Use the CData ODBC Driver for FTP in MicroStrategy Desktop

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

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

Connect to FTP as an ODBC Data Source

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

To connect to FTP or SFTP servers, specify at least RemoteHost and FileProtocol. Specify the port with RemotePort.

Set User and Password to perform Basic authentication. Set SSHAuthMode to use SSH authentication. See the Getting Started section of the data provider help documentation for more information on authenticating via SSH.

Set SSLMode and SSLServerCert to secure connections with SSL.

The data provider lists the tables based on the available folders in your FTP server. Set the following connection properties to control the relational view of the file system:

• RemotePath: Set this to the current working directory.
• TableDepth: Set this to control the depth of folders to list as views.
• FileRetrievalDepth: Set this to retrieve and list files recursively from the root table.

Stored Procedures are available to download files, upload files, and send protocol commands. See the Data Model chapter of the FTP data provider documentation for more information.

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 FTP 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 FTP Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for FTP
Description = My Description
RemoteHost = MyFTPServer

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

Connect to and Visualize FTP Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

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

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

   SELECT * FROM MyDirectory
   

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

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