Use the CData ODBC Driver for Postmark in MicroStrategy Web

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

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

Connect to Postmark as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to Postmark follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments (the ODBC Driver for Postmark must be installed on the machine hosting the connected MicroStrategy Intelligence Server).

Using API Key Authentication

Postmark uses server API tokens to authenticate requests. Each Postmark server has its own API token, which controls access to messages, bounces, templates, and statistics associated with that server.

To obtain your Server API Token, log in to your Postmark account and navigate to the server you want to connect to. Go to API Tokens under the server settings and copy the token labeled Server API token.

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
• APIKey: Set this to your Postmark Server API Token. This value is sent as the X-Postmark-Server-Token header on every request.

Example connection string:

Profile=C:\profiles\Postmark.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings="APIKey=your-server-api-token"

Connecting to Postmark

Once the authentication is configured, you can connect to Postmark and query data from any of the available tables such as OutboundMessages, Bounces, and Templates.

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 Postmark 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 API Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for Postmark
Description = My Description
Profile = C:\profiles\Postmark.apip
AuthScheme = APIKey
ProfileSettings = "APIKey = your-server-api-token"

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

Connect to and Visualize Postmark Data using MicroStrategy Web

Once you have created a database instance in MicroStrategy Developer and connected it to a project, you can perform a data import of Postmark data from MicroStrategy Web. Alternatively, you can create a new data source based on the ODBC Driver.^*

1. Open MicroStrategy Web and select your project.
2. Click Add External Data, select Databases, and choose Select a Table as the Import Option.
3. In the Import from Tables wizard, click to add a new data source.
   • Select DSN Data Sources
   • Set the DSN property to the previously configured DSN (CData API Sys)
   • Set the Version property to Generic DBMS
   • Set the User and Password properties (or use filler values)
   • Set the Data Source Name
   👁 Configuring the new Data Source
   
4. After creating the data source, click to edit the catalog options and set the following queries and click OK.
   • SQL statement to retrieve tables available in the data source

     SELECT
      CatalogName NAME_SPACE,
      TableName TAB_NAME
     FROM
      SYS_TABLES
      

   • SQL statement to retrieve columns for the selected tables

     SELECT DISTINCT 
      CatalogName NAME_SPACE, 
      TableName TAB_NAME, 
      ColumnName COL_NAME, 
      DataTypeName DATA_TYPE, 
      Length DATA_LEN, 
      NumericPrecision DATA_PREC, 
      NumericScale DATA_SCALE 
     FROM 
      SYS_TABLECOLUMNS 
     WHERE 
      TableName IN (#TABLE_LIST#) 
     ORDER BY
      1,2,3
      

5. Drag a table into the pane. 👁 Connecting to Postmark data.
   Note: Since we create a live connection, we can import whole tables and utilize the filtering and aggregation features native to the MicroStrategy products.
6. Click Finish, choose to the option to connect live, save the query, and choose the option to create a new dossier. 👁 Save the query and create a new dossier.
   
7. Choose a visualization, choose fields to display, and apply any filters to create a new visualization of Postmark data. Data types are discovered automatically through dynamic metadata discovery. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to Postmark, 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 Postmark data.
   
8. Once you have finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

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

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Note: connecting using a ODBC driver requires a 3- or 4-tier architecture.