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URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/workday-odata-power-query.rst

⇱ Import Workday Data into Microsoft Power Query

Import Workday Data into Microsoft Power Query

👁 Stanley Liu
Stanley Liu
Associate Technical Product Marketer
The CData API Server offers standards-based Web service endpoints that allow a variety of applications to access Workday data. In this article, you will use the OData format to import Workday data into Microsoft Power Query.

The CData API Server enables you to use REST, OData, JSON, or Open APIs to connect to and query Workday data. The OData standard enables real-time access to the live data, and support for OData is integrated into PowerQuery. This article details how to import an OData feed of Workday data into Microsoft Power Query.

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


Set Up the API Server

If you have not already done so, download the CData API Server. Once you have installed the API Server, follow the steps below to begin producing secure Workday OData services:

Connect to Workday

To work with Workday data from Microsoft Power Query, we start by creating and configuring a Workday connection. Follow the steps below to configure the API Server to connect to Workday data:

  1. First, navigate to the Connections page.
  2. Click Add Connection and then search for and select the Workday connection. 👁 Selecting a data source (SQLite is shown)
  3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Workday. 👁 Connecting to a datasource (SQLite is shown)
  4. After configuring the connection, click Save & Test to confirm a successful connection.

Configure API Server Users

Next, create a user to access your Workday data through the API Server. You can add and configure users on the Users page. Follow the steps below to configure and create a user:

  1. On the Users page, click Add User to open the Add User dialog.
  2. Next, set the Role, Username, and Privileges properties and then click Add User. 👁 Configure a new user.
  3. An Authtoken is then generated for the user. You can find the Authtoken and other information for each user on the Users page: 👁 API Server user settings.

Creating API Endpoints for Workday

Having created a user, you are ready to create API endpoints for the Workday tables:

  1. First, navigate to the API page and then click Add Table . 👁 Add tables
  2. Select the connection you wish to access and click Next. 👁 Select the connection (SQLite is shown)
  3. With the connection selected, create endpoints by selecting each table and then clicking Confirm. 👁 Adding tables from the connection (SQLite is shown)

Gather the OData Url

Having configured a connection to Workday data, created a user, and added resources to the API Server, you now have an easily accessible REST API based on the OData protocol for those resources. From the API page in API Server, you can view and copy the API Endpoints for the API:

👁 API Endpoints

Connect to Workday Data from Power Query

  1. In Microsoft Excel, open the Power Query Editor. From the Data ribbon, click Get Data -> Launch Power Query Editor: 👁 Launch the Power Query Editor
  2. Click New Source -> Other Sources -> OData feed: 👁 Open OData feed connection
  3. In the OData feed connection, set the URL property to the OData Endpoint URL previously copied and click OK: 👁 The URL of the OData endpoint for API Server
  4. In the next step of the wizard, define the authentication credentials. Select Basic and then enter the credentials for a user authorized to make requests. Specify the User name and enter the user's authtoken in the Password field: 👁 Authenticating with API Server
  5. You can now access Workday data in Power Query. In the Navigator expand the node for the OData feed, right-click a table, and click Transform Data to open the Query Editor. This will display the table data. 👁 Table loaded in Power Query (SQLite is shown)

Free Trial & More Information

If you are interested in connecting to your Workday data (or data from any of our other supported data sources) from Microsoft Power Query, download API Server to begin creating flexible and customizable REST, OData, JSON and Open APIs from any database or data store! As always, our world-class support team is ready to answer any questions you may have.