Connect to SAP Ariba Source in SpagoBI

The CData JDBC Driver for SAP Ariba Source enables you to connect to live SAP Ariba Source data from business intelligence and data mining tools that support the JDBC standard. This article shows how to integrate SAP Ariba Source data into a report in SpagoBI Studio and host it on SpagoBI Server.

• Deploy the Driver in SpagoBI Server
• Create a Report in SpagoBI Studio
• Host SAP Ariba Source Reports on SpagoBI Server

Deploy the JDBC Driver in SpagoBI Server

Follow the steps to create a JDBC data source for SAP Ariba Source in SpagoBI Server.

1. Copy the driver JAR into %CATALINA_BASE%/lib. These files are located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.

2. Add a SAP Ariba Source driver resource to the context. The following resource definition can be added to the GlobalNamingResources element in server.xml:

   <Resource name="jdbc/saparibasource" auth="Container" type="javax.sql.DataSource" driverclassname="cdata.jdbc.saparibasource.SAPAribaSourceDriver" factory="org.apache.tomcat.jdbc.pool.DataSourceFactory" maxactive="20" maxidle="10" maxwait="-1"/>

3. Add the following resource link to give access to Web applications. For this article, add the following line to META-INF\context.xml for SpagoBI.

   <ResourceLink global="jdbc/saparibasource" name="jdbc/saparibasource" type="javax.sql.DataSource"/>
   

4. Restart the server.

After adding the driver to the resources for the SpagoBI server, add the data source: In SpagoBI, click Resources -> Data Source -> Add and enter the following information:

• Label: Enter a unique identifier for the driver.
• Description: Enter a description for the driver.
• Dialect: Select Default Dialect.
• Read Only: Select the read-only option. This option determines whether the data source is the default database to save datasets created by the end user.
• Type: Select JDBC.
• URL: Enter the JDBC URL using the required connection string properties:

  In order to connect with SAP Ariba Source, set the following:

  • API: Specify which API you would like the provider to retrieve SAP Ariba data from. Select the Supplier, Sourcing Project Management, or Contract API based on your business role (possible values are SupplierDataAPIWithPaginationV4, SourcingProjectManagementAPIV2, or ContractAPIV1).
  • DataCenter: The data center where your account's data is hosted.
  • Realm: The name of the site you want to access.
  • Environment: Indicate whether you are connecting to a test or production environment (possible values are TEST or PRODUCTION).

  If you are connecting to the Supplier Data API or the Contract API, additionally set the following:

  • User: Id of the user on whose behalf API calls are invoked.
  • PasswordAdapter: The password associated with the authenticating User.

  If you're connecting to the Supplier API, set ProjectId to the Id of the sourcing project you want to retrieve data from.

  Authenticating with OAuth

  After setting connection properties, you need to configure OAuth connectivity to authenticate.

  • Set AuthScheme to OAuthClient.
  • Register an application with the service to obtain the APIKey, OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret.

    For more information on creating an OAuth application, refer to the Help documentation.

  Automatic OAuth

  After setting the following, you are ready to connect:

  APIKey: The Application key in your app settings. OAuthClientId: The OAuth Client Id in your app settings. OAuthClientSecret: The OAuth Secret in your app settings.

  When you connect, the provider automatically completes the OAuth process:

  1. The provider obtains an access token from SAP Ariba and uses it to request data.
  2. The provider refreshes the access token automatically when it expires.
  3. The OAuth values are saved in memory relative to the location specified in OAuthSettingsLocation.

  Built-in Connection String Designer

  For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the SAP Ariba Source JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

  java -jar cdata.jdbc.saparibasource.jar
  

  Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

  👁 Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)
  

  A typical JDBC URL is below:

  jdbc:saparibasource:API=SupplierDataAPIWithPagination-V4;APIKey=wWVLn7WTAXrIRMAzZ6VnuEj7Ekot5jnU;Environment=SANDBOX;Realm=testRealm;AuthScheme=OAuthClient;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;
  

• Driver: Enter the class name for the driver: cdata.jdbc.saparibasource.SAPAribaSourceDriver

👁 The configuration for the SAP Ariba Source JDBC data source. (Salesforce is shown.)

Create Reports in SpagoBI Studio

Follow the steps below to populate reports based on SAP Ariba Source data in SpagoBI Studio. You will create a dataset that populates a chart with the results of an SQL query. In the next section, you will host this report on SpagoBI Server.

First, you will need to connect to SAP Ariba Source data from a report in SpagoBI Studio:

1. In SpagoBI Studio, click File -> New -> Project and select Report Project in the Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools folder.
2. Click File -> New -> Report and select Blank Report.
3. In the Data Explorer view, right-click Data Sources and click New Data Source.
4. Select JDBC Data Source and enter a name for the data source.
5. Click Manage Drivers and click Add to add the driver JAR, cdata.jdbc.saparibasource.jar. The driver JAR is located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
6. In the Driver Class menu, select the driver class, cdata.jdbc.saparibasource.SAPAribaSourceDriver.
7. In the Database URL box, enter the JDBC URL. A typical JDBC URL is below:

   jdbc:saparibasource:API=SupplierDataAPIWithPagination-V4;APIKey=wWVLn7WTAXrIRMAzZ6VnuEj7Ekot5jnU;Environment=SANDBOX;Realm=testRealm;AuthScheme=OAuthClient;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;
   

   See the "Getting Started" chapter of the driver help for a guide to obtaining the required connection properties. 👁 The JDBC data source. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

After you have connected to SAP Ariba Source data, create a dataset that contains the results of an SQL query:

1. Right-click the DataSet folder and click New Data Set. Select the JDBC data source for SAP Ariba Source and enter a name for the dataset.
2. Build the SQL query. In this example, this query will be used to add a chart to the dashboard. For example:

   SELECT SMVendorID, Category FROM Vendors WHERE Region = 'USA'
   

   👁 The query to be used to populate a chart. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

You can use the dataset to populate report objects. Follow the steps below to create a chart.

1. In the Palette view, drag a chart onto the canvas.
2. In the Select Chart Type tab, select a bar chart.
3. In the Select Data tab, click the Use Data From option and select the SAP Ariba Source data set from the menu.
4. Drag SMVendorID from the table to the series for the x-axis.
5. Drag Category from the table to the series for the y-axis. 👁 Columns in the dataset defined as the x- and y-axes for the chart. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

Host SAP Ariba Source Reports on SpagoBI Server

Follow the steps below to host documents based on live SAP Ariba Source data on SpagoBI Server. You will use the report you created in the previous section as a template. To enable report users to access the live data, create placeholder parameters to be replaced by the SAP Ariba Source JDBC data source on the server:

1. If you have not already done so, open the Report Design perspective in SpagoBI Studio.
2. In the Data Explorer view, right-click the Report Parameters folder and click New Parameter. Add the url parameter and assign an empty value to it. This parameter is a placeholder for the JDBC data source on the SpagoBI Server.
3. Right-click the SAP Ariba Source data source and click Edit.

4. In the Property Binding node, set the JDBC Driver URL binding property to the url parameter: Click the box for the property. In the Category section, select Report Parameters. Select All in the Subcategory section and double-click the parameter.

   You can also enter the following in the JavaScript syntax:

   params["url"].value
   

   👁 Placeholder values in the report for the JDBC data source on the server.
   

Next, create a new document for the report on SpagoBI Server.

1. In SpagoBI Server, click Documents Development -> Create Document -> Generic Document. The Document Details page is displayed.
2. To create the document, enter the following:
   • Label: Enter a unique identifier for the document.
   • Name: Enter a user-friendly name for the document.
   • Type: Select Report from the menu.
   • Engine: Select BIRT Report Engine.
   • Data Source: Select the SAP Ariba Source Data Source you created in Create a JDBC Data Source for SAP Ariba Source in SpagoBI Server.
3. In the Show Document Templates section, select the folder where you want the document to be stored.

4. In the Template section, click Choose File. Navigate to the folder containing your report project. Select the .rptdesign file.

   Note: You can find the path to the project in the project properties.

5. Click the Save button.

👁 The document using the report as a template. (Salesforce is shown.)

When you run the report on the server, the placeholder url parameter is replaced with the JDBC URL defined on the server.

👁 The chart running on the SpagoBI Server. (Salesforce is shown.)