers users to craft customized reports featuring data visualizations that can be shared with clients while reflecting your brand identity. When combined with CData Connect AI, you gain immediate cloud-to-cloud access to Sybase data to create visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article provides step-by-step instructions on establishing a virtual database for Sybase and generating reports from Sybase data within Looker Studio.

CData Connect AI offers a seamless cloud-to-cloud interface tailored for Sybase, making it straightforward to construct reports directly from live Sybase data within Looker Studio without the need for data replication. As you create visualizations, Looker Studio generates queries to retrieve data. With its inherent optimized data processing capabilities, CData Connect AI efficiently channels all supported query operations, including filters, JOINs, and more, directly to Sybase. This leverages server-side processing to swiftly provide the requested Sybase data.

Configure Sybase Connectivity for Looker Studio

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

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

2. Select "Sybase" from the Add Connection panel

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

   To connect to Sybase, specify the following connection properties:

   • Server: Set this to the name or network address of the Sybase database instance.
   • Database: Set this to the name of the Sybase database running on the specified Server.

   Optionally, you can also secure your connections with TLS/SSL by setting UseSSL to true.

   Sybase supports several methods for authentication including Password and Kerberos.

   Connect Using Password Authentication

   Set the AuthScheme to Password and set the following connection properties to use Sybase authentication.

   • User: Set this to the username of the authenticating Sybase user.
   • Password: Set this to the username of the authenticating Sybase user.

   Connect using LDAP Authentication

   To connect with LDAP authentication, configure Sybase server-side to use the LDAP authentication mechanism.

   After configuring Sybase for LDAP, you can connect using the same credentials as Password authentication.

   Connect Using Kerberos Authentication

   To leverage Kerberos authentication, begin by enabling it setting AuthScheme to Kerberos. See the Using Kerberos section in the Help documentation for more information on using Kerberos authentication.

   You can find an example connection string below:

   Server=MyServer;Port=MyPort;User=SampleUser;Password=SamplePassword;Database=MyDB;Kerberos=true;KerberosKDC=MyKDC;KerberosRealm=MYREALM.COM;KerberosSPN=server-name

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

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Sybase data from Looker Studio.

Visualize Live Sybase Data from Looker Studio

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect AI from Looker Studio to create a new Sybase data source and build a simple visualization from the data.

1. Log into Looker Studio, click data sources, create a new data source, and choose CData Connect AI Connector.

2. Click Authorize and allow access to your Google account.
3. Click Authorize to authenticate with your CData Connect AI instance
4. In the CData Connect AI Connector in Looker Studio select Connections to import from the dropdown and click Next

5. Now select a Connection (e.g. Sybase1) and click Next
6. Select a Table (e.g. Products) or use a Custom Query and click Connect to continue
7. If needed, modify columns, click Create Report, and add the data source to the report.

8. Select a visualization style and add it to the report.
9. Select Dimensions and Measures to customize your visualization.

Live Access to Sybase Data from Cloud Applications

Now you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Sybase data from your Looker Studio workbook. You can create more data sources and new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating Sybase data.

Try CData Connect AI and get real-time data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications.