Create Data Visualizations Based On SAP ByDesign Data in Mode

Mode is a collaborative data platform that combines SQL, R, Python, and visual analytics in one place. When paired with CData Connect AI, you get instant, cloud-to-cloud access to SAP ByDesign data for use in data visualizations. This article shows how to connect to SAP ByDesign in Connect AI, connect to SAP ByDesign data in Mode, and create a simple visualization using that data.

CData Connect AI provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for SAP ByDesign, allowing you to build data visualizations from live SAP ByDesign data in Mode — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. In order to create visualizations, users write SQL queries to gather data. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to SAP ByDesign, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return the requested SAP ByDesign data.

Configure SAP ByDesign Connectivity for Mode

Connectivity to SAP ByDesign from Mode is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with SAP ByDesign data from Mode, we start by creating and configuring a SAP ByDesign connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
👁 Adding a Connection

2. Select "SAP ByDesign" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to SAP ByDesign.

   Set the following connection properties to connect to SAP ByDesign.

   • Url: Set this to the Url of your SAP ByDesign site. For example, https://test.sapbydesign.com
   • User: Set this to the username of your account.
   • Password: Set this to the password of your account.
   • CustomService or AnalyticsService: Only one of these must be specified. If you have a custom service you want to retrieve data from, specify CustomService. If you want to retrieve the reports of a analytical service, specify AnalyticsService.
     If neither is specified, 'cc_home_analytics.svc' will used as a default for the AnalyticsService property. If you are not sure what service to specify, you can always query the Services view to list available services.
   👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add SAP ByDesign 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.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create. 👁 Creating a new PAT
   
4. 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 SAP ByDesign data from Mode.

Connect to SAP ByDesign in Mode

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect AI from Mode to create a new SAP ByDesign data source.

1. Log-in to Mode 👁 Logging In
   
2. In the top-left corner of the screen, click the down-arrow next to your name and select Connect a Database... 👁 Selecting Connect to Database
   
3. On the next screen, select Microsoft SQL Server. 👁 Selecting Microsoft SQL Server
   
4. Enter the Microsoft SQL Server credentials:
   • Display Name: the name for the connection.
   • Host/Port: enter tds.cdata.com in the Host field and 14333 in the Port field.
   • Database name: enter the Connection Name of the CData Connect AI data source you want to connect to (for example, SAPByDesign1).
   • Username: enter your CData Connect AI username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect AI interface. For example, [email protected]
   • Password: enter the PAT you generated on the Settings page
   Leave the rest of the connection settings at their default values unless you need to modify them. 👁 Configuring connection settings
   
5. At the bottom of the page, click Connect to ensure that you can connect to CData Connect AI.
6. Upon success, the following screen appears. 👁 New database connection added.
   

Your connection is now available for use in Mode. To connect to additional data sources from your CData Connect AI account, repeat the setup steps above, changing the value for Database for each data source.

Creating A Mode Visualization

To create a visualization in Mode, follow these steps:

1. On the current screen, click New Report. The SQL query text editor appears. Enter the following query:

   			SELECT * FROM [SAPByDesign].[[Inventory Balance]];
   		

   Click Run. The app now shows the query result: 👁 Showing SQL query result.
   
2. Running the query activates the New Chart tab. Click this tab and select Pie Chart. 👁 Selecting pie chart.
   
3. Now, drop a dimension in the Color section and a measure in the Angle section. 👁 Creating visualization.
   

   We have now created a visualization of SAP ByDesign data in Mode using CData Connect AI!

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