Build Dashboards with XML Data in DBxtra

The CData ODBC driver for XML enables access to live data from XML under the ODBC standard, allowing you work with XML data in a wide variety of BI, reporting, and ETL tools and directly, using familiar SQL queries. This article shows how to connect to XML data as a generic ODBC Data Provider and create charts, reports, and dashboards based on XML data in DBxtra.

Connect to XML Data

1. If you have not already done so, provide values for the required connection properties in the data source name (DSN). You can configure the DSN using the built-in Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator. This is also the last step of the driver installation. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the Help documentation for a guide to using the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure a DSN.
   
   

   Connecting to Local or Cloud-Stored (Box, Google Drive, Amazon S3, SharePoint) XML Files

   CData Drivers let you work with XML files stored locally and stored in cloud storage services like Box, Amazon S3, Google Drive, or SharePoint, right where they are.

   Setting connection properties for local files

   Set the URI property to local folder path.

   Setting connection properties for files stored in Amazon S3

   To connect to XML file(s) within Amazon S3, set the URI property to the URI of the Bucket and Folder where the intended XML files exist. In addition, at least set these properties:

   • AWSAccessKey: AWS Access Key (username)
   • AWSSecretKey: AWS Secret Key

   Setting connection properties for files stored in Box

   To connect to XML file(s) within Box, set the URI property to the URI of the folder that includes the intended XML file(s). Use the OAuth authentication method to connect to Box.

   Dropbox

   To connect to XML file(s) within Dropbox, set the URI proprerty to the URI of the folder that includes the intended XML file(s). Use the OAuth authentication method to connect to Dropbox. Either User Account or Service Account can be used to authenticate.

   SharePoint Online (SOAP)

   To connect to XML file(s) within SharePoint with SOAP Schema, set the URI proprerty to the URI of the document library that includes the intended XML file. Set User, Password, and StorageBaseURL.

   SharePoint Online REST

   To connect to XML file(s) within SharePoint with REST Schema, set the URI proprerty to the URI of the document library that includes the intended XML file. StorageBaseURL is optional. If not set, the driver will use the root drive. OAuth is used to authenticate.

   Google Drive

   To connect to XML file(s) within Google Drive, set the URI property to the URI of the folder that includes the intended XML file(s). Use the OAuth authentication method to connect and set InitiateOAuth to GETANDREFRESH.

   The property is the controlling property over how your data is represented into tables and toggles the following basic configurations.

   • Document (default): Model a top-level, document view of your XML data. The data provider returns nested elements as aggregates of data.
   • FlattenedDocuments: Implicitly join nested documents and their parents into a single table.
   • Relational: Return individual, related tables from hierarchical data. The tables contain a primary key and a foreign key that links to the parent document.

   See the Modeling XML Data chapter for more information on configuring the relational representation. You will also find the sample data used in the following examples. The data includes entries for people, the cars they own, and various maintenance services performed on those cars.

   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.

2. Open the DBxtra application and in the New menu click Project and name the Project. 👁 Creating a New Project.
   
3. Select ODBC Connection as the Data Connection Type. 👁 Creating an ODBC Connection.
   
4. Click the browse option () for the Data Source.
5. In the Data Link Properties window, select Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers on the Provider tab. 👁 Select the Provider
   
6. On the Connection tab, select the Data Source Name and the initial catalog to use (CData). 👁 Select the Provider
   
7. Name the Connection and select the appropriate User Groups. 👁 Connection name and User Groups
   
8. Double-click the Connection from within the Project to connect to the data. 👁 Connecting to the data.
   

Create a Dashboard with XML Data

You are now ready to create a dashboard with XML data.

1. Right-click Report Objects under the Project and select New Report Object. 👁 Creating a Report Object for the Project
   
2. In the new Report Object, click the link to create the Query.
3. In the Select Data Connection window, select the newly created data connection. 👁 Select Data Connection
   
4. On the Query tab, expand the connection objects and select the Tables, Views, and specific columns you wish to include in your dashboard. You can specify search requirements and even create complex queries which include JOINs and aggregations. 👁 Selecting the data/building the query.
   
5. On the Dashboard tab, select the visualizations and features for your dashboard. Assign the data values from the query to the appropriate fields for the Dashboards items (Values, Series, etc.) 👁 Building the Dashboard.
   

With a new Dashboard created, you are ready to begin analysis of XML data. Thanks to the ODBC Driver for XML, you can refresh the Dashboard and immediately see any changes made at the source. In the same way, you can create and view Reports with live, up-to-date XML data.