Use the CData ODBC Driver for Neo4J in MicroStrategy Desktop

MicroStrategy is an analytics and mobility platform that enables data-driven innovation. When paired with the CData ODBC Driver for Neo4J, you gain database-like access to live Neo4J data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through adding Neo4J as a data source in MicroStrategy Desktop and creating a simple visualization of Neo4J data.

The CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Neo4J data in MicroStrategy due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from MicroStrategy to Neo4J, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Neo4J 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 Neo4J data using native MicroStrategy data types.

Connect to Neo4J as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to Neo4J follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments.

To connect to Neo4j, set the following connection properties:

• Server: The server hosting the Neo4j instance.
• Port: The port on which the Neo4j service is running. The provider connects to port 7474 by default.
• User: The username of the user using the Neo4j instance.
• Password: The password of the user using the Neo4j instance.

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 Neo4J 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 Neo4j Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for Neo4J
Description = My Description
Server = localhost
Port = 7474
User = my_user
Password = my_password

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

Connect to and Visualize Neo4J Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

In addition to connecting Neo4J in MicroStrategy enterprise products, you can connect to Neo4J in MicroStrategy Desktop. Follow the steps below to add Neo4J data as a dataset and create visualizations and reports of Neo4J 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 Neo4j 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 Neo4J.

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 Neo4J data (see below) and click Execute SQL to test the query.

   SELECT * FROM ProductCategory
   

   👁 Querying Neo4J 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 Neo4J data. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to Neo4J, 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 Neo4J data.
   
10. Once you are finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

Using the CData ODBC Driver for Neo4J in MicroStrategy Desktop, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on Neo4J data. Read our other articles on connecting to Neo4J in MicroStrategy and connecting to Neo4J in MicroStrategy Web for more examples.