How to publish and share SAP Netweaver Gateway Data dashboards with Tableau Server

Integrate connectivity to SAP Netweaver Gateway data into your enterprise reporting capabilities. The CData ODBC Driver for SAP Netweaver Gateway enables you to access live SAP Netweaver Gateway data in business intelligence tools like Tableau Server. Connectivity to SAP Netweaver Gateway APIs enables you to monitor changes to your data in real time. Other members of your organization can access your dashboards from a Web browser and get updates from their mobile phone.

This article explains how to configure a DSN on the client and server machines, publish a data source for SAP Netweaver Gateway to Tableau Server, and publish an entire Workbook to Tableau Server (including the data source). If you publish a data source, you will be able to create new, refreshable workbooks in Tableau Server.

Connect to SAP Netweaver Gateway as an ODBC Data Source

To create a data source or workbook in Tableau Desktop and publish the data source or workbook to Tableau server, you will need to configure a DSN on each machine (Desktop and Server), specifying connection properties and creating DSNs using the same name on each machine. 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 are installing the CData ODBC Driver for SAP Netweaver Gateway on Windows, DSN configuration is the last step of the driver installation. If you already have the driver installed, or you wish to configure new DSNs, you can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator.

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 Source]
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).

Publish the SAP Netweaver Gateway Data Source to Tableau Server

With the connections to SAP Netweaver Gateway data configured, you are ready to publish a SAP Netweaver Gateway data source on Tableau, ready to be leveraged by users in your organization to create workbooks based on SAP Netweaver Gateway data.

Create and Publish a Data Source

1. In the Connect pane, click More -> Other Databases (ODBC). Select CData SAPGateway Sys, the system DSN.

   The driver installation automatically creates matching user and system DSNs: The system DSN is needed to connect from Tableau Server.

   👁 The connection to the DSN. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
2. In the Database menu, select CData.
3. In the Table box, enter a table name or click New Custom SQL to enter an SQL query.
4. Drag the table onto the join area. 👁 A connection to a single table. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
5. From the Server menu, click Publish Data Source -> (YOUR DATA SOURCE). 👁 Image
   
6. Enter the URL to the server. For most instances, you will authenticate with the Tableau Server username and password. Other authentication scenarios can be found below:
   • If Tableau is configured to use Kerberos and your computer has valid Active Directory credentials, Tableau connects to the server.
   • If Tableau is configured to use SAML, a login prompt for your external identity provider is displayed.
   • If Tableau is configured to use Active Directory, enter your Windows username and password.
7. In the resulting dialog, set the Project, Data Source, and other properties. If you want to schedule refreshes, select Embedded Password in the Authentication menu. Click Publish.

You and other users in your organization can now create and share workbooks based on the published data source.

👁 Connectivity to your data source from the Web authoring environment in Tableau Server. (Salesforce is shown.)

Refresh Workbooks

With a system DSN configured on the client (Tableau Desktop) machine and server (Tableau Server) machine, you can refresh workbooks connected to the SAP Netweaver Gateway data source. From the Web interface for Tableau Sever, click Data -> (YOUR DATA SOURCE) -> Refresh.

👁 Refresh the data extract on demand from Tableau Desktop. (Salesforce is shown.)

Publish a Completed Workbook with SAP Netweaver Gateway Data to Tableau Server

If you have a specific Workbook that you wish to share with your organization, you can create the Workbook on Tableau Desktop and publish the Workbook directly to Tableau Server.

1. To connect to SAP Netweaver Gateway and select data, follow steps 1-5 above. 👁 A connection to a single table. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
2. Click Server -> Sign in and configure the connection to the server. For most instances, you will authenticate with the Tableau Server username and password. Other authentication scenarios can be found below:
   • If Tableau is configured to use Kerberos and your computer has valid Active Directory credentials, Tableau connects to the server.
   • If Tableau is configured to use SAML, a login prompt for your external identity provider is displayed.
   • If Tableau is configured to use Active Directory, enter your Windows username and password.
3. With the data selected, select dimensions and measures to visualize and select a type of chart or graph to build your visualization(s). 👁 Image
   
4. Once the Workbook is complete, click Server -> Publish Workbook to publish the Workbook to Tableau Server. 👁 Image
   
5. In the resulting dialog, set the Project, Name, Description and other properties. If you want to schedule refreshes, click Edit under Data Sources and change the Authentication option to Embedded Password. Click Publish. 👁 Image
   

You and other users in your organization can now review the published workbook from Tableau Server.

👁 Connectivity to your published Workbook from the Web authoring environment in Tableau Server. (Salesforce is shown.)