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Visualize SharePoint Data in TIBCO Spotfire through OData
Integrate SharePoint data into dashboards in TIBCO Spotfire.
OData is a major protocol enabling real-time communication among cloud-based, mobile, and other online applications. The CData Connect Server provides SharePoint data to OData consumers like TIBCO Spotfire. This article shows how to use the Connect Server and Spotfire's built-in support for OData to access SharePoint data in real time.
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
Configuring Connect Server
To work with live SharePoint data in TIBCO Spotfire, we need to connect to SharePoint from Connect Server, provide user access to the new virtual database, and create OData endpoints for the SharePoint data.
Add a Connect Server User
Create a User to connect to SharePoint from TIBCO Spotfire through Connect Server.
- Click Users -> Add
- Configure a User
![]( "Creating a new user")
- Click Save Changes and make note of the Authtoken for the new user
![]( "Connect Server users")
Connect to SharePoint from Connect Server
CData Connect Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.
- Open Connect Server and click Connections
![]( "Adding a connection")
- Select "SharePoint" from Available Data Sources
- 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
![]( "Configuring a connection (SQL Server is shown).")
- Click Save Changes
- Click Privileges -> Add and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions (SELECT is all that is required for Reveal).
Add SharePoint OData Endpoints in Connect Server
After connecting to SharePoint, create OData Endpoints for the desired table(s).
- Click OData -> Tables -> Add Tables
- Select the SharePoint database
- Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Next
![]( "Selecting a Table (SQL Server is shown)")
- (Optional) Edit the resource to select specific fields and more
- Save the settings
(Optional) Configure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)
When accessing and connecting to multiple domains from an application such as Ajax, there is a possibility of violating the limitations of cross-site scripting. In that case, configure the CORS settings in OData -> Settings.
- Enable cross-origin resource sharing (CORS): ON
- Allow all domains without '*': ON
- Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, PUT, POST, OPTIONS
- Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Authorization
Save the changes to the settings.
Create Data Visualizations on External SharePoint Data
- Open Spotfire and click Data -> Add data...
- Then, click "Connect to" -> OData -> New Connection. In the OData Connection dialog, enter the following information:
- Service URL: Enter the Connect Server's OData endpoint. For example:
http://localhost:8080/odata.rsc - Authentication Method: Select Username and Password.
- Username: Enter the username of a Connect Server user. You can create API users on the Security tab of the administration console.
- Password: Enter the authtoken of a Connect Server user.
![]( "Required connection settings to connect to the Connect Server.")
- Service URL: Enter the Connect Server's OData endpoint. For example:
- Select the tables and columns you want to add to the dashboard. This example uses MyCustomList.
![]( "Connect Server API Entities. (SQL Server is shown.)")
![]( "Required connection settings to connect to the Connect Server.")
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If you want to work with the live data, click the Keep Data Table External option. This option enables your dashboards to reflect changes to the data in real time.
If you want to load the data into memory and process the data locally, click the Import Data Table option. This option is better for offline use or if a slow network connection is making your dashboard less interactive.
- After you have selected a table, Spotfire uses the data to detect number, time, and other categories. You are now on your way to creating new visualizations for analytics, reporting, and more.
Free Trial & More Information
If you are interested in connecting to your SharePoint data (or data from any of our other supported data sources) from TIBCO Spotfire, sign up for a free trial of CData Connect Server today! For more information on Connect Server and to see what other data sources we support, refer to our CData Connect page.
