Use the CData ODBC Driver for Scrapfly in MicroStrategy Desktop

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

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

Connect to Scrapfly as an ODBC Data Source

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

The Scrapfly API uses API Key authentication. The API key is passed as the key query parameter on every request.

Using API Key Authentication

Your Scrapfly API key is required to create a connection. To obtain your API key:

1. Log into your Scrapfly account at scrapfly.io.
2. Navigate to Dashboard and select API Keys.
3. Copy your API key (begins with scp-live- for production or scp-test- for the test environment).

After obtaining your API key, set the following connection properties:

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
• APIKey: Set this to your Scrapfly API key.

Example connection string:

Profile=C:\profiles\Scrapfly.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key';

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 Scrapfly 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 API Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for Scrapfly
Description = My Description
Profile = C:\profiles\Scrapfly.apip
AuthScheme = APIKey
ProfileSettings = 'APIKey = your_api_key'

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

Connect to and Visualize Scrapfly Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

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

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

   SELECT * FROM Account
   

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

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