Visualize Live PayPal Data in Tableau

Tableau is a visual analytics platform transforming the way businesses use data to solve problems. When paired with the CData Tableau Connector for PayPal, you can easily get access to live PayPal data within Tableau. This article shows how to connect to PayPal in Tableau and build a simple chart.

The CData Tableau Connectors enable high-speed access to live PayPal data in Tableau. Once you install the connector, you simply authenticate with PayPal and you can immediately start building responsive, dynamic visualizations and dashboards. By surfacing PayPal data using native Tableau data types and handling complex filters, aggregations, & other operations automatically, CData Tableau Connectors grant seamless access to PayPal data.

NOTE: The CData Tableau Connectors require Tableau 2020.3 or higher. If you are using an older version of Tableau, you will need to use the CData JDBC Driver. If you wish to connect to PayPal data in Tableau Cloud, you will need to use CData Connect AI.

Connect to PayPal in Tableau

Open Tableau and click More under Connect -> To a Server. Select "PayPal by CData," then configure the connection and click "Sign In."

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.

Discover Schemas and Query Data

1. Select CData from the Database pull-down menu.
2. Select PayPal from the Schema pull-down menu.
3. Drag the tables and views you wish to visualize onto the join area. You can include multiple tables. 👁 Selecting table(s)
   
4. Select Update Now or Automatically Update. Update Now lets you preview the first 10,000 rows of the data source (or enter the number of rows you want to see in the Rows text box). Automatically Update automatically reflects the changes in the preview area.
5. Click the tab for your worksheet. Columns are listed as Dimensions and Measures, depending on the data type. The CData Tableau Connector discovers data types automatically, allowing you to leverage the powerful data processing and visualization features of Tableau.
6. Drag a field from the Dimensions or Measures area to Rows or Columns. Tableau creates column or row headers.
7. Select one of the chart types from the Show Me tab. Tableau displays the chart type that you selected.
👁 Visualizing live PayPal data

Using the CData Tableau Connector for PayPal with Tableau, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on PayPal data. Download a free, 30-day trial and get started today.