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Access Sage 200 Data as OData Feeds in Tableau
Use the Tableau Desktop business intelligence tool to connect to Sage 200 data using the API Server.
The CData API Server, when paired with the ADO.NET Provider for Sage 200 (or any of 200+ other ADO.NET Providers), provides Sage 200 data as OData Web services. This article will explain how to use the API Server to provide the underlying connectivity to Sage 200 data in Tableau's business intelligence tool.
Set Up the API Server
Follow the steps below to begin producing secure Sage 200 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 Sage 200
After you deploy the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for Sage 200, provide authentication values and other connection properties needed to connect to Sage 200 by clicking Settings -> Connections and adding a new connection in the API Server administration console.
- Schema: Determines which Sage 200 edition you are connecting to. Specify either StandardUK or ProfessionalUK.
- Subscription Key: Provides access to the APIs that are used to establish a connection. You will first need to log into the Sage 200 API website and subscribe to the API edition that matches your account. You can do so here: https://developer.columbus.sage.com/docs/services/api/uk. Afterwards, the subscription key may be found in your profile after logging into Sage 200.
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 Sage 200 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 Sage 200 Data Visualizations
Follow the steps below to create data visualizations based on the remote Sage 200 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/Banks -
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 Sage 200 data, right-click under the table name in the Data section of the dashboard and select the View Data option. The Sage 200 data will appear in Tableau.
