OutSystems is a low-code platform which provides the tools for companies to developer, deploy, and manage omnichannel enterprise applications. When paired with CData Connect AI, you get instant, cloud-to-cloud access to BigQuery data for business applications. This article shows how to create a virtual database for BigQuery in Connect AI and build a simple app from BigQuery data in OutSystems.
The CData Connect AI provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for BigQuery, allowing you to build reports from live BigQuery data in OutSystems — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you create applications to work with data, OutSystems generates SQL queries to gather data. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to BigQuery, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return the requested BigQuery data.
About BigQuery Data Integration
CData simplifies access and integration of live Google BigQuery data. Our customers leverage CData connectivity to:
- Simplify access to BigQuery with broad out-of-the-box support for authentication schemes, including OAuth, OAuth JWT, and GCP Instance.
- Enhance data workflows with Bi-directional data access between BigQuery and other applications.
- Perform key BigQuery actions like starting, retrieving, and canceling jobs; deleting tables; or insert job loads through SQL stored procedures.
Most CData customers are using Google BigQuery as their data warehouse and so use CData solutions to migrate business data from separate sources into BigQuery for comprehensive analytics. Other customers use our connectivity to analyze and report on their Google BigQuery data, with many customers using both solutions.
For more details on how CData enhances your Google BigQuery experience, check out our blog post: https://www.cdata.com/blog/what-is-bigquery
Getting Started
Configure BigQuery Connectivity for OutSystems
Connectivity to BigQuery from OutSystems is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with BigQuery data from OutSystems, we start by creating and configuring a BigQuery connection.
-
Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
👁 Adding a Connection
- Select "BigQuery" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source
-
BigQuery uses OAuth to authenticate. Click "Sign in" to authenticate with BigQuery.
👁 Authenticating with OAuth (Salesforce is shown).
-
Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add BigQuery 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.
-
Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
-
On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
-
Give the PAT a name and click Create.
👁 Creating a new PAT
-
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 BigQuery data from OutSystems.
Connect to BigQuery from OutSystems
The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect AI from OutSystems to create a new BigQuery database connection.
- Open OutSystems Service Studio
- Click the gear icon to open Environment Management in the Service Center
👁 Opening the Service Center
- Click Administration and select "Database Connections"
- Click "New Database Connection"
- Configure the database connection:
- Name: name the connection (e.g. CData Connect AI BigQuery)
- DBMS: SQL Server / Azure SQL
- Username: a Connect AI user (e.g. [email protected])
- Password: the PAT for the Connect AI user
- Server: tds.cdata.com,14333
- Schema: the name of your BigQuery connection (e.g. GoogleBigQuery1)
👁 Connecting to the Connect AI
- Click "Test Connection"
- Click "Create"
Map BigQuery Tables or Views to Entities in an Extension Module
Once you create the database connection for BigQuery, you can create an extension that maps the tables or views to OutSystems entities. If you have not already done so, create an Application in Service Studio.
- Open the Service Studio and open the existing Application
- Click "Add Module," set the "Module Name" (e.g. googlebigquery_db_extension), set "Module Type" to "Extension," and click "Create Module"
👁 Creating a new extension module
- In Integration Studio, connect to your environment
- Right-click "Entities" in the extension tree and select "Connect to External Table or View..."
👁 Connecting to external tables or views
- Follow the steps in the wizard, selecting the tables and views you wish to work with
- In the Integration Studio, click "1-Click Publish"
- In the "1-Click Publish" wizard, click "Configure" when the process completes
- In the Service Center, associate the logical database name of the extension to the database connection that the extension will use and click "Apply"
👁 Configuring the external extension
- In your application, click "Manage Dependencies..."
- Add a dependency to the Extension and select the Entities that you will use in your application
👁 Adding a dependency to the extension
At this point, you can access and work with BigQuery data just like you would with the standard OutSystems entities.
Get CData Connect AI
With Connect AI and OutSystems, you can easily build BigQuery-connected applications. Request a free trial of Connect AI and start working with BigQuery data in OutSystems today.
