Visualize Salesforce Data in Tableau

The CData ODBC Driver for Salesforce enables you to access live Salesforce data in business intelligence tools like Tableau. In this article, you will integrate Salesforce data into a dashboard that reflects changes to Salesforce data in real time.

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

Getting Started

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Connect to Salesforce as an ODBC Data Source

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.

There are several authentication methods available for connecting to Salesforce: OAuth, Login (or basic), and SSO. The Login method requires you to have the username, password, and security token of the user.

OAuth Authentication (default)

The default authentication mechanism (and the one preferred by Salesforce) is OAuth. To use OAuth with CData's embedded OAuth application, leave the connection properties blank. If you have configured your own custom OAuth application with Salesforce (see the Help documentation for more information), set OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL to the properties for you application. Set InitiateOAuth to the desired OAuth flow ("GETANDREFRESH" will have the connector manage the entire OAuth flow).

Login (or Basic) Authentication

If you do not wish do not wish to use OAuth authentication, you can use Login (or basic) authentication. Set AuthScheme to Basic, and set the User, Password, and SecurityToken properties. You can configure your security token in Salesforce.

SSO (single sign-on) Authentication

SSO (single sign-on) can be used by setting the SSOProperties, SSOLoginUrl, and SSOExchangeURL connection properties, which allow you to authenticate to an identity provider. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the Help documentation for more information.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

If your Salesforce org has MFA enforcement enabled, set MFACode to the time-based one-time passcode (TOTP) generated by your authenticator app (such as Salesforce Authenticator or Google Authenticator). MFACode applies to both OAuth and Login authentication flows.

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.

Add Salesforce Data to a Dashboard

1. Click Connect to Data -> More Servers -> Other Databases (ODBC).
   Select the CData Data Source Name (for example: CData Salesforce Source).
2. In the Database menu, select CData.
3. In the Table box, enter a table name or click New Custom SQL to enter an SQL query. This article retrieves the Account table.
4. Drag the table onto the join area. At this point, you can include multiple tables, leveraging the built-in SQL engine to process complex data requests. 👁 A connection to a single table. (Google Sheets is shown.)
   
5. In the Connection menu, select the Live option, so that you skip loading a copy of the data into Tableau and instead work on real-time data. The optimized data processing native to CData ODBC drivers enables unmatched performance in live connectivity.
6. Click the tab for your worksheet. Columns are listed as Dimensions and Measures, depending on the data type. The CData driver discovers data types automatically, allowing you to leverage the powerful data processing and visualization features of Tableau.
7. Drop the Industry column in the Dimensions pane onto the dashboard. When you select dimensions, Tableau builds a query to the driver. The results are grouped based on that dimension. In Tableau, the raw query is automatically modified as you select dimensions and measures.

8. Drag the AnnualRevenue column in the Measures field onto the Detail and Color buttons. Tableau executes the following query:

   SELECT Industry, SUM(AnnualRevenue) FROM Account GROUP BY Industry
   

   When you select a measure, Tableau executes a command to the driver to calculate a summary function, such as SUM, AVG, etc., on the grouped values. The SQL engine (embedded within the driver) is leveraged to process the aggregation of the data, where needed, providing a seamless experience in Tableau, regardless of the data source.

   To change the summary function, open the AnnualRevenue menu and select the summary you want in the Measure command.

   👁 A simple visualization that shows the latest data.
   

9. You can create other charts using dimensions and measures to build SQL queries visually:

   👁 A dashboard with several visualizations. The SQL query that corresponds to each chart is shown next to the chart. (Google Sheets is shown.)
   

With the CData ODBC Driver for Salesforce, you get live connectivity to your Salesforce data, allowing you to build real-time charts, graphs, and more.