Cosmos DB Connector for SAP Crystal Reports

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

In this article you will learn how to quickly and efficiently integrate Cosmos DB data in SAP Crystal Reports without coding. We will use high-performance Cosmos DB Connector to easily connect to Cosmos DB and then access the data inside SAP Crystal Reports.

Let's follow the steps below to see how we can accomplish that!

Download Documentation

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):

    Open ODBC Data Source
  3. Create a User data source (User DSN) based on ZappySys API Driver

    ZappySys API Driver
    Create new User DSN for 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
    ODBC DSN Template Selection
  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.

    Steps how to get and use Cosmos DB credentials : API Key [Http]
    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: Use API key to get Cosmos DB data via REST API in Azure
    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!

    Fill in all required parameters and set optional parameters if needed:

    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)
    ODBC DSN HTTP Connection Configuration

  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
    Open Query Builder in API ODBC Driver to read and write data to REST API
  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
    Configure table/endpoint parameters in ODBC data source based on API Driver
    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
    API ODBC Driver-based data source data preview
    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.
    Create 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
    SAP Crystal Report - Select ODBC CosmosDbDSN DSN

  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
    SAP Crystal Report - Add ODBC CosmosDbDSN DSN Tables

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

  5. That's it and you will be able to load the data in the Report.
    SAP Crystal Report - CosmosDbDSN Data Output

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.
CosmosDbDSN
CosmosDbDSN
SAP Crystal Report - Custom Views

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.
    ZappySys Driver 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
    SAP Crystal Report - Custom Views

Actions supported by Cosmos DB Connector

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

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. It's worth noting that ZappySys API Driver allows you to connect not only to Cosmos DB, but to any Java application that supports JDBC (just use a different JDBC driver and configure it appropriately).

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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