Use the CData ODBC Driver for UKG Pro WFM in SAS for Real-Time Reporting and Analytics

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 UKG Pro WFM, you gain database-like access to live UKG Pro WFM data from SAS, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. This article explains how to create a library for UKG Pro WFM in SAS and create a simple report based on real-time UKG Pro WFM data.

The CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live UKG Pro WFM data in SAS due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from SAS to UKG Pro WFM, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to UKG Pro WFM 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 UKG Pro WFM data in SAS.

Connect to UKG Pro WFM as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to UKG Pro WFM follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments (the ODBC Driver for UKG Pro WFM must be installed on the machine hosting the SAS System).

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

UKGProWFM API Profile Settings

UKG Pro Workforce Management uses OAuth 2.0 with the Resource Owner Password Credentials grant (grant_type=password) to authorize access to the API. Unlike most OAuth-based profiles, this does not use a browser redirect/authorization-code step: the driver exchanges your UKG Pro WFM username, password, client ID, and client secret directly for an access token.

Set the following connection properties to authenticate:

• AuthScheme: Set this to OAuthPassword.
• Host: Set this to the hostname of your UKG Pro Workforce Management datacenter/tenant (for example, yourcompany.mykronos.com). Do not include the protocol (https://) or a trailing slash.
• OAuthClientId: Set this to the client ID issued for your UKG Pro Workforce Management OAuth application.
• OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client secret issued for your UKG Pro Workforce Management OAuth application.
• User: Set this to your UKG Pro Workforce Management username.
• Password: Set this to your UKG Pro Workforce Management password.

Access tokens are obtained from https://{Host}/api/authentication/access_token. Refresh tokens issued by UKG Pro Workforce Management expire after 7 days; if a refresh attempt fails because the refresh token itself has expired, the driver must re-authenticate with your User/Password credentials to obtain a new access token.

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 UKG Pro WFM 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 API Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for UKG Pro WFM
Description = My Description
Profile = C:\profiles\UKGProWFM.apip
AuthScheme = OAuthPassword
ProfileSettings = 'Host = yourcompany.mykronos.com
User = your_username
Password = your_password
'
OAuthClientId = your_client_id
OAuthClientSecret = your_client_secret

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

Create a UKG Pro WFM Library in SAS

Connect to UKG Pro WFM in SAS by adding a library based on the CData ODBC Driver for UKG Pro WFM.

1. Open SAS and expand Libraries in the Explorer pane.
2. In the Active Libraries window, right-click and select New.
3. Name your library (odbclib), select ODBC as the Engine, and click to Enable at startup (if you want the library to persist between sessions).
4. Set Data Source to the DSN you previously configured and click OK.

Create a View from a UKG Pro WFM 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 UKG Pro WFM data for reports, charts, and analytics.

Using the Query Tool

1. In SAS, click Tools -> Query
2. Select the table sources and the table(s) you wish to pull data from. Then, click OK.
3. Select columns and right-click to add filtering, ordering, grouping, etc.
4. 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

1. In SAS, navigate to the Editor window.
2. 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 employees_view as
     select 
       personnumber, 
       username 
     from 
       odbclib.employees 
     where 
       PersonId = '12345';
   quit;
   

3. Click Run -> Submit to execute the query and create a local view.

Report On or Visualize UKG Pro WFM Data in SAS

With a local view created, you can report, visualize, or otherwise analyze UKG Pro WFM 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

1. In SAS, navigate to the Editor window.
2. Use PROC PRINT to print an HTML report for the UKG Pro WFM Employees data.

   proc print data=employees;
     title "UKG Pro WFM Employees Data";
   run;
   

   

Print a Chart

1. In SAS, navigate to the Editor window.
2. Use PROC GCHART to create a chart for the Employees data.

   proc gchart data=employees;
     pie personnumber / sumvar=username
         value=arrow
         percent=arrow
         noheading
         percent=inside plabel=(height=12pt)
         slice=inside value=none
         name='EmployeesChart';
   run;