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Access EnterpriseDB Data as OData Feeds in Tableau
Use the Tableau Desktop business intelligence tool to connect to EnterpriseDB data using the API Server.
The CData API Server, when paired with the ADO.NET Provider for EnterpriseDB (or any of 200+ other ADO.NET Providers), provides EnterpriseDB data as OData Web services. This article will explain how to use the API Server to provide the underlying connectivity to EnterpriseDB data in Tableau's business intelligence tool.
Set Up the API Server
Follow the steps below to begin producing secure EnterpriseDB 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 EnterpriseDB
After you deploy the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for EnterpriseDB, provide authentication values and other connection properties needed to connect to EnterpriseDB by clicking Settings -> Connections and adding a new connection in the API Server administration console.
The following connection properties are required in order to connect to data.
- Server: The host name or IP of the server hosting the EnterpriseDB database.
- Port: The port of the server hosting the EnterpriseDB database.
You can also optionally set the following:
- Database: The default database to connect to when connecting to the EnterpriseDB Server. If this is not set, the user's default database will be used.
Connect Using Standard Authentication
To authenticate using standard authentication, set the following:
- User: The user which will be used to authenticate with the EnterpriseDB server.
- Password: The password which will be used to authenticate with the EnterpriseDB server.
Connect Using SSL Authentication
You can leverage SSL authentication to connect to EnterpriseDB data via a secure session. Configure the following connection properties to connect to data:
- SSLClientCert: Set this to the name of the certificate store for the client certificate. Used in the case of 2-way SSL, where truststore and keystore are kept on both the client and server machines.
- SSLClientCertPassword: If a client certificate store is password-protected, set this value to the store's password.
- SSLClientCertSubject: The subject of the TLS/SSL client certificate. Used to locate the certificate in the store.
- SSLClientCertType: The certificate type of the client store.
- SSLServerCert: The certificate to be accepted from the server.
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 EnterpriseDB 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 EnterpriseDB Data Visualizations
Follow the steps below to create data visualizations based on the remote EnterpriseDB 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/Orders -
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 EnterpriseDB data, right-click under the table name in the Data section of the dashboard and select the View Data option. The EnterpriseDB data will appear in Tableau.
