Use the CData ODBC Driver for SAS xpt in MicroStrategy Desktop

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

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

Connect to SAS xpt as an ODBC Data Source

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

Connecting to Local SASXpt Files

You can connect to local SASXpt file by setting the URI to a folder containing SASXpt files.

Connecting to S3 data source

You can connect to Amazon S3 source to read SASXpt files. Set the following properties to connect:

• URI: Set this to the folder within your bucket that you would like to connect to.
• AWSAccessKey: Set this to your AWS account access key.
• AWSSecretKey: Set this to your AWS account secret key.
• TemporaryLocalFolder: Set this to the path, or URI, to the folder that is used to temporarily download SASXpt file(s).

Connecting to Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2

You can connect to ADLS Gen2 to read SASXpt files. Set the following properties to connect:

• URI: Set this to the name of the file system and the name of the folder which contacts your SASXpt files.
• AzureAccount: Set this to the name of the Azure Data Lake storage account.
• AzureAccessKey: Set this to our Azure DataLakeStore Gen 2 storage account access key.
• TemporaryLocalFolder: Set this to the path, or URI, to the folder that is used to temporarily download SASXpt file(s).

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 SAS xpt 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 SASXpt Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for SAS xpt
Description = My Description
URI = C:/folder

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

Connect to and Visualize SAS xpt Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

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

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 SAS xpt data (see below) and click Execute SQL to test the query.

   SELECT * FROM SampleTable_1
   

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

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