Create ODBC Data Source (DSN) based on ZappySys API Driver

Step-by-step instructions

To get data from Cosmos DB using SAP Crystal Reports we first need to create a DSN (Data Source) which will access data from Cosmos DB. We will later be able to read data using SAP Crystal Reports. Perform these steps:

1. Download and install ODBC PowerPack.

2. Open ODBC Data Sources (x64):

   

3. Create a User data source (User DSN) based on ZappySys API Driver:

   ZappySys API Driver

   
   • Create and use User DSN if the client application is run under a User Account. This is an ideal option in design-time, when developing a solution, e.g. in Visual Studio 2019. Use it for both type of applications - 64-bit and 32-bit.
   • Create and use System DSN if the client application is launched under a System Account, e.g. as a Windows Service. Usually, this is an ideal option to use in a production environment. Use ODBC Data Source Administrator (32-bit), instead of 64-bit version, if Windows Service is a 32-bit application.

4. When the Configuration window appears give your data source a name if you haven't done that already, then select "Cosmos DB" from the list of Popular Connectors. If "Cosmos DB" is not present in the list, then click "Search Online" and download it. Then set the path to the location where you downloaded it. Finally, click Continue >> to proceed with configuring the DSN:

   CosmosDbDSN

   Cosmos DB

   

5. Now it's time to configure the Connection Manager. Select Authentication Type, e.g. Token Authentication. Then select API Base URL (in most cases, the default one is the right one). More info is available in the Authentication section.

   API Key

   Cosmos DB authentication

   Connecting to your Azure Cosmos DB data requires you to authenticate your REST API access. Follow the instructions below:

   1. Go to your Azure portal homepage: https://portal.azure.com/.
   2. In the search bar at the top of the homepage, enter Azure Cosmos DB. In the dropdown that appears, select Azure Cosmos DB.
   3. Click on the name of the database account you want to connect to (also copy and paste the name of the database account for later use).
   4. On the next page where you can see all of the database account information, look along the left side and select Keys:
   5. On the Keys page, you will have two tabs: Read-write Keys and Read-only Keys. If you are going to write data to your database, you need to remain on the Read-write Keys tab. If you are only going to read data from your database, you should select the Read-only Keys tab.
   6. On the Keys page, copy the PRIMARY KEY value and paste it somewhere for later use (the SECONDARY KEY value may also be copied and used).
   7. Now go to SSIS package or ODBC data source and use this PRIMARY KEY in API Key authentication configuration.
   8. Enter the primary or secondary key you recorded in step 6 into the Primary or Secondary Key field.
   9. Then enter the database account you recorded in step 3 into the Database Account field.
   10. Next, enter or select the default database you want to connect to using the Defualt Database field.
   11. Continue by entering or selecting the default table (i.e. container/collection) you want to connect to using the Default Table (Container/Collection) field.
   12. Select the Test Connection button at the bottom of the window to verify proper connectivity with your Azure Devops account.
   13. If the connection test succeeds, select OK.
   14. Done! Now you are ready to use Asana Connector!

   API Connection Manager configuration

   Just perform these simple steps to finish authentication configuration:

   1. Set Authentication Type to API Key [Http]
   2. Optional step. Modify API Base URL if needed (in most cases default will work).
   3. Fill in all the required parameters and set optional parameters if needed.
   4. Finally, hit OK button:

   CosmosDbDSN

   Cosmos DB

   API Key [Http]

   https://[$Account$].documents.azure.com

   Required Parameters
   Primary or Secondary Key	Fill-in the parameter...
   Account Name (Case-Sensitive)	Fill-in the parameter...
   Database Name (keep blank to use default) Case-Sensitive	Fill-in the parameter...
   API Version	Fill-in the parameter...
   Optional Parameters
   Default Table (needed to invoke #DirectSQL)

   

6. Once the data source connection has been configured, it's time to configure the SQL query. Select the Preview tab and then click Query Builder button to configure the SQL query:

   

   ZappySys API Driver - Cosmos DB

   Connect to your Azure Cosmos DB databases to read, query, create, update, and delete documents and more!

   CosmosDbDSN

   

7. Start by selecting the Table or Endpoint you are interested in and then configure the parameters. This will generate a query that we will use in SAP Crystal Reports to retrieve data from Cosmos DB. Hit OK button to use this query in the next step.

   #DirectSQL SELECT * FROM root where root.id !=null order by root._ts desc

   
   Some parameters configured in this window will be passed to the Cosmos DB API, e.g. filtering parameters. It means that filtering will be done on the server side (instead of the client side), enabling you to get only the meaningful data much faster.

8. Now hit Preview Data button to preview the data using the generated SQL query. If you are satisfied with the result, use this query in SAP Crystal Reports:

   

   ZappySys API Driver - Cosmos DB

   Connect to your Azure Cosmos DB databases to read, query, create, update, and delete documents and more!

   CosmosDbDSN

   #DirectSQL SELECT * FROM root where root.id !=null order by root._ts desc

   
   You can also access data quickly from the tables dropdown by selecting <Select table>.
   A WHERE clause, LIMIT keyword will be performed on the client side, meaning that the whole result set will be retrieved from the Cosmos DB API first, and only then the filtering will be applied to the data. If possible, it is recommended to use parameters in Query Builder to filter the data on the server side (in Cosmos DB servers).

9. Click OK to finish creating the data source.

Video Tutorial

Read data in SAP Crystal Reports from the ODBC data source

1. First of all, open SAP Crystal Reports and create the new Crystal Report.

   

2. And it will open the new data source selection window. Under ODBC(RDO) double click on the Make New Connection and Select the desired ODBC DSN, in our case we need to select CosmosDbDSN which we created in upper section. And Click on Next.

   CosmosDbDSN

   

3. Expand the Connection and under the data select the desired table(s) or view(s) and click Add > button and click on Next.

   CosmosDbDSN

   CosmosDbDSN

   

4. Add the desired Fields to Display in the Reports. Here we are adding all fields and click on Finish.

   

5. That's it and you will be able to load the data in the Report.

   

Using ZappySys Driver Custom Views and Stored Procedure in SAP Crystal Report

You can create parameterized Stored Procedure and Virtual Tables on the same Data Source (ODBC DSN or Data Gateway Data Source). Please refer to this article for the same. You can create procedures to encapsulate custom logic and then only pass handful parameters rather than long SQL to execute your API call.

Using Custom Views in the SAP Crystal Report

After establishing the connection with CosmosDbDSN Data Source you can use the custom view in SQL Crystal Report.

Using Custom Stored Procedure in the SAP Crystal Report

1. First of all, create the custom stored procedure in the ZappySys Driver. Please refer to this article to create the custom stored procedure.
   
2. After establishing the connection with CosmosDbDSN Data Source you can use the custom Stored Procedure in SQL Crystal Report. Same way you can write custom queries also in the query box.
   CosmosDbDSN

   

Centralized data access via Data Gateway

In some situations, you may need to provide Cosmos DB data access to multiple users or services. Configuring the data source on a Data Gateway creates a single, centralized connection point for this purpose.

This configuration provides two primary advantages:

• Centralized data access
  The data source is configured once on the gateway, eliminating the need to set it up individually on each user's machine or application. This significantly simplifies the management process.
• Centralized access control
  Since all connections route through the gateway, access can be governed or revoked from a single location for all users.

	Data Gateway	Local ODBC data source
Simple configuration
Installation	Single machine	Per machine
Connectivity	Local and remote	Local only
Connections limit	Limited by License	Unlimited
Central data access
Central access control
More flexible cost

If you need any of these requirements, you will have to create a data source in Data Gateway to connect to Cosmos DB, and to create an ODBC data source to connect to Data Gateway in SAP Crystal Reports.

Let's not wait and get going!

Creating Cosmos DB data source in Gateway

In this section we will create a data source for Cosmos DB in Data Gateway. Let's follow these steps to accomplish that:

1. Search for gateway in Windows Start Menu and open ZappySys Data Gateway Configuration:

   

2. Go to Users tab and follow these steps to add a Data Gateway user:

   • Click Add button
   • In Login field enter username, e.g., john
   • Then enter a Password
   • Check Is Administrator checkbox
   • Click OK to save
   

3. Now we are ready to add a data source:

   • Click Add button
   • Give Datasource a name (have it handy for later)
   • Then select Native - ZappySys API Driver
   • Finally, click OK
   CosmosDbDSN

   ZappySys API Driver

   

4. When the ZappySys API Driver configuration window opens, configure the Data Source the same way you configured it in ODBC Data Sources (64-bit), in the beginning of this article.

5. Very important step. Now, after creating or modifying the data source make sure you:

   • Click the Save button to persist your changes.
   • Hit Yes, once asked if you want to restart the Data Gateway service.

   This will ensure all changes are properly applied:

   
   Skipping this step may result in the new settings not taking effect and, therefore you will not be able to connect to the data source.

Creating ODBC data source for Data Gateway

In this part we will create ODBC data source to connect to Data Gateway from SAP Crystal Reports. To achieve that, let's perform these steps:

1. Open ODBC Data Sources (x64):

   

2. Create a User data source (User DSN) based on ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server:

   ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server

   
   If you don't see ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server driver in the list, choose a similar version driver.

3. Then set a Name of the data source (e.g. Gateway) and the address of the Data Gateway:

   GatewayDSN

   localhost,5000

   
   Make sure you separate the hostname and port with a comma, e.g. localhost,5000.

4. Proceed with authentication part:

   • Select SQL Server authentication
   • In Login ID field enter the user name you used in Data Gateway, e.g., john
   • Set Password to the one you configured in Data Gateway
   

5. Then set the default database property to CosmosDbDSN (the one we used in Data Gateway):

   CosmosDbDSN

   

6. Continue by checking Trust server certificate option:

   

7. Once you do that, test the connection:

   

8. If connection is successful, everything is good:

   

9. Done!

We are ready to move to the final step. Let's do it!

Accessing data in SAP Crystal Reports via Data Gateway

Finally, we are ready to read data from Cosmos DB in SAP Crystal Reports via Data Gateway. Follow these final steps:

1. Go back to SAP Crystal Reports.

2. First of all, open SAP Crystal Reports and create the new Crystal Report.

   

3. And it will open the new data source selection window. Under ODBC(RDO) double click on the Make New Connection and Select the desired ODBC DSN, in our case we need to select GatewayDSN which we created in upper section. And Click on Next.

   GatewayDSN

   

4. Read the data the same way we discussed at the beginning of this article.

5. That's it!

Now you can connect to Cosmos DB data in SAP Crystal Reports via the Data Gateway.

Actions supported by Cosmos DB Connector

Learn how to perform common Cosmos DB actions directly in SAP Crystal Reports with these how-to guides:

• Create a document in the container
• Create Permission Token for a User (One Table)
• Create User for Database
• Delete a Document by Id
• Get All Documents for a Table
• Get All Users for a Database
• Get Database Information by Id or Name
• Get Document by Id
• Get List of Databases
• Get List of Tables
• Get table information by Id or Name
• Get table partition key ranges
• Get User by Id or Name
• Query documents using Cosmos DB SQL query language
• Update Document in the Container
• Upsert a document in the container
• Make Generic API Request
• Make Generic API Request (Bulk Write)

Conclusion

In this article we showed you how to connect to Cosmos DB in SAP Crystal Reports and integrate data without any coding, saving you time and effort.

We encourage you to download Cosmos DB Connector for SAP Crystal Reports and see how easy it is to use it for yourself or your team.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact ZappySys support team. You can also open a live chat immediately by clicking on the chat icon below.

Download Cosmos DB Connector for SAP Crystal Reports Documentation

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