Use the CData ODBC Driver for SAP Netweaver Gateway in MicroStrategy Desktop

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

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

Connect to SAP Netweaver Gateway as an ODBC Data Source

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

SAP Gateway allows both basic and OAuth 2.0 authentication. You can use basic authentication to connect to your own account, or you can use OAuth to enable other users to retrieve data from your service with their accounts. In addition to authenticating, set the following connection properties to access SAP Gateway tables.

• Url: Set this to the URL of your environment, or to the full URL of the service. For example, the full URL might appear as: https://sapes5.sapdevcenter.com/sap/opu/odata/IWBEP/GWSAMPLE_BASIC/. In this example, the environment URL would just be: https://sapes5.sapdevcenter.com.
• Namespace: Set the appropriate Service Namespace. In the example above, IWBEP is the namespace. It is optional if the full URL to the service is specified.
• Service: Set this to the service you want to retrieve data from. In the example above, the service is GWSAMPLE_BASIC. It is not required if the full URL is specified.

Authenticate via Basic Authentication

In basic authentication, you use your login credentials to connect. Set the following properties:

• User: This is the username you use to log in to SAP Gateway.
• Password: This is the password you use to log in to SAP Gateway.

Authenticate via OAuth Authentication

You can connect to SAP Gateway using the embedded OAuth connectivity (without setting any additional authentication connection properties). When you connect, the OAuth endpoint opens in your browser. Log in and grant permissions to complete the OAuth process. See the OAuth section in the online Help documentation for more information on other OAuth authentication flows.

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 Netweaver Gateway 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 SAPGateway Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for SAP Netweaver Gateway
Description = My Description
User = user
Password = password
URL = https://sapes5.sapdevcenter.com/sap/opu/odata/IWBEP/GWSAMPLE_BASIC/
InitiateOAuth = GETANDREFRESH

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

Connect to and Visualize SAP Netweaver Gateway Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

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

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 Netweaver Gateway data (see below) and click Execute SQL to test the query.

   SELECT * FROM SalesOrderLineItems
   

   👁 Querying SAP Netweaver Gateway 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 Netweaver Gateway data. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to SAP Netweaver Gateway, 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 Netweaver Gateway data.
   
10. Once you are finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

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