Google Cloud Storage Reporting in OBIEE with the Google Cloud Storage JDBC Driver

The CData JDBC Driver for Google Cloud Storage is a standard database driver that can integrate real-time access to Google Cloud Storage data into your Java-based reporting server. This article shows how to deploy the driver to Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) and create reports on Google Cloud Storage data that reflect any changes.

Deploy the JDBC Driver

Follow the steps below to add the JDBC driver to WebLogic's classpath.

For WebLogic 12.2.1, simply place the driver JAR and .lic file into DOMAIN_HOME\lib; for example, ORACLE_HOME\user_projects\domains\MY_DOMAIN\lib. These files will be added to the server classpath at startup.

You can also manually add the driver to the classpath: This is required for earlier versions. Prepend the following to PRE_CLASSPATH in setDomainEnv.cmd (Windows) or setDomainEnv.sh (Unix). This script is located in the bin subfolder of the folder for that domain. For example: ORACLE_HOME\user_projects\domains\MY_DOMAIN\bin.

set PRE_CLASSPATH=your-installation-directory\lib\cdata.jdbc.googlecloudstorage.jar;%PRE_CLASSPATH%

Restart all servers; for example, run the stop and start commands in DOMAIN_HOME\bitools\bin.

Create a JDBC Data Source for Google Cloud Storage

After deploying the JDBC driver, you can create a JDBC data source from BI Publisher.

1. Log into BI Publisher, at the URL http://localhost:9502/analytics, for example, and click Administration -> Manage BI Publisher.
2. Click JDBC Connection -> Add Data Source.
3. Enter the following information:
   • Data Source Name: Enter the name that users will create connections to in their reports.
   • Driver Type: Select Other.
   • Database DriverClass: Enter the driver class, cdata.jdbc.googlecloudstorage.GoogleCloudStorageDriver.
   • Connection String: Enter the JDBC URL.

     Authenticate with a User Account

     You can connect without setting any connection properties for your user credentials. After setting InitiateOAuth to GETANDREFRESH, you are ready to connect.

     When you connect, the Google Cloud Storage OAuth endpoint opens in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions, then the OAuth process completes

     Authenticate with a Service Account

     Service accounts have silent authentication, without user authentication in the browser. You can also use a service account to delegate enterprise-wide access scopes.

     You need to create an OAuth application in this flow. See the Help documentation for more information. After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

     • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH.
     • OAuthJWTCertType: Set this to "PFXFILE".
     • OAuthJWTCert: Set this to the path to the .p12 file you generated.
     • OAuthJWTCertPassword: Set this to the password of the .p12 file.
     • OAuthJWTCertSubject: Set this to "*" to pick the first certificate in the certificate store.
     • OAuthJWTIssuer: In the service accounts section, click Manage Service Accounts and set this field to the email address displayed in the service account Id field.
     • OAuthJWTSubject: Set this to your enterprise Id if your subject type is set to "enterprise" or your app user Id if your subject type is set to "user".
     • ProjectId: Set this to the Id of the project you want to connect to.

     The OAuth flow for a service account then completes.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

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

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.googlecloudstorage.jar
     

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

     👁 Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)
     

     When you configure the JDBC URL, 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.

     A typical JDBC URL is below:

     jdbc:googlecloudstorage:ProjectId='project1';InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;

   • Username: Enter the username.
   • Password: Enter the password.
4. In the Security section, select the allowed user roles. 👁 The required settings for a JDBC data source. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

Create Real-Time Google Cloud Storage Reports

You can now create reports and analyses based on real-time Google Cloud Storage data. Follow the steps below to use the standard report wizard to create an interactive report that reflects any changes to Google Cloud Storage data.

1. On the global header, click New -> Data Model.
2. On the Diagram tab, select SQL query in the menu.
3. Enter a name for the query and in the Data Source menu select the Google Cloud Storage JDBC data source you created.
4. Select standard SQL and enter a query like the following:

   SELECT Name, OwnerId FROM Buckets WHERE Name = 'TestBucket'

   👁 The SQL query to be used to create the data set for the report's data model. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
5. Click View Data to generate the sample data to be used as you build your report.
6. Select the number of rows to include in the sample data, click View, and then click Save As Sample Data.
7. Click Create Report -> Use Data Model.
8. Select Guide Me and on the Select Layout page select the report objects you want to include. In this example we select Chart and Table.
9. Drop a numeric column like OwnerId onto the Drop Value Here box on the y-axis. Drop a dimension column like Name onto the Drop Label Here box on the x-axis. 👁 The dimensions and measures for a chart. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
10. Click Refresh to pick up any changes to the Google Cloud Storage data. 👁 An interactive, refresh-on-demand report. (Salesforce is shown.)