Use the CData ODBC Driver for Microsoft Dataverse in MicroStrategy Desktop

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

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

Getting Started

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Connect to Microsoft Dataverse as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to Microsoft Dataverse follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments.

You can connect without setting any connection properties for your user credentials. Below are the minimum connection properties required to connect.

• InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
• OrganizationUrl: Set this to the organization URL you are connecting to, such as https://myorganization.crm.dynamics.com.
• Tenant (optional): Set this if you wish to authenticate to a different tenant than your default. This is required to work with an organization not on your default Tenant.

When you connect the Common Data Service OAuth endpoint opens in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions. The OAuth process completes automatically.

When you configure the DSN, 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.

Windows

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

Linux

If you are installing the CData ODBC Driver for Microsoft Dataverse in a Linux environment, the driver installation predefines a system DSN. You can modify the DSN by editing the system data sources file (/etc/odbc.ini) and defining the required connection properties.

/etc/odbc.ini

[CData CDS Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for Microsoft Dataverse
Description = My Description
OrganizationUrl = https://myaccount.crm.dynamics.com/
InitiateOAuth = GETANDREFRESH

For specific information on using these configuration files, please refer to the help documentation (installed and found online).

Connect to and Visualize Microsoft Dataverse Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

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

1. Open MicroStrategy Desktop and create a new dossier.
2. In the datasets panel, click New Data, select Databases, and select Type a Query as the Import Option.
3. Add a new data source and choose DSN data sources.
4. Choose the DSN you previously configured (likely CData CDS Sys) and select Generic DBMS in the Version menu.
5. Set the User and Password properties for the DSN (or use placeholder values) and name the data source.
👁 Creating a new data source for Microsoft Dataverse.

6. Select the new database instance to view the tables. You may need to manually click the search icon in the Available Tables section to see the tables.
7. Create a SQL query for the Microsoft Dataverse data (see below) and click Execute SQL to test the query.

   SELECT * FROM Accounts
   

   👁 Querying Microsoft Dataverse for data.
   NOTE: Since we create a live connection, we can execute a SELECT * query and utilize the filtering and aggregation features native to the MicroStrategy products.
8. Click Finish and choose to connect live.
9. Choose a visualization, choose fields to display (data types are discovered automatically through dynamic metadata discovery) and apply any filters to create a new visualization of Microsoft Dataverse data. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to Microsoft Dataverse, 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 Microsoft Dataverse data.
   
10. Once you are finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

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