Analyze SharePoint Data in Infragistics Reveal



Use CData Connect Cloud to create on OData API on top of SharePoint data and visualize live SharePoint data in Infragistics Reveal.

Reveal, an offering from Infragistics, serves as a data visualization tool that seamlessly integrates with CData Connect Cloud. Together, they empower users to deliver dynamic dashboards using real-time data from a diverse range of data sources, including SharePoint data. In this article, we will guide you through the process of connecting to SharePoint via Connect Cloud and subsequently linking Connect Cloud with Infragistics Reveal to construct a straightforward dashboard.

About SharePoint Data Integration

Accessing and integrating live data from SharePoint has never been easier with CData. Customers rely on CData connectivity to:

  • Access data from a wide range of SharePoint versions, including Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and above, and SharePoint Online.
  • Access all of SharePoint thanks to support for Hidden and Lookup columns.
  • Recursively scan folders to create a relational model of all SharePoint data.
  • Use SQL stored procedures to upload and download documents and attachments.

Most customers rely on CData solutions to integrate SharePoint data into their database or data warehouse, while others integrate their SharePoint data with preferred data tools, like Power BI, Tableau, or Excel.

For more information on how customers are solving problems with CData's SharePoint solutions, refer to our blog: Drivers in Focus: Collaboration Tools.


Getting Started


Connect to SharePoint from Infragistics Reveal

To work with live SharePoint data in Infragistics Reveal, we need to connect to SharePoint from Connect Cloud, provide user access to the connection, and create OData endpoints for the SharePoint data.

(Optional) Add a New Connect Cloud User

As needed, create Users to connect to SharePoint through Connect Cloud.

  1. Navigate to the Users page and click Invite Users
  2. Enter the new user's email address and click Send to invite the user
  3. You can review and edit users from the Users page

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

  1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
  2. Oa the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
  3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
  4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Connect to SharePoint from Connect Cloud

CData Connect Cloud uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

  1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
  2. Select "SharePoint" from the Add Connection panel
  3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to SharePoint.

    Set the URL property to the base SharePoint site or to a sub-site. This allows you to query any lists and other SharePoint entities defined for the site or sub-site.

    The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid SharePoint user credentials when using SharePoint On-Premise.

    If you are connecting to SharePoint Online, set the SharePointEdition to SHAREPOINTONLINE along with the User and Password connection string properties. For more details on connecting to SharePoint Online, see the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation

  4. Click Create & Test
  5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add SharePoint Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Configure SharePoint Endpoints for Infragistics Reveal

After connecting to SharePoint, create a workspace and virtual dataset for your desired table(s).

  1. Navigate to the Virtual Datasets page and click Add to create a new Workspace (or select an existing workspace).
  2. Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
  3. Select the SharePoint connection (e.g. SharePoint1) and click Next.
  4. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm.
  5. Make note of the OData Service URL for your workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}

With the connection and Workspace configured, you are ready to connect to SharePoint data from Infragistics Reveal.

Create a Dashboard in Reveal

With Connect Cloud configured, we can visualize SharePoint data in Reveal.

  1. Log into Reveal and click Dashboards -> New
  2. Click Data Sources -> OData Feed
  3. Specify the Connect Cloud OData API endpoint URL (found on the OData page): https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}
  4. Select Generic Credentials and
    • Set Username to a Connect Cloud username (e.g. user@mydomain.com)
    • Set Password to the PAT for the user
  5. Select the entity you wish to visualize
  6. Select fields and choose a chart type

More Information & Free Trial

At this point, you have created a simple dashboard from live SharePoint data. For more information on creating OData feeds from SharePoint (and more than 100 other sources), visit the Connect Cloud page. Sign up for a free trial and start working live SharePoint data in tools that consume OData APIs.

Ready to get started?

Learn more about CData Connect Cloud or sign up for free trial access:

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