Use the CData ODBC Driver for Reckon in SAS JMP

You can use the CData ODBC Driver for Reckon to integrate live data into your statistical analysis with SAS JMP. The driver proxies your queries directly to the Reckon API, ensuring that your analysis reflects any changes to the data. The CData ODBC Driver supports the standard SQL used by JMP in the background as you design reports.

The Reckon API supports bidirectional access. This article shows how to access Reckon data into a report and create data visualization. It also shows how to use SQL to query and manipulate Reckon data from the JMP Query Builder.

Access Reckon Data as an ODBC Data Source

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

When you are connecting to a local Reckon instance, you do not need to set any connection properties.

Requests to Reckon are made through the Remote Connector. The Remote Connector runs on the same machine as Reckon and accepts connections through a lightweight, embedded Web server. The server supports SSL/TLS, enabling users to connect securely from remote machines.

The first time you connect to your company file, you will need to authorize the Remote Connector with Reckon. See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for a guide.

When you configure the DSN, 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.

Import Reckon Data with the Query Builder

After you have created the Reckon DSN, you can use SQL to invoke the capabilities of the Reckon API. Follow the steps below to execute some supported queries in the Query Builder:

1. In SAS JMP, click File -> Database -> Query Builder. The Select Database Connection dialog is displayed.
2. Click New Connection.
3. On the Machine Data Source tab, select the ODBC DSN you configured and then click Next.
4. The Select Tables for Query dialog is displayed and in the Available Tables section, select a table and click Primary. After choosing the primary table, click Build Query to open the Query Builder.
5. As you drag Available Columns to the Included Columns tab, the underlying SQL query is updated and you can view the generated SQL Query in the SQL tab.
6. Click Run Query to display the data.
7. To refresh the results with the current data, right-click Update from Database and click Run Script.

Manipulate Reckon Data

You can execute data manipulation queries from JSL scripts such as the one below. To execute a script, click New Script in the toolbar. To connect, specify the DSN. You can then use the standard SQL syntax:

Visualize Reckon Data

After importing, you can use the Graph Builder to create graphs visually. To open the Graph Builder, click the Graph Builder button in the toolbar.

1. Drag a dimension column onto the x axis. For example, Name.
2. Drag a measure column onto the y axis. For example, CustomerBalance.
3. Select a chart type. For example, a bar chart.