Use the CData JDBC Driver for Adobe Target in MicroStrategy Desktop

MicroStrategy is an analytics and mobility platform that enables data-driven innovation. When you pair MicroStrategy with the CData JDBC Driver for Adobe Target, you gain database-like access to live Adobe Target data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through adding Adobe Target as a data source in MicroStrategy Desktop and creating a simple visualization of Adobe Target data.

The CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Adobe Target data in MicroStrategy due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from MicroStrategy to Adobe Target, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Adobe Target 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 use native MicroStrategy data types to visualize and analyze Adobe Target data.

Connect to and Visualize Adobe Target Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

In addition to connecting to Adobe Target in MicroStrategy enterprise products, you can connect to Adobe Target in MicroStrategy Desktop. Follow the steps below to add Adobe Target data as a dataset using JDBC and create visualizations and reports of Adobe Target data.

1. Open MicroStrategy Desktop and create a new dossier.
2. In the datasets panel, click New Data, select Databases, and choose Select a Table as the Import Option.
3. Add a new data source and choose the DSN-less data sources option.
4. Choose Generic in the Database menu and Generic DBMS in the Version menu.
5. Click the link to show the connection string and opt to edit the connection string. In the Driver menu, select MicroStrategy Cassandra ODBC Driver. (MicroStrategy requires a certified driver to interface through JDBC; the actual driver will not be used.)
6. Set the connection string as follows and click OK:
   • Add the JDBC keyword to the connection string.
   • Set MSTR_JDBC_JAR_FOLDER to the path of the JAR file for the JDBC driver. (C:\Program Files\CData JDBC Driver for Adobe Target\lib\ on Windows.)
   • Set DRIVER to cdata.jdbc.adobetarget.AdobeTargetDriver, the driver class.
   • Set URL to the JDBC URL for the Adobe Target driver, setting the necessary connection properties.

     To connect to Adobe Target, you must provide the Tenant property along with OAuth connection properties mentioned below. Note that while other connection properties can influence processing behavior, they do not affect the ability to connect.

     To determine your Tenant name:

     1. Log in to Adobe Experience. The URL will look similar to: "https://experience.adobe.com/#/@mycompanyname/preferences/general-section".
     2. Extract the value after the "/#/@". In this example, it is "mycompanyname".
     3. Set the Tenant connection property to that value.

     User Accounts (OAuth)

     You must set AuthScheme to OAuthClient for all user account flows.

     Note: Adobe authentication via OAuth requires updating your token every two weeks.

     All Applications

     CData provides an embedded OAuth application that simplifies OAuth authentication. Alternatively, you can create a custom OAuth application. Review Creating a Custom OAuth App in the Help documentation for more information.

     Obtaining the OAuth Access Token

     Set the following properties to connect:

     • InitiateOAuth: Set to GETANDREFRESH to automatically perform the OAuth exchange and refresh the OAuthAccessToken as needed.
     • OAuthClientId : Set to the client Id assigned when you registered your app.
     • OAuthClientSecret : Set to the client secret assigned when you registered your app.
     • CallbackURL : Set to the redirect URI defined when you registered your app. For example: https://localhost:3333

     With these settings, the provider obtains an access token from Adobe Target, which it uses to request data. The OAuth values are stored in the location specified by OAuthSettingsLocation, ensuring they persist across connections.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

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

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.adobetarget.jar
     

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

     👁 Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)
     

     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 connection string follows:

   JDBC;MSTR_JDBC_JAR_FOLDER=PATH\TO\JAR\;DRIVER=cdata.jdbc.adobetarget.AdobeTargetDriver;URL={jdbc:adobetarget:Tenant=mycompanyname;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;};
   

   👁 Creating a new data source for Adobe Target.
   
7. Right-click on the new data source, and choose Edit catalog options.
8. Edit the SQL Statement to SELECT * FROM SYS_SCHEMAS to read the metadata from the JDBC Driver.
9. Select the new data source to view the available tables. You may need to manually click the search icon in the Available Tables section to see the tables.
10. Drag tables into the pane to import them. 👁 Select tables to import.
    Note: Since we create a live connection, we can import whole tables and utilize the filtering and aggregation features native to the MicroStrategy products.
11. Click Finish and choose the option to connect Live. Live connections are possible and effective, thanks to the high-performance data processing native to CData JDBC Drivers.
12. Choose a visualization, choose fields to display, and apply any filters to create a new visualization of Adobe Target data. Data types are discovered automatically through dynamic metadata discovery. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to Adobe Target, while any unsupported operations (which can include SQL functions and JOIN operations) will be managed client-side by the CData SQL engine embedded in the driver. 👁 Visualize Adobe Target data.
    
13. Once you are finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

Using the CData JDBC Driver for Adobe Target in MicroStrategy Desktop, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on Adobe Target data. Read our other articles for connecting to Adobe Target data in MicroStrategy Developer and connecting to Adobe Target data in MicroStrategy Web for more examples.