Viewing SAP BusinessObjects BI Data in RAD Studio Data Explorer

Embarcadero RAD Studio provides a development environment for Delphi and C++Builder applications. With the CData ODBC Driver for SAP BusinessObjects BI, you gain access to live SAP BusinessObjects BI data within RAD Studio, abstracting the data into tables, views, and stored procedures that can be used to both retrieve SAP BusinessObjects BI data. This article will walk through connecting to SAP BusinessObjects BI using the Data Explorer.

Configure a Connection to SAP BusinessObjects BI

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.

To connect to your SAP Business Objects BI instance, you must set the following connection properties:

• Url: set this to the rest API URL. After logging into the Central Management Console, choose 'Applications' from the combo box. Double-click on 'RESTful Web Service' and you'll see the access URL. By default it is, http://{Server-Name}:6405/biprws.
• User: set this to the username of your instance.
• Password: set this to the password of your instance.

Connecting to SAP BusinessObjects BI Data Using Data Explorer

You can create a simple application for displaying SAP BusinessObjects BI data by utilizing the CData FireDAC Components for SAP BusinessObjects BI and a new VCL Forms Application:

1. Open the Data Explorer in RAD Studio and expand FireDAC.
2. Right-click the ODBC Data Source node in the Data Explorer.
3. Click Add New Connection. 👁 Adding a New Connection. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
4. Enter a name for the connection.
5. In the FireDAC Connection Editor that appears, set the DataSource property to the name of the ODBC DSN for SAP BusinessObjects BI. 👁 Setting the Connection Parameters. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
6. Back in the Data Explorer, expand the views for the connection.

7. Create a new VCL Forms application and drag a view (for example: MyCustomReport) onto the form.

   👁 Placing the View on the Form. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
8. Select the MyCustomReportView object on the form and set the Active property to true.

9. Right-click on the object, bind visually, and link everything (*) to a new control (TStringGrid).

   👁 Visually Binding the View. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

10. Arrange the TStringGrid on the form and run the application to see the MyCustomReport data.

    👁 The View data on a Form. (Salesforce is shown.)
    

Related Articles

Below you can find other articles for using the CData ODBC Driver with RAD Studio, Delphi, and C++ Builder.

• DataBind Controls to SAP BusinessObjects BI Data in C++Builder
• DataBind Controls to SAP BusinessObjects BI Data in Delphi
• Build a Simple VCL Application for SAP BusinessObjects BI Data