Google Cloud Data Fusion simplifies building and managing data pipelines by offering a visual interface to connect, transform, and move data across various sources and destinations, streamlining data integration processes. When combined with CData Connect AI, it provides access to Salesforce data for building and managing ELT/ETL data pipelines. This article explains how to use CData Connect AI to create a live connection to Salesforce and how to connect and access live Salesforce data from the Cloud Data Fusion platform.
About Salesforce Data Integration
Accessing and integrating live data from Salesforce has never been easier with CData. Customers rely on CData connectivity to:
- Access to custom entities and fields means Salesforce users get access to all of Salesforce.
- Create atomic and batch update operations.
- Read, write, update, and delete their Salesforce data.
- Leverage the latest Salesforce features and functionalities with support for SOAP API versions 30.0.
- See improved performance based on SOQL support to push complex queries down to Salesforce servers.
- Use SQL stored procedures to perform actions like creating, retrieving, aborting, and deleting jobs, uploading and downloading attachments and documents, and more.
Users frequently integrate Salesforce data with:
- other ERPs, marketing automation, HCMs, and more.
- preferred data tools like Power BI, Tableau, Looker, and more.
- databases and data warehouses.
For more information on how CData solutions work with Salesforce, check out our Salesforce integration page.
Getting Started
Configure Salesforce Connectivity for Cloud Data Fusion
Connectivity to Salesforce from Cloud Data Fusion is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Salesforce data from Cloud Data Fusion, we start by creating and configuring a Salesforce connection.
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Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
👁 Adding a Connection
- Select "Salesforce" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source
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Salesforce uses OAuth to authenticate. Click "Sign in" to authenticate with Salesforce.
👁 Authenticating with OAuth (Salesforce is shown).
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Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Salesforce 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.
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Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
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On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
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Give the PAT a name and click Create.
👁 Creating a new PAT
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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 Salesforce data from Cloud Data Fusion.
Connecting to Salesforce from Cloud Data Fusion
Follow these steps to establish a connection from Cloud Data Fusion to Salesforce through the CData Connect AI JDBC driver:
- Download and install the CData Connect AI JDBC driver:
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Open the Integrations page of CData Connect AI.
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Search for and select JDBC.
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Download and run the setup file.
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When the installation is complete, copy the JAR file(cdata.jdbc.connect.jar) from the installation directory (e.g., C:\Program Files\CData\JDBC Driver for CData Connect\lib).
- Log into Cloud Data Fusion.
- Click the green "+" button at the top right to add an entity.
- Under Driver, click Upload.
👁 Upload the driver JAR file
- Now, upload the CData Connect AI JDBC driver (JAR file).
- Enter the driver settings:
- Name: Enter the name of the driver
- Class name: Enter "cdata.jdbc.connect.ConnectDriver"
- Version: Enter the driver version
- Description (optional): Enter a description for the driver
👁 Enter the driver settings
- Click on Finish.
- Enter source configuration settings:
- Click Validate in the top right corner.
- If the connection is successful, you can manage the pipeline by editing it through the UI.
👁 Build and manage the pipeline in the UI
- Run the pipepline created.
👁 Run the pipeline
Troubleshooting
Please be aware that there is a known issue in Cloud Data Fusion where "int" types from source data are automatically cast as "long".
Live Access to Salesforce Data from Cloud Applications
Now you have a direct connection to live Salesforce data from from Google Cloud Data Fusion. You can create more connections to ensure a smooth movement of data across various sources and destinations, thereby streamlining data integration processes - all without replicating Salesforce data.
To get real-time data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources (including Salesforce) directly from your cloud applications, explore the CData Connect AI.
