Connect to OData Services in ACL Analytics

ACL Analytics, part of Diligent HighBond, is a powerful data analysis software primarily used for audit, risk management, and compliance. It enables professionals to examine and analyze large volumes of data to identify anomalies, trends, and potential risks or fraudulent activities.

CData Connect AI offers a dedicated cloud-to-cloud interface for OData, enabling analytics directly from live OData services within ACL Analytics, all without the need for data replication to a native database. With its inherent optimized data processing capabilities, CData Connect AI efficiently channels all supported SQL operations, including filters and JOINs, directly to OData. This leverages server-side processing to swiftly deliver the requested OData services.

Getting Started

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Configure OData Connectivity for ACL Analytics

Connectivity to OData from ACL Analytics is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with OData services from ACL Analytics, we start by creating and configuring a OData connection in CData Connect AI.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
👁 Adding a Connection

2. Select "OData" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to OData. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to OData.

   The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid OData user credentials. In addition, specify a URL to a valid OData server organization root or OData services file.

   👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add OData Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions
   

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create. 👁 Creating a new PAT
   
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to OData services from ACL Analytics.

Connect to OData from ACL Analytics

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect AI from ACL Analytics to create a new OData data source. The CData Connect AI Virtual SQL Server allows you to establish a connection to your data from integration tools that support connections to SQL servers. The Virtual SQL Server mimics the behavior of a traditional SQL server, and it supports a range of query options.

1. With your Analytics File open, select 'Import' --> 'Database and application' 👁 Creating a new data source
   
2. Create a new connection
3. Set the connection information
   • Server: tds.cdata.com
   • Port: 14333
   • Auth Scheme: Password
   • Username: a Connect AI user, for example, [email protected]
   • Password: the PAT for the above Connect AI user
   • Database: the name of your OData connection, for example, OData1
   👁 Connecting to Connect AI
   
4. Click "Test Connection"
5. Click "OK"
6. You are now ready to work with your OData services in ACL Analytics! 👁 See your data in ACL Analytics
   

Live connections to OData services from your applications

ACL Analytics can now connect to live OData services directly through Connect AI, allowing you to analyze OData services without duplicating it.

To get live data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your applications, try CData Connect AI today!