Use the CData ODBC Driver for Workday in Microsoft Power Query

Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism

You can use the CData Workday ODBC Driver with Microsoft Power Query. In this article, you will use the ODBC driver to import Workday data into Microsoft Power Query.

The CData ODBC Driver for Workday enables you to link to Workday data in Microsoft Power Query, ensuring that you see any updates. This article details how to use the ODBC driver to import 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

Connect to Workday as an ODBC Data Source

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.

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.

Import Workday Data

Follow the steps below to import Workday data using standard SQL:

From the ribbon in Excel, click Power Query -> From Other Data Sources -> From ODBC.
Enter the ODBC connection string. Below is a connection string using the default DSN created when you install the driver:
```
Provider=MSDASQL.1;Persist Security Info=False;DSN=CData Workday Source
```
Enter the SELECT statement to import data with. For example:
```
 SELECT Worker_Reference_WID, Legal_Name_Last_Name FROM Workers WHERE Legal_Name_Last_Name = 'Morgan'
 
```
👁 The ODBC connection string and SELECT query. (Salesforce is shown.)
Enter credentials, if required, and click Connect. The results of the query are displayed in the Query Editor Preview. You can combine queries from other data sources or refine the data with Power Query formulas. To load the query to the worksheet, click the Close and Load button.
👁 Tables loaded in Power Query. (Salesforce is shown.)

Ready to get started?

Download a free trial of the Workday ODBC Driver to get started:

Download Now

Learn more:

👁 Workday Icon
Workday ODBC Driver

The Workday ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live data from Workday, directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity.

Access Workday data like you would a database - read, write, and update Workday Cash Management, Compensation, Financial Management, Payroll, etc. through a standard ODBC Driver interface.

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