Connect to SAP BusinessObjects BI Data in Ruby

The CData ODBC Driver for SAP BusinessObjects BI makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live SAP BusinessObjects BI data in Ruby. This article shows how to create a simple Ruby app that connects to SAP BusinessObjects BI data, executes a query, and displays the results.

Create an ODBC Connection to SAP BusinessObjects BI Data

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.

Installing Ruby and Necessary Gems

If you do not have Ruby installed, refer to the Ruby installation page. With Ruby installed, you will need to install the ruby-dbi, dbd-odbc, and ruby-odbc gems:

gem install dbi
gem install dbd-odbc
gem install ruby-odbc

Create a Ruby App with Connectivity to SAP BusinessObjects BI Data

Create a new Ruby file (for example: SAPBusinessObjectsBISelect.rb) and open it in a text editor. Copy the following code into your file:

#connect to the DSN
require 'dbi'
cnxn = DBI.connect('DBI:ODBC:CData SAPBusinessObjectsBI Source','','')

#execute a SELECT query and store the result set
resultSet = cnxn.execute("SELECT StoreName, TotalRevenue FROM MyCustomReport WHERE State = 'CA'")

#display the names of the columns
resultSet.column_names.each do |name|
 print name, "\t"
end
puts

#display the results
while row = resultSet.fetch do
 (0..resultSet.column_names.size - 1).each do |n|
 print row[n], "\t"
 end
 puts
end
resultSet.finish

#close the connection
cnxn.disconnect if cnxn

With the file completed, you are ready to display your SAP BusinessObjects BI data with Ruby. To do so, simply run your file from the command line:

ruby SAPBusinessObjectsBISelect.rb

Writing SQL-92 queries to SAP BusinessObjects BI allows you to quickly and easily incorporate SAP BusinessObjects BI data into your own Ruby applications. Download a free trial today!