Access Oracle HCM Cloud Data as OData Feeds in Tableau



Use the Tableau Desktop business intelligence tool to connect to Oracle HCM Cloud data using the API Server.

The CData API Server, when paired with the ADO.NET Provider for Oracle HCM Cloud (or any of 200+ other ADO.NET Providers), provides Oracle HCM Cloud data as OData Web services. This article will explain how to use the API Server to provide the underlying connectivity to Oracle HCM Cloud data in Tableau's business intelligence tool.

Set Up the API Server

Follow the steps below to begin producing secure Oracle HCM Cloud 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 Oracle HCM Cloud

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

Using Basic Authentication

You must set the following to authenticate to Oracle HCM Cloud:

  • Url: The Url of your account.
  • User: The user of your account.
  • Password: The password of your account.

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 Oracle HCM Cloud 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 Oracle HCM Cloud Data Visualizations

Follow the steps below to create data visualizations based on the remote Oracle HCM Cloud data:

  1. In Tableau, select 'Connect to data'. In the 'On a server' section, click OData.

  2. 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/RecruitingCESites
  3. Select the 'Use a Username and Password' option and enter the username and password of a user who has access to the API Server.
  4. Tableau uses the table metadata exposed by the API Server to detect dimension and measure columns.

  5. To view the Oracle HCM Cloud data, right-click under the table name in the Data section of the dashboard and select the View Data option. The Oracle HCM Cloud data will appear in Tableau.

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CData API Server