How to connect to Power BI XMLA Data with Squirrel SQL client

The CData JDBC Driver for Power BI XMLA enables you to execute queries to Power BI XMLA data in tools like Squirrel SQL Client. In this article, you will create a JDBC data source for Power BI XMLA data and execute queries.

Add the JDBC Driver for Power BI XMLA

Follow the steps below to add the driver JAR.

1. In Squirrel SQL, click Windows -> View Drivers.
2. Click the plus icon to open the Add Driver wizard.
3. In the Name box, enter a user-friendly name for the driver; for example, CData JDBC Driver for Power BI XMLA.
4. In the Example URL box, enter jdbc:powerbixmla:
5. In the Extra Class Path tab, click Add.
6. In the file explorer dialog that opens, select the JAR file for the driver, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
7. Click List Drivers to populate the Class Name menu with the class name for the driver, cdata.jdbc.powerbixmla.PowerBIXMLADriver.

Define Connection Properties

Follow the steps below to save connection properties in the driver alias.

1. Click Windows -> View Aliases.
2. In the pane that lists the aliases, click the plus icon.

3. In the Add Alias wizard that opens, the following fields are required for the JDBC driver:

   • Name: Enter a name for the alias; for example, CData Power BI XMLA Source.
   • Driver: Select the CData JDBC Driver for Power BI XMLA.
   • URL: Enter jdbc:powerbixmla:
   👁 The alias definition, containing the connection parameters. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
4. If you want to define any additional properties, click Properties.
5. In the Driver properties tab of the dialog that appears, select the Use driver properties checkbox.
6. In the Specify column, select the checkboxes for the required connection properties.

   By default, use Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) to connect to Microsoft Power BI XMLA. Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) is Microsoft's multi-tenant, cloud-based directory and identity management service. It is user-based authentication that requires that you set AuthScheme to EntraID (formerly AzureAD).

   For more information on other authentication schemes, refer to the Help documentation.

   Below is a typical connection string:

   jdbc:powerbixmla:AuthScheme=EntraID;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;
   

   👁 Connection properties automatically detected by Squirrel SQL. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
7. In the dialog that appears after you click OK, click connect to test the connection.

Discover Schemas and Query Power BI XMLA Data

After the metadata has loaded, a new tab for the Power BI XMLA data source is displayed. On the Objects subtab, you can discover schema information, such as the available tables and views.

👁 Column metadata for a table. (Salesforce is shown.)

To view table data, select the table on the Objects tab. The table data is then loaded in a grid on the Content tab.

To execute an SQL query, enter the query on the SQL tab and then click Run SQL (the runner icon). For example:

SELECT Country, Education FROM Customer WHERE Country = 'Australia'