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Get the Report →How to connect to Workday Data in DBVisualizer
Integrate Workday data with visual data analysis tools and data connection wizards in DBVisualizer
The CData JDBC Driver for Workday implements JDBC standards to provide connectivity to Workday data in applications ranging from business intelligence tools to IDEs. This article shows how to establish a connection to Workday data in DBVisualizer and use the table editor to edit and save Workday data.
About Workday Data Integration
CData provides the easiest way to access and integrate live data from Workday. Customers use CData connectivity to:
- Access the tables and datasets you create in Prism Analytics Data Catalog, working with the native Workday data hub without compromising the fidelity of your Workday system.
- Access Workday Reports-as-a-Service to surface data from departmental datasets not available from Prism and datasets larger than Prism allows.
- Access base data objects with WQL, REST, or SOAP, getting more granular, detailed access but with the potential need for Workday admins or IT to help craft queries.
Users frequently integrate Workday with analytics tools such as Tableau, Power BI, and Excel, and leverage our tools to replicate Workday data to databases or data warehouses. Access is secured at the user level, based on the authenticated user's identity and role.
For more information on configuring Workday to work with CData, refer to our Knowledge Base articles: Comprehensive Workday Connectivity through Workday WQL and Reports-as-a-Service & Workday + CData: Connection & Integration Best Practices.
Getting Started
Create a New Driver Definition for Workday Data
Follow the steps below to use the Driver Manager to provide connectivity to Workday data from DBVisualizer tools.
- In DBVisualizer, click Tools -> Driver Manager.
- Click the plus sign "" to create a new driver.
- Select "Custom" as the template.
- On the Driver Settings tab:
- Set Name to a user-friendly name (e.g. "CData Workday Driver")
- Set URL Format to jdbc:workday:
- In Driver artifacts and jar files (jars are loaded in order from top):
- Click the plus sign "" -> "Add Files"
- Navigate to the "lib" folder in the installation directory (C:\Program Files\CData[product_name] XXXX\)
- Select the JAR file (cdata.jdbc.Workday.jar) and click "Open"
- The Driver Class should populate automatically. If not, select class (cdata.jdbc.workday.WorkdayDriver).
Define the Connection to the JDBC Data Source
Close the "Driver Manager" and follow the steps below to save connection properties in the JDBC URL.
- In the "Databases" tab, click the plus sign "" and select the driver you just created.
In the "Connection" section, set the following options:
- Database Type: If you selected the wizard option, the database type is automatically detected. If you selected the "No Wizard" option, select the Generic or Auto Detect option in the Database Type menu.
- Driver Type: Select the driver you just created.
Database URL: Enter the full JDBC URL. The syntax of the JDBC URL is jdbc:workday: followed by the connection properties in a semicolon-separated list of name-value pairs.
To connect to Workday, users need to find the Tenant and BaseURL and then select their API type.
Obtaining the BaseURL and Tenant
To obtain the BaseURL and Tenant properties, log into Workday and search for "View API Clients." On this screen, you'll find the Workday REST API Endpoint, a URL that includes both the BaseURL and Tenant.
The format of the REST API Endpoint is: https://domain.com/subdirectories/mycompany, where:
- https://domain.com/subdirectories/ is the BaseURL.
- mycompany (the portion of the url after the very last slash) is the Tenant.
Using ConnectionType to Select the API
The value you use for the ConnectionType property determines which Workday API you use. See our Community Article for more information on Workday connectivity options and best practices.
API ConnectionType Value WQL WQL Reports as a Service Reports REST REST SOAP SOAP
Authentication
Your method of authentication depends on which API you are using.
- WQL, Reports as a Service, REST: Use OAuth authentication.
- SOAP: Use Basic or OAuth authentication.
See the Help documentation for more information on configuring OAuth with Workday.
Built-in Connection String Designer
For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Workday JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.
java -jar cdata.jdbc.workday.jar
Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.
When you configure the JDBC URL, 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.
A typical connection string is below:
jdbc:workday:User=myuser;Password=mypassword;Tenant=mycompany_gm1;BaseURL=https://wd3-impl-services1.workday.com;ConnectionType=WQL;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH
- NOTE: Database Userid and Database Password correspond with the User and Password properties for Workday.
- On the Connection tab, click Connect.
To browse through tables exposed by the Workday JDBC Driver, right-click a table and click "Open in New Tab."
To execute SQL queries, use the SQL Commander tool: Click SQL Commander -> New SQL Commander. Select the Database Connection, Database, and Schema from the available menus.
See the "Supported SQL" chapter in the help documentation for more information on the supported SQL. See the "Data Model" chapter for table-specific information.