Use the CData ODBC Driver for Excel in MicroStrategy Desktop

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

The CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Excel data in MicroStrategy due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from MicroStrategy 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 (often SQL functions and JOIN operations) client-side. With built-in dynamic metadata querying, you can visualize and analyze Excel data using native MicroStrategy data types.

Connect to Excel as an ODBC Data Source

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

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.

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 Excel 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 Excel Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for Excel
Description = My Description
URI = 'C:/MyExcelWorkbooks/SampleWorkbook.xlsx'

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

Connect to and Visualize Excel Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

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

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 Excel data (see below) and click Execute SQL to test the query.

   SELECT * FROM Sheet
   

   👁 Querying Excel 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 Excel data. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to Excel, 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 Excel data.
   
10. Once you are finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

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