Model WooCommerce Data Using Azure Analysis Services



Leverage CData Connect Cloud to establish a connection between Azure Analysis Services and WooCommerce, enabling the direct import of real-time WooCommerce data.

Microsoft Azure Analysis Services (AAS) is a fully-managed platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering that delivers enterprise-grade data models in the cloud. When combined with CData Connect Cloud, AAS facilitates immediate cloud-to-cloud access to WooCommerce data for applications. This article outlines the process of connecting to WooCommerce via Connect Cloud and importing WooCommerce data into Visual Studio using an AAS extension.

CData Connect Cloud offers a seamless cloud-to-cloud interface tailored for WooCommerce, enabling you to create live models of WooCommerce data in Azure Analysis Services without the need to replicate data to a natively supported database. While constructing high-quality semantic data models for business reports and client applications, Azure Analysis Services formulates SQL queries to retrieve data. CData Connect Cloud is equipped with optimized data processing capabilities right from the start, directing all supported SQL operations, including filters and JOINs, directly to WooCommerce. This leverages server-side processing for swift retrieval of the requested WooCommerce data.

Prerequisites

Before you connect, you must first do the following:

  • Connect a data source to your CData Connect Cloud account. Detailed steps are provided in the next section.
  • Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT). Copy this down, as it acts as your password during authentication.
  • Create a server in Azure Analysis Services to which you will deploy your data from CData Connect Cloud.
  • Install and configure an On-Premise Gateway in your system. This will pull data from the source via CData Connect Cloud into the Azure Analysis Services project and deploy models to the server. Refer to the given link to find the detailed process.

Configure WooCommerce Connectivity for AAS

Connectivity to WooCommerce from Azure Analysis Services is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with WooCommerce data from Azure Analysis Services, we start by creating and configuring a WooCommerce connection.

  1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
  2. Select "WooCommerce" from the Add Connection panel
  3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to WooCommerce.

    WooCommerce supports the following authentication methods: one-legged OAuth1.0 Authentication and standard OAuth2.0 Authentication.

    Connecting using one-legged OAuth 1.0 Authentication

    Specify the following properties (NOTE: the below credentials are generated from WooCommerce settings page and should not be confused with the credentials generated by using WordPress OAuth2.0 plugin):

    • ConsumerKey
    • ConsumerSecret

    Connecting using WordPress OAuth 2.0 Authentication

    After having configured the plugin, you may connect to WooCommerce by providing the following connection properties:

    • OAuthClientId
    • OAuthClientSecret
    • CallbackURL
    • InitiateOAuth - Set this to either GETANDREFRESH or REFRESH

    In either case, you will need to set the Url property to the URL of the WooCommerce instance.

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

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that lacks support for OAuth authentication, you have the option to generate a Personal Access Token (PAT) for authentication purposes. It's advisable to follow best practices by creating a distinct PAT for each service to uphold access granularity.

  1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
  2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
  3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
  4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to WooCommerce data from Visual Studio using Azure Analysis Services.

Connect to WooCommerce in Visual Studio Using AAS

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect Cloud from Azure Analysis Services to create a new WooCommerce data source. You will need the Microsoft Analysis Services Project extension installed in Microsoft Visual Studio to continue.

  1. In Visual Studio, create a new project. Select Analysis Services Tabular Project. Click on Next.
  2. In the Configure your new project dialog box, enter a name for your project in the Project name field. Fill in the rest of the fields.
  3. Click on Create. The Tabular model designer dialog box opens. Select Workspace server and enter the address of your Azure Analysis Services server (for example, asazure://eastus.azure.windows.net/myAzureServer). Also, make sure to select the option SQL Server 2022 / Azure Analysis Services (1600) from the Compatibility level dropdown. Click on Test Connection to check if the connection details are correct. Click OK and sign in to your server.
  4. Now, click on OK to create the project. Your Visual Studio window should resemble the following screenshot:
  5. In the Tabular Model Explorer window of Visual Studio, right-click Data Sources and select Import From Data Source.
  6. In the Get Data window, select SQL Server database and click Connect. In the Server field, enter the Virtual SQL Server endpoint and the port separated by a comma: e.g., “tds.cdata.com, 14333”, and click on OK.
  7. Click on Database and enter the following information:
    • User name: Enter your CData Connect Cloud username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect Cloud interface. For example, [email protected].
    • Password: Enter the PAT you generated on the Settings page.

    Click on Connect. If successful, the Navigator window will pop up.

  8. In the Navigator window, search and select the tables of your choice
  9. You should now see the Salesforce table populated with data in the preview section on the right panel.
  10. Click on Load to import the data.

Now that you have imported the WooCommerce data into your data model, you are ready to deploy the project to Azure Analysis Services for use in business reports, client applications, and more.

Get CData Connect Cloud

To get live data access to 100+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, try CData Connect Cloud today!

Ready to get started?

Learn more about CData Connect Cloud or sign up for free trial access:

Free Trial