VOOZH about

URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/domino-cloud-microstrategy.rst

⇱ Connect to Live HCL Domino Data in MicroStrategy through CData Connect AI


Connect to Live HCL Domino Data in MicroStrategy through CData Connect AI

πŸ‘ Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Create a live connection to HCL Domino Data in CData Connect AI and connect to your HCL Domino data from MicroStrategy.

MicroStrategy is an analytics and mobility platform that enables data-driven innovation. When you pair MicroStrategy with CData Connect AI, you gain database-like access to live HCL Domino data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through connecting to HCL Domino in Connect AI and connecting to Connect AI in MicroStrategy to create a simple visualization of HCL Domino data.

As a cloud-based integration platform, Connect AI is ideal for working with cloud-based BI and analytics tools. With no servers to configure or data proxies to set up, you can simply use the web-based UI to create a live connection to HCL Domino and connect from MicroStrategy to start performing analytics based on live HCL Domino data.

Configure HCL Domino Connectivity for Microstrategy

Connectivity to HCL Domino from Microstrategy is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with HCL Domino data from Microstrategy, we start by creating and configuring a HCL Domino connection.

  1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
  2. πŸ‘ Adding a Connection
  3. Select "HCL Domino" from the Add Connection panel
  4. πŸ‘ Selecting a data source
  5. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to HCL Domino.

    Connecting to Domino

    To connect to Domino data, set the following properties:

    • URL: The host name or IP of the server hosting the Domino database. Include the port of the server hosting the Domino database. For example: http://sampleserver:1234/
    • DatabaseScope: The name of a scope in the Domino Web UI. The driver exposes forms and views for the schema governed by the specified scope. In the Domino Admin UI, select the Scopes menu in the sidebar. Set this property to the name of an existing scope.

    Authenticating with Domino

    Domino supports authenticating via login credentials or an Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) OAuth application:

    Login Credentials

    To authenticate with login credentials, set the following properties:

    • AuthScheme: Set this to "OAuthPassword"
    • User: The username of the authenticating Domino user
    • Password: The password associated with the authenticating Domino user

    The driver uses the login credentials to automatically perform an OAuth token exchange.

    EntraID (formerly AzureAD)

    This authentication method uses Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) as an IdP to obtain a JWT token. You need to create a custom OAuth application in Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) and configure it as an IdP. To do so, follow the instructions in the Help documentation. Then set the following properties:

    • AuthScheme: Set this to "EntraID (formerly AzureAD)"
    • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
    • OAuthClientId: The Client ID obtained when setting up the custom OAuth application.
    • OAuthClientSecret: The Client secret obtained when setting up the custom OAuth application.
    • CallbackURL: The redirect URI defined when you registered your app. For example: https://localhost:33333
    • AzureTenant: The Microsoft Online tenant being used to access data. Supply either a value in the form companyname.microsoft.com or the tenant ID.

      The tenant ID is the same as the directory ID shown in the Azure Portal's Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) > Properties page.

    πŸ‘ Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
  6. Click Save & Test
  7. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add HCL Domino Connection page and update the User-based permissions. πŸ‘ 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. πŸ‘ 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 HCL Domino data from MicroStrategy.

Connect to and Visualize HCL Domino Data Using MicroStrategy

You can connect to HCL Domino in MicroStrategy by adding a data source based on the native SQL Server functionality. Once you have created a data source, you can build dynamic visualizations of HCL Domino data in MicroStrategy.

  1. Open MicroStrategy and select your account.
  2. Click Add External Data, select Databases, and use Select Tables as the Import Option. πŸ‘ Adding External Data
  3. In the Import from Tables wizard, click to add a new Data Source.
  4. Select "SQL Server" in the Database menu and select "SQL Server 2017" in the Version menu.
  5. Sat the connection properties as follows:
    • Server Name: tds.cdata.com
    • Port Number: 14333
    • Database Name: the name of your HCL Domino connection (e.g. Domino1)
    • User: a Connect AI user
    • Password: the PAT for your Connect AI user
    • Data Source Name: a name for the new external data source, like "CData Cloud HCL Domino"
  6. Expand the menu for the new data source and choose "Edit Catalog Options"πŸ‘ Edit the catalog options.
  7. Edit the "SQL statement retrieve columns ..." query to include TABLE_SCHEMA = '#?Schema_Name?#' in the WHERE clause, and click Apply and then OK (the complete query is below).

    SELECT DISTINCT 
     TABLE_SCHEMA NAME_SPACE, 
     TABLE_NAME TAB_NAME, 
     COLUMN_NAME COL_NAME, 
     (CASE 
     WHEN 
     (DATA_TYPE LIKE '%char' AND (CHARACTER_SET_NAME='utf8' OR CHARACTER_SET_NAME='usc2')) 
     THEN 
     CONCAT('a',DATA_TYPE) 
     ELSE 
     DATA_TYPE 
     END) DATA_TYPE, 
     CHARACTER_MAXIMUM_LENGTH DATA_LEN, 
     NUMERIC_PRECISION DATA_PREC, 
     NUMERIC_SCALE DATA_SCALE 
    FROM 
     INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS 
    WHERE 
     TABLE_NAME 
    IN 
     (#TABLE_LIST#) AND TABLE_SCHEMA='#?Schema_Name?#' 
    ORDER BY 
     1,2,3
    
  8. Select the new data source and select the Namespace that corresponds to your virtual HCL Domino database (like Domino1).
  9. Drag tables into the pane to insert then. πŸ‘ Select tables to insert.
    Note: Since we create a live connection, we can insert whole tables and utilize the filtering and aggregation features native to the MicroStrategy products to customize our datasets.
  10. Click Finish, choose the option to connect live, save the query, and choose the option to create a new dossier. Live connections are possible and effective, thanks to high-performance data processing native to CData Connect AI. πŸ‘ Save the query and create a new dossier.
  11. Choose a visualization, choose fields to display, and apply any filters to create a new visualization of HCL Domino 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 HCL Domino, while any unsupported operations (which can include SQL functions and JOIN operations) will be managed by the CData SQL engine embedded in Connect AI. πŸ‘ Visualize HCL Domino data.
  12. Once you have finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

Using CData Connect AI with MicroStrategy, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on HCL Domino data. For more information on connecting to HCL Domino (and more than 100 other data sources), visit the Connect AI page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live HCL Domino data in MicroStrategy.