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Access Cosmos DB Data as OData Feeds in Tableau
Use the Tableau Desktop business intelligence tool to connect to Cosmos DB data using the API Server.
The CData API Server, when paired with the ADO.NET Provider for Cosmos DB (or any of 200+ other ADO.NET Providers), provides Cosmos DB data as OData Web services. This article will explain how to use the API Server to provide the underlying connectivity to Cosmos DB data in Tableau's business intelligence tool.
Set Up the API Server
Follow the steps below to begin producing secure Cosmos DB 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 Cosmos DB
After you deploy the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for Cosmos DB, provide authentication values and other connection properties needed to connect to Cosmos DB by clicking Settings -> Connections and adding a new connection in the API Server administration console.
To obtain the connection string needed to connect to a Cosmos DB account using the SQL API, log in to the Azure Portal, select Azure Cosmos DB, and select your account. In the Settings section, click Connection String and set the following values:
- AccountEndpoint: The Cosmos DB account URL from the Keys blade of the Cosmos DB account
- AccountKey: In the Azure portal, navigate to the Cosmos DB service and select your Azure Cosmos DB account. From the resource menu, go to the Keys page. Find the PRIMARY KEY value and set AccountKey to this value.
When you configure the connection, 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.
You can then choose the Cosmos DB entities you want to allow the API Server to access by clicking Settings -> Resources.
Additionally, click Settings -> Server and set the Default Format to XML (Atom) for compatibility with Tableau.
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.
Create Real-Time Cosmos DB Data Visualizations
Follow the steps below to create data visualizations based on the remote Cosmos DB data:
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In Tableau, select 'Connect to data'. In the 'On a server' section, click OData.
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In the resulting wizard, enter the URL of the OData endpoint for the API Server. Append the name of the table you want to access to the OData entry URL. For example:
https://your-server/api.rsc/Customers -
Select the
'Use a Username and Password' option and enter the username and password of a user who has access to the API Server.
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Tableau uses the table metadata exposed by the API Server to detect dimension and measure columns.
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To view the Cosmos DB data, right-click under the table name in the Data section of the dashboard and select the View Data option. The Cosmos DB data will appear in Tableau.
