Use the API Server and HCL Domino ADO.NET Provider to Access HCL Domino Data in Microsoft PowerPivot

This article will explain how to use the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for HCL Domino (or any of 200+ other ADO.NET Providers) to provide HCL Domino data as OData services and then consume the data in Microsoft Excel's PowerPivot business intelligence tool. Follow the steps below to retrieve HCL Domino data in Power Pivot.

Set Up the API Server

Follow the steps below to begin producing secure HCL Domino 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 HCL Domino

After you deploy the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for HCL Domino, provide authentication values and other connection properties needed to connect to HCL Domino by clicking Settings -> Connections and adding a new connection in the API Server administration console.

Connecting to Domino

To connect to Domino data, set the following properties:

• URL: The host name or IP of the server hosting the Domino database. Include the port of the server hosting the Domino database. For example: http://sampleserver:1234/
• DatabaseScope: The name of a scope in the Domino Web UI. The driver exposes forms and views for the schema governed by the specified scope. In the Domino Admin UI, select the Scopes menu in the sidebar. Set this property to the name of an existing scope.

Authenticating with Domino

Domino supports authenticating via login credentials or an Azure Active Directory OAuth application:

Login Credentials

To authenticate with login credentials, set the following properties:

• AuthScheme: Set this to "OAuthPassword"
• User: The username of the authenticating Domino user
• Password: The password associated with the authenticating Domino user

The driver uses the login credentials to automatically perform an OAuth token exchange.

AzureAD

This authentication method uses Azure Active Directory as an IdP to obtain a JWT token. You need to create a custom OAuth application in Azure Active Directory and configure it as an IdP. To do so, follow the instructions in the Help documentation. Then set the following properties:

• AuthScheme: Set this to "AzureAD"
• InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
• OAuthClientId: The Client ID obtained when setting up the custom OAuth application.
• OAuthClientSecret: The Client secret obtained when setting up the custom OAuth application.
• CallbackURL: The redirect URI defined when you registered your app. For example: https://localhost:33333
• AzureTenant: The Microsoft Online tenant being used to access data. Supply either a value in the form companyname.microsoft.com or the tenant ID.

  The tenant ID is the same as the directory ID shown in the Azure Portal's Azure Active Directory > Properties page.

You can then choose the HCL Domino 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 HCL Domino Tables in Power Pivot

Follow the steps below to import tables that can be refreshed on demand:

1. In Excel, click the PowerPivot Window icon in the PowerPivot tab to open PowerPivot.
2. Click Home -> Get External Data -> From Data Service -> From OData Data Feed.

3. 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.

4. In the Base URL box, enter the OData URL of the CData API Server. For example, http://localhost:8032/api.rsc.

   

5. Select which tables you want to import and click Finish.

   

You can now work with HCL Domino data in Power Pivot.