Use the CData ODBC Driver for Salesforce Data Cloud in MicroStrategy

MicroStrategy is an analytics and mobility platform that enables data-driven innovation. When you pair MicroStrategy with the CData ODBC Driver for Salesforce Data Cloud, you gain database-like access to live Salesforce Data Cloud data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through creating a database instance for Salesforce Data Cloud in MicroStrategy Developer and creating a Warehouse Catalog based on Salesforce Data Cloud data.

The CData ODBC driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Salesforce Data Cloud data in MicroStrategy due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from MicroStrategy to Salesforce Data Cloud, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Salesforce Data Cloud and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations (often SQL functions and JOIN operations) client-side. With built-in dynamic metadata querying, you can visualize and analyze Salesforce Data Cloud data using native MicroStrategy data types.

Connect to Salesforce Data Cloud as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to Salesforce Data Cloud follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments (the ODBC Driver for Salesforce Data Cloud must be installed on the machine hosting the connected MicroStrategy Intelligence Server).

Salesforce Data Cloud supports authentication via the OAuth standard.

OAuth

Set AuthScheme to OAuth.

Desktop Applications

CData provides an embedded OAuth application that simplifies authentication at the desktop.

You can also authenticate from the desktop via a custom OAuth application, which you configure and register at the Salesforce Data Cloud console. For further information, see Creating a Custom OAuth App in the Help documentation.

Before you connect, set these properties:

• InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
• OAuthClientId (custom applications only): The Client ID assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
• OAuthClientSecret (custom applications only): The Client Secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.

When you connect, the driver opens Salesforce Data Cloud's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application.

The driver then completes the OAuth process as follows:

• Extracts the access token from the callback URL.
• Obtains a new access token when the old one expires.
• Saves OAuth values in OAuthSettingsLocation so that they persist across connections.

For other OAuth methods, including Web Applications and Headless Machines, refer to the Help documentation.

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.

Windows

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.

Linux

If you are installing the CData ODBC Driver for Salesforce Data Cloud in a Linux environment, the driver installation predefines a system DSN. You can modify the DSN by editing the system data sources file (/etc/odbc.ini) and defining the required connection properties.

/etc/odbc.ini

[CData SalesforceDataCloud Sys] Driver = CData ODBC Driver for Salesforce Data Cloud Description = My Description

For specific information on using these configuration files, please refer to the help documentation (installed and found online).

Create a Salesforce Data Cloud Database Instance in MicroStrategy Developer

You can connect to Salesforce Data Cloud in MicroStrategy Developer by adding a database instance based on the CData ODBC Driver for Salesforce Data Cloud.^*

1. Open MicroStrategy Developer and select a Project Source.
2. Navigate to Administration -> Configuration Managers -> Database Instances and right-click to add a new instance.
3. Name the instance, select Generic DBMS as the database connection type, and create a new database connection.
4. In the database connection wizard, name the connection and create a new Database Login name, using filler values for the user and password.
5. Select the DSN that you configured earlier as the ODBC data source (i.e., CData SalesforceDataCloud Sys).
6. Select the newly created database connection.

7. In the Project Source, right-click the project and open the Project configuration.
8. Navigate to Database Instances and select the newly created database instance.
9. Close MicroStrategy Developer and restart the connected MicroStrategy Intelligence Server to complete the database instance creation.

With the database instance configured, you will now be able to connect to Salesforce Data Cloud data from the Warehouse Catalog and Data Import.

Connect to Salesforce Data Cloud Data from the Warehouse Catalog

Once you have created a database instance based on the ODBC Driver for Salesforce Data Cloud, you can connect to data from the Warehouse Catalog.

1. Select your project and click Schema -> Warehouse Catalog.
2. In the Read Settings for the Catalog, click Settings and set the queries to retrieve the schema:
   • To retrieve the list of tables, use the following query:

     SELECT 
       CatalogName NAME_SPACE,
       TableName TAB_NAME 
     FROM 
       SYS_TABLES
             

   • To retrieve the list of columns for selected tables, use the following query:

     SELECT DISTINCT 
       CatalogName NAME_SPACE, 
       TableName TAB_NAME, 
       ColumnName COL_NAME, 
       DataTypeName DATA_TYPE, 
       Length DATA_LEN, 
       NumericPrecision DATA_PREC, 
       NumericScale DATA_SCALE 
     FROM 
       SYS_TABLECOLUMNS 
     WHERE 
       TableName IN (#TABLE_LIST#) 
     ORDER BY
       1,2,3
             

   
3. Select tables to be used in the project.

If you are interested in connecting to Salesforce Data Cloud from other MicroStrategy products, you can read about connecting from MicroStrategy Web and connecting from MicroStrategy Desktop.

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Note: connecting using a ODBC driver requires a 3- or 4-tier architecture.