Connect to Excel Data in the Denodo Platform

Denodo Platform is a data virtualization product providing a single point of contact for enterprise database data. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver for Microsoft Excel, Denodo users can work with live Excel data alongside other enterprise data sources. This article explains how to create a virtual data source for Excel in the Denodo Virtual DataPort Administrator.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Excel data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Excel, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Excel and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). Its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze Excel data using native data types.

Create the Excel Virtual Port

To connect to live Excel data from Denodo, you need to copy the JDBC Driver JAR file to the external library directory for Denodo and create a new JDBC Data Source from the Virtual DataPort Administrator tool.

1. Download the CData JDBC Driver for Microsoft Excel installer, unzip the package, and run the JAR file to install the driver.
2. Copy the JAR File (and license file if it exists) from the installation location (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for Microsoft Excel\lib\) to the Denodo external library directory (C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-excel-19).
3. Open the Denodo Virtual DataPort Administrator tool and navigate to the Server Explorer tab.
4. Right-click "admin" and select New -> Data source -> JDBC. 👁 Creating a new JDBC data source.
   
5. Configure the JDBC Connection:
   • Name: your choice, e.g.: excel
   • Database adapter: Generic
   • Driver class path: C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-excel-19
   • Driver class: cdata.jdbc.excel.ExcelDriver

   • Database URI: Set this to a JDBC URL using the necessary connection properties. For example,

     jdbc:excel:URI='C:/MyExcelWorkbooks/SampleWorkbook.xlsx';

     👁 Configuring the JDBC connection (NetSuite is shown).
     

     Information on creating the Database URI follows:

     Built-In Connection String Designer

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

     	java -jar cdata.jdbc.excel.jar
     	

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

     Connecting to Local or Cloud-Stored (Box, Google Drive, Amazon S3, SharePoint) Excel Files

     CData Drivers let you work with Excel files stored locally and stored in cloud storage services like Box, Amazon S3, Google Drive, or SharePoint, right where they are.

     Setting connection properties for local files

     Set the URI property to local folder path.

     Setting connection properties for files stored in Amazon S3

     To connect to Excel file(s) within Amazon S3, set the URI property to the URI of the Bucket and Folder where the intended Excel files exist. In addition, at least set these properties:

     • AWSAccessKey: AWS Access Key (username)
     • AWSSecretKey: AWS Secret Key

     Setting connection properties for files stored in Box

     To connect to Excel file(s) within Box, set the URI property to the URI of the folder that includes the intended Excel file(s). Use the OAuth authentication method to connect to Box.

     Dropbox

     To connect to Excel file(s) within Dropbox, set the URI proprerty to the URI of the folder that includes the intended Excel file(s). Use the OAuth authentication method to connect to Dropbox. Either User Account or Service Account can be used to authenticate.

     SharePoint Online (SOAP)

     To connect to Excel file(s) within SharePoint with SOAP Schema, set the URI proprerty to the URI of the document library that includes the intended Excel file. Set User, Password, and StorageBaseURL.

     SharePoint Online REST

     To connect to Excel file(s) within SharePoint with REST Schema, set the URI proprerty to the URI of the document library that includes the intended Excel file. StorageBaseURL is optional. If not set, the driver will use the root drive. OAuth is used to authenticate.

     Google Drive

     To connect to Excel file(s) within Google Drive, set the URI property to the URI of the folder that includes the intended Excel file(s). Use the OAuth authentication method to connect and set InitiateOAuth to GETANDREFRESH.

     👁 Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)
     
6. Click the "Test connection" button to confirm the configuration and click Save.

View Excel Data in the VirtualPort Administrator Tool

After creating the data source, you can create a base view of Excel data for use in the Denodo Platform.

1. Click the "Create base view" button in the newly created VirtualPort (admin.Excel).
2. Expand the object tree and select the objects (tables) you wish to import. 👁 Selecting objects to import (NetSuite is shown).
   
3. Click the "Create selected" button to create views of the Excel data.
   Optional: Click "Create associations from foreign keys" to define relationships between the objects.
4. With the view(s) created, navigate to a table (cdata_excel_sheet) in the Server Explorer and double-click the selected table.
5. In the new tab, click "Execution panel" to open a query panel.
6. Customize the query in the "Execute" tab or use the default:

   SELECT * FROM cdata_excel_sheet CONTEXT ('i18n'='us_est', 'cache_wait_for_load'='true')
   

   👁 Configuring the query to view the data.
   
7. Click Execute to view the data. 👁 Viewing the data.
   

With the base view created, you can now work with live Excel data like you would any other data source in Denodo Platform, for example, querying Excel in the Denodo Data Catalog.

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Microsoft Excel and start working with your live Excel data in Denodo Platform. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.