Feed Workday Data into FineReport



How to set Workday data as a JDBC data source in FineReport.

The CData JDBC Driver for Workday fully implements the JDBC standard and can provide Workday data connectivity to a wide variety of BI, reporting, and ETL tools and custom applications. In this article, we explain how to set Workday data as JDBC data source in FineReport and view Workday data as a table in the Report Designer.

About Workday Data Integration

CData provides the easiest way to access and integrate live data from Workday. Customers use CData connectivity to:

  • Access the tables and datasets you create in Prism Analytics Data Catalog, working with the native Workday data hub without compromising the fidelity of your Workday system.
  • Access Workday Reports-as-a-Service to surface data from departmental datasets not available from Prism and datasets larger than Prism allows.
  • Access base data objects with WQL, REST, or SOAP, getting more granular, detailed access but with the potential need for Workday admins or IT to help craft queries.

Users frequently integrate Workday with analytics tools such as Tableau, Power BI, and Excel, and leverage our tools to replicate Workday data to databases or data warehouses. Access is secured at the user level, based on the authenticated user's identity and role.

For more information on configuring Workday to work with CData, refer to our Knowledge Base articles: Comprehensive Workday Connectivity through Workday WQL and Reports-as-a-Service & Workday + CData: Connection & Integration Best Practices.


Getting Started


Set Up a JDBC Data Source of Workday Data

Follow the instruction below to set Workday data as a FineReport database connection.

  1. Copy the cdata.jdbc.workday.jar file from the lib folder in the CData JDBC Driver for Workday installation directory to the lib folder of the FineReport installation directory. You will need to copy the cdata.jdbc.workday.lic file as well.
  2. From the Server tab, select Define Data Connection, click to add a new connection, and click JDBC.

Next we will set up the data connection definition in the window.

  1. Database: Others
  2. JDBC Driver: cdata.jdbc.workday.WorkdayDriver
  3. URL: A standard JDBC connection string using semicolon-separated connection properties.

    To connect to Workday, users need to find the Tenant and BaseURL and then select their API type.

    Obtaining the BaseURL and Tenant

    To obtain the BaseURL and Tenant properties, log into Workday and search for "View API Clients." On this screen, you'll find the Workday REST API Endpoint, a URL that includes both the BaseURL and Tenant.

    The format of the REST API Endpoint is: https://domain.com/subdirectories/mycompany, where:

    • https://domain.com/subdirectories/ is the BaseURL.
    • mycompany (the portion of the url after the very last slash) is the Tenant.
    For example, in the REST API endpoint https://wd3-impl-services1.workday.com/ccx/api/v1/mycompany, the BaseURL is https://wd3-impl-services1.workday.com and the Tenant is mycompany.

    Using ConnectionType to Select the API

    The value you use for the ConnectionType property determines which Workday API you use. See our Community Article for more information on Workday connectivity options and best practices.

    APIConnectionType Value
    WQLWQL
    Reports as a ServiceReports
    RESTREST
    SOAPSOAP

    Authentication

    Your method of authentication depends on which API you are using.

    • WQL, Reports as a Service, REST: Use OAuth authentication.
    • SOAP: Use Basic or OAuth authentication.

    See the Help documentation for more information on configuring OAuth with Workday.

    Built-in Connection String Designer

    For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Workday JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

    java -jar cdata.jdbc.workday.jar

    Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

    When you configure the JDBC URL, 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.

    A typical JDBC URL is below:

    jdbc:workday:User=myuser;Password=mypassword;Tenant=mycompany_gm1;BaseURL=https://wd3-impl-services1.workday.com;ConnectionType=WQL;
  4. Click Connection pool attributes and set Test before getting connections to No.

Click Test connection to ensure you have configured the connection properly. With the connection to Workday set up, you can use it as FineReport data source.

Select Workday Data in the Report Designer.

  1. Click to add a new template data set and select DB query to open the database query window.
  2. Choose the JDBC connection that you created from the dropdown list.
  3. The Workday entities will appear as tables on the left pane.
  4. Write a SELECT statement for the Workday data tables and columns that you want to load.
  5. Click preview and data is shown as table.

With these simple steps, Workday can be used as a JDBC data source in FineReport.

Ready to get started?

Download a free trial of the Workday Driver to get started:

 Download Now

Learn more:

Workday Icon Workday JDBC Driver

Rapidly create and deploy powerful Java applications that integrate with Workday.