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Use the API Server and Blackbaud FE NXT ADO.NET Provider to Access Blackbaud FE NXT Data in Microsoft PowerPivot
Use the API Server to connect to live Blackbaud FE NXT data in the PowerPivot business intelligence tool.
This article will explain how to use the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for Blackbaud FE NXT (or any of 200+ other ADO.NET Providers) to provide Blackbaud FE NXT data as OData services and then consume the data in Microsoft Excel's PowerPivot business intelligence tool. Follow the steps below to retrieve and edit Blackbaud FE NXT data in Power Pivot.
Set Up the API Server
Follow the steps below to begin producing secure Blackbaud FE NXT OData services:
Deploy
The API Server runs on your own server. On Windows, you can deploy using the stand-alone server or IIS. On a Java servlet container, drop in the API Server WAR file. See the help documentation for more information and how-tos.
The API Server is also easy to deploy on Microsoft Azure, Amazon EC2, and Heroku.
Connect to Blackbaud FE NXT
After you deploy the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for Blackbaud FE NXT, provide authentication values and other connection properties needed to connect to Blackbaud FE NXT by clicking Settings -> Connections and adding a new connection in the API Server administration console.
Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, create an app to obtain the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL connection properties.
See the Getting Started guide in the CData driver documentation for more information.
You can then choose the Blackbaud FE NXT entities you want to allow the API Server access to by clicking Settings -> Resources.
Additionally, click Settings -> Server and set the Default Format to XML (Atom) for compatibility with Excel.
Authorize API Server Users
After determining the OData services you want to produce, authorize users by clicking Settings -> Users. The API Server uses authtoken-based authentication and supports the major authentication schemes. Access can also be restricted based on IP address; by default, only connections to the local machine are allowed. You can authenticate as well as encrypt connections with SSL.
Import Blackbaud FE NXT Tables in Power Pivot
Follow the steps below to import tables that can be refreshed on demand:
- In Excel, click the PowerPivot Window icon in the PowerPivot tab to open PowerPivot.
- Click Home -> Get External Data -> From Data Service -> From OData Data Feed.
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Add authentication parameters. Click Advanced and set the Integrated Security option to Basic. You will need to enter the User Id and Password of a user who has access to the CData API Server. Set the password to the user's authtoken.
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In the Base URL box, enter the OData URL of the CData API Server. For example, http://localhost:8032/api.rsc.
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Select which tables you want to import and click Finish.
You can now work with Blackbaud FE NXT data in Power Pivot.
