Use the CData ODBC Driver for SAP ByDesign in MicroStrategy Desktop

MicroStrategy is an analytics and mobility platform that enables data-driven innovation. When paired with the CData ODBC Driver for SAP ByDesign, you gain database-like access to live SAP ByDesign data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through adding SAP ByDesign as a data source in MicroStrategy Desktop and creating a simple visualization of SAP ByDesign data.

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

Connect to SAP ByDesign as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to SAP ByDesign follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments.

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.

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.

Windows

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.

Linux

If you are installing the CData ODBC Driver for SAP ByDesign in a Linux environment, the driver installation predefines a system DSN. You can modify the DSN by editing the system data sources file (/etc/odbc.ini) and defining the required connection properties.

/etc/odbc.ini

[CData SAPByDesign Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for SAP ByDesign
Description = My Description
URL = https://my999999.sapbydesign.com
User = username
Password = password
CustomService = servicename

For specific information on using these configuration files, please refer to the help documentation (installed and found online).

Connect to and Visualize SAP ByDesign Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

In addition to connecting SAP ByDesign in MicroStrategy enterprise products, you can connect to SAP ByDesign in MicroStrategy Desktop. Follow the steps below to add SAP ByDesign data as a dataset and create visualizations and reports of SAP ByDesign data.

1. Open MicroStrategy Desktop and create a new dossier.
2. In the datasets panel, click New Data, select Databases, and select Type a Query as the Import Option.
3. Add a new data source and choose DSN data sources.
4. Choose the DSN you previously configured (likely CData SAPByDesign Sys) and select Generic DBMS in the Version menu.
5. Set the User and Password properties for the DSN (or use placeholder values) and name the data source.
👁 Creating a new data source for SAP ByDesign.

6. Select the new database instance to view the tables. You may need to manually click the search icon in the Available Tables section to see the tables.
7. Create a SQL query for the SAP ByDesign data (see below) and click Execute SQL to test the query.

   SELECT * FROM [Inventory Balance]
   

   👁 Querying SAP ByDesign for data.
   NOTE: Since we create a live connection, we can execute a SELECT * query and utilize the filtering and aggregation features native to the MicroStrategy products.
8. Click Finish and choose to connect live.
9. Choose a visualization, choose fields to display (data types are discovered automatically through dynamic metadata discovery) and apply any filters to create a new visualization of SAP ByDesign data. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to SAP ByDesign, while any unsupported operations (which can include SQL functions and JOIN operations) will be managed client-side by the CData SQL Engine embedded in the driver. 👁 Visualize SAP ByDesign data.
   
10. Once you are finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

Using the CData ODBC Driver for SAP ByDesign in MicroStrategy Desktop, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on SAP ByDesign data. Read our other articles on connecting to SAP ByDesign in MicroStrategy and connecting to SAP ByDesign in MicroStrategy Web for more examples.