Bubble is a no-code platform that simplifies the process of developing and launching apps and businesses. When coupled with CData Connect AI, you gain effortless no-code access to Workday data for streamlined app development. This article guides you through the integration process from Bubble to Workday using CData Connect AI.
CData Connect AI provides a pure cloud-to-cloud OData interface for Workday data that allows you to integrate from Bubble to Workday data in real time.
About Workday Data Integration
CData provides the easiest way to access and integrate live data from Workday. Customers use CData connectivity to:
- Access the tables and datasets you create in Prism Analytics Data Catalog, working with the native Workday data hub without compromising the fidelity of your Workday system.
- Access Workday Reports-as-a-Service to surface data from departmental datasets not available from Prism and datasets larger than Prism allows.
- Access base data objects with WQL, REST, or SOAP, getting more granular, detailed access but with the potential need for Workday admins or IT to help craft queries.
Users frequently integrate Workday with analytics tools such as Tableau, Power BI, and Excel, and leverage our tools to replicate Workday data to databases or data warehouses. Access is secured at the user level, based on the authenticated user's identity and role.
For more information on configuring Workday to work with CData, refer to our Knowledge Base articles: Comprehensive Workday Connectivity through Workday WQL and Reports-as-a-Service & Workday + CData: Connection & Integration Best Practices.
Getting Started
Connect to Workday from Bubble
To work with Workday data from Bubble, we need to connect to Workday from Connect AI, provide user access to
the connection, and create a Workspace for the Workday data.
Connect to Workday from Connect AI
CData Connect AI uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.
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Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
👁 Adding a Connection
- Select "Workday" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source
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Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Workday.
To connect to Workday, users need to find the Tenant and BaseURL and then select their API type.
Obtaining the BaseURL and Tenant
To obtain the BaseURL and Tenant properties, log into Workday and search for "View API Clients." On this screen, you'll find the Workday REST API Endpoint, a URL that includes both the BaseURL and Tenant.
The format of the REST API Endpoint is: https://domain.com/subdirectories/mycompany, where:
- https://domain.com/subdirectories/ is the BaseURL.
- mycompany (the portion of the url after the very last slash) is the Tenant.
For example, in the REST API endpoint https://wd3-impl-services1.workday.com/ccx/api/v1/mycompany, the BaseURL is https://wd3-impl-services1.workday.com and the Tenant is mycompany.
Using ConnectionType to Select the API
The value you use for the ConnectionType property determines which Workday API you use. See our Community Article for more information on Workday connectivity options and best practices.
| API | ConnectionType Value |
|---|
| WQL | WQL |
| Reports as a Service | Reports |
| REST | REST |
| SOAP | SOAP |
Authentication
Your method of authentication depends on which API you are using.
- WQL, Reports as a Service, REST: Use OAuth authentication.
- SOAP: Use Basic or OAuth authentication.
See the Help documentation for more information on configuring OAuth with Workday.
👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
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Click Save & Test
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Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Workday Connection page and update the User-based permissions.
👁 Updating permissions
Add a Personal Access Token
When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.
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Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
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On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
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Give the PAT a name and click Create.
👁 Creating a new PAT
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The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.
Configure Workday Endpoints for Bubble
After connecting to Workday, create a workspace for your desired table(s).
- Navigate to the Workspaces page and click Add to create a new Workspace (or select an existing workspace).
👁 The Workspaces page.
👁 Adding a new Workspace.
- Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
- Select the Workday connection (e.g. Workday1) and click Next.
👁 Selecting an Asset (Salesforce is shown).
- Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm.
👁 Selecting Tables (Salesforce is shown).
- Make note of the OData Service URL for your workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}
With the connection, PAT, and Workspace configured, you are ready to connect to Workday data from Bubble.
Build a Workday-Connected App
With OData endpoints added to Connect AI, you can build an app in Bubble with live access to Workday data.
Configure the Bubble API Connector
To start, Configure the API Connector for accessing CData Connect AI from Bubble.
- In your app, click the Plugins tab and click Add plugins
- Search for "API Connector" and click Install
👁 Installing the API Connector plugin
- After installation, click the "Add another API" button and configure the API:
- Name the API
- Set Authentication to "HTTP Basic Auth"
- Set Username to a Connect AI user (e.g. [email protected])
- Set Password to the PAT for the user
- Expand the API Call, select the "GET" command and set the URL to a Workspace endpoint you previously configured (e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}/Workers)
👁 Configuring the API Call
- Click the "Initialize call" button to adjust data types in the response (as needed)
👁 Initializing the call
- After making any necessary changes, click "Save"
👁 Saving the data types
Configure the App UI
With the API Connector configure, you are ready to retrieve Workday data in your Bubble app. In this article, we request the data with a UI component that can display an Excel-like table.
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On the Plugin tab, install the "Excel-like HandsonTable"
👁 Adding the Excel-like HandsonTable plugin
- On the Design tab, add an "Excel Table" to the workspace
👁 Adding an Excel Table to the app
- In the Excel Table, in Data source, select "Get data from an external API"
- Set Type of content to "API Call value"
- Set Data source to "CData Connect AI - API Call's value" (or equivalent)
👁 Binding the Excel Table to the API Call
- Click "Preview" to ensure the data was retrieved from Workday.
👁 Previewing the app
At this point, you can develop applications with live access to Workday data without needing to know the complexities of the back-end API.
Live Access to Workday Data from Cloud Applications
Now you have a direct connection to live Workday data from Bubble. You can create more Workday-connected apps — all without writing any code or replicating Workday data.
To get live data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, see the CData Connect AI.
