Use the CData ODBC Driver for Tableau CRM Analytics in MicroStrategy Desktop

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

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

Connect to Tableau CRM Analytics as an ODBC Data Source

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

Tableau CRM Analytics uses the OAuth 2 authentication standard. Obtain the OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret by registering an app with Tableau CRM Analytics.

See the Getting Started section of the Help documentation for an authentication guide.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

If the connected Salesforce org has MFA enforcement enabled, set MFACode to the time-based one-time passcode (TOTP) generated by your authenticator app (such as Salesforce Authenticator or Google Authenticator). MFACode applies alongside the standard OAuth flow.

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 Tableau CRM Analytics 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 TableauCRM Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for Tableau CRM Analytics
Description = My Description
OAuthClientId = MyConsumerKey
OAuthClientSecret = MyConsumerSecret
CallbackURL = http://localhost:portNumber
InitiateOAuth = GETANDREFRESH
MFACode = YourMFACode

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

Connect to and Visualize Tableau CRM Analytics Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

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

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 Tableau CRM Analytics data (see below) and click Execute SQL to test the query.

   SELECT * FROM Dataset_Opportunity
   

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

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