Use the CData ODBC Driver for PayPal in MicroStrategy Desktop

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

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

Connect to PayPal as an ODBC Data Source

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

The provider surfaces tables from two PayPal APIs. The APIs use different authentication methods.

• The REST API uses the OAuth standard. To authenticate to the REST API, set the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL properties.
• The Classic API requires Signature API credentials. To authenticate to the Classic API, obtain an API username, password, and signature.

See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for a guide to obtaining the necessary API credentials.

To select the API you want to work with, you can set the Schema property to REST or SOAP. By default the SOAP schema will be used.

For testing purposes you can set UseSandbox to true and use sandbox credentials.

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 PayPal 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 PayPal Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for PayPal
Description = My Description
Schema = SOAP
Username = sandbox-facilitator_api1.test.com
Password = xyz123
Signature = zx2127
InitiateOAuth = GETANDREFRESH

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

Connect to and Visualize PayPal Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

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

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

   SELECT * FROM Transactions
   

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

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