Build Semantic Layer Views for AlloyDB Data in APOS Live Data Gateway

APOS Live Data Gateway (LDG) serves as a data connection and data transformation solution, facilitating live data connectivity and broadening data source possibilities for SAP Analytics Cloud and other SAP solutions. When integrated with CData Connect AI, users have the capability to construct semantic layer views for real-time access to AlloyDB data, enabling real-time analytics on AlloyDB in a manner akin to working with a relational database.

CData Connect AI offers a dedicated SQL Server interface for AlloyDB, enabling data querying directly from AlloyDB without the need to replicate data to a native database. With pre-optimized data processing capabilities, CData Connect AI efficiently directs all supported SQL operations, including filters and JOINs, directly to AlloyDB. This harnesses server-side processing to swiftly retrieve the requested AlloyDB data.

Configure AlloyDB Connectivity for APOS Live Data Gateway

Connectivity to AlloyDB from APOS Live Data Gateway is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with AlloyDB data from APOS Live Data Gateway, we start by creating and configuring a AlloyDB connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
👁 Adding a Connection

2. Select "AlloyDB" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to AlloyDB.

   The following connection properties are usually required in order to connect to AlloyDB.

   • Server: The host name or IP of the server hosting the AlloyDB database.
   • User: The user which will be used to authenticate with the AlloyDB server.
   • Password: The password which will be used to authenticate with the AlloyDB server.

   You can also optionally set the following:

   • Database: The database to connect to when connecting to the AlloyDB Server. If this is not set, the user's default database will be used.
   • Port: The port of the server hosting the AlloyDB database. This property is set to 5432 by default.

   Authenticating with Standard Authentication

   Standard authentication (using the user/password combination supplied earlier) is the default form of authentication.

   No further action is required to leverage Standard Authentication to connect.

   Authenticating with pg_hba.conf Auth Schemes

   There are additional methods of authentication available which must be enabled in the pg_hba.conf file on the AlloyDB server.

   Find instructions about authentication setup on the AlloyDB Server here.

   Authenticating with MD5 Authentication

   This authentication method must be enabled by setting the auth-method in the pg_hba.conf file to md5.

   Authenticating with SASL Authentication

   This authentication method must be enabled by setting the auth-method in the pg_hba.conf file to scram-sha-256.

   Authenticating with Kerberos

   The authentication with Kerberos is initiated by AlloyDB Server when the ∏ is trying to connect to it. You should set up Kerberos on the AlloyDB Server to activate this authentication method. Once you have Kerberos authentication set up on the AlloyDB Server, see the Kerberos section of the help documentation for details on how to authenticate with Kerberos. 👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   

4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add AlloyDB Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions
   

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create. 👁 Creating a new PAT
   
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to AlloyDB data in the APOS Live Data Gateway.

Connecting to AlloyDB & Creating a Semantic Layer View

After configuring the connection in CData Connect AI you are ready to connect to AlloyDB in the Live Data Gateway Admin tool and build a semantic layer view in the Live Data Gateway Web UI.

Configuring the Connection to AlloyDB

1. Log into your APOS Live Data Gateway Manager 👁 Logging into the APOS LDG Manager
   
2. If you haven't already, update your APOS LDG license file
   1. Click File -> Configurations
   2. Click on the "..." Menu for the License
   3. Select the license file from the APOS team that includes your CData Connect AI license
3. In the APOS Live Data Gateway Manager, click "Add"
4. In the APOS Live Data Gateway On the Connection tab, configure the connection:
   • Set Data Source to "Database"
   • Set Database to "JDBC Generic"
   • Set Connection String to a connection string similar to the following, using the name of the connection you configured earlier, e.g.

     jdbc:sqlserver://tds.cdata.com:14333;databaseName=AlloyDB1

   • Set Driver Class to "com.CData.connect.Driver" (this should be set by default)
   👁 Configuring the Connection (Salesforce is shown).
   
5. Click Test Connection
6. Click Save
7. Give your connection a unique prefix (e.g. "alloydb")
8. Highlight the newly created connection and click File -> "Approve Users For Web UI" 👁 Approving Users For Web UI.
   
9. Approve the appropriate DB users to create views and click "Save" 👁 Configuring which DB users can create views.
   

At this point, we are ready to build our semantic layer view in the Live Data Gateway Web UI.

Creating a Semantic Layer View

1. In your browser, navigate to the APOS Live Data Gateway Portal
2. Select a Connection (e.g. "alloydb")
3. Set User Name and Password to your Connect AI username and PAT .
4. Click "Login" 👁 Connecting from the Web UI (Salesforce is shown).
   
5. Once connected, click "Semantic Layer" to create a new semantic layer view
6. Click "New Semantic Layer View" 👁 Adding a new semantic layer view.
   
7. Set the Semantic Layer View Prefix and Semantic Layer View Name 👁 Setting the semantic layer view prefix and name.
   
8. Click "Step 2"
9. Select the table(s) and column(s) you wish to include in your view 👁 Selecting table(s) and column(s).
   
10. Click "Step 3"
11. Select the Measures from the available table columns 👁 Selecting the measure(s).
    
12. Click "Step 5" (we skipped the "Extra Dimensions" step)
13. Add any Variable Prompts
14. Click "Step 6"
15. Define any Table Joins
16. Click "Review"
17. Review you semantic layer view and click "Save" 👁 Saving the semantic layer view.
    

With the Semantic Layer View created, you are ready to access your AlloyDB data through the APOS Live Data Gateway, enabling real-time data connectivity to AlloyDB data from SAP Analytics Cloud and other SAP solutions.

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