Building a Custom API Connector for SSRS In this article you will learn how to quickly and efficiently integrate Custom API data in SSRS without coding. We will use high-performance Custom API Connector to easily connect to Custom API and then access the data inside SSRS. Read / write Custom API data in SSRS without coding. Let's follow the steps below to see how we can accomplish that! Download Documentation Building a Custom API Connector for SSRS is based on ZappySys JSON Driver which is part of ODBC PowerPack. It is a collection of high-performance ODBC drivers that enable you to integrate data in SQL Server, SSIS, a programming language, or any other ODBC-compatible application. ODBC PowerPack supports various file formats, sources and destinations, including REST/SOAP API, SFTP/FTP, storage services, and plain files, to mention a few.

Connect to Custom API Connector in other apps Custom API Connector for SSIS Custom API Connector for SQL Server Custom API Connector for Power BI Custom API Connector for Informatica Custom API Connector for MS Access Custom API Connector for MS Excel Custom API Connector for SSAS Custom API Connector for C# Custom API Connector for Python Custom API Connector for JAVA Custom API Connector for Tableau Custom API Connector for SAP Crystal Reports Custom API Connector for Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) Custom API Connector for Azure Data Factory (SSIS) Custom API Connector for Talend Studio Custom API Connector for UiPath Custom API Connector for PowerShell Custom API Connector for ODBC

Video Tutorial - Integrate Custom API data in SSRS

This video covers following and more so watch carefully. After watching this video follow the steps described in this article.

• How to download / install required driver for Custom API integration in SSRS
• How to configure connection for Custom API
• Features about API Driver (Authentication / Query Language / Examples / Driver UI)
• Using Custom API Connection in SSRS

Create Data Source in ZappySys Data Gateway based on API Driver

1. Download and install ZappySys ODBC PowerPack.

2. Search for gateway in start menu and Open ZappySys Data Gateway:
   

3. Go to Users Tab to add our first Gateway user. Click Add; we will give it a name tdsuser and enter password you like to give. Check Admin option and click OK to save. We will use these details later when we create linked server:
   

4. Now we are ready to add a data source. Click Add, give data source a name (Copy this name somewhere, we will need it later) and then select Native - ZappySys API Driver. Finally, click OK. And it will create the Data Set for it and open the ZS driver UI.

   CustomApiConnectorDSN

   
   

5. When the Configuration window appears give your data source a name if you haven't done that already. Then set the path to your created Custom API Connector (in the example below, we use Hello-World Connector). Finally, click Continue >> to proceed:

   

6. 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). Check your Custom API reference for more information on how to authenticate.

7. Once the data source has been configured, you can preview data. Select the Preview tab and use settings similar to the following to preview data:
   

8. Click OK to finish creating the data source.

Read data in SSRS from ZappySys Data Gateway

1. Open Visual Studio and create a new SSRS project
2. Then add a new Shared Data Source (you can create a non-shared data source inside report too):
3. Continue with creating the Shared Data Source. Select Microsoft SQL Server as Type and hit Build button to proceed further:
4. Once a window opens, configure it similarly. Configure "CustomApiConnectorDSN" as database name. Finally, hit Test Connection and OK:
   CustomApiConnectorDSN

   
5. Another window opens, and it should look similarly to this one below which ends the creation of a Data Source:
6. Now it's time to create a Dataset. If you don't have a report created, in one of the wizard's steps it will look like this:
7. If you did not follow through report's creation wizard and already had report created, you can simply add a new dataset:
8. Finally, once you complete the report, similar results show up:

Passing Parameters to SSRS Report / Filter data

Advanced topics

Create Custom Stored Procedure in ZappySys Driver

You can create procedures to encapsulate custom logic and then only pass handful parameters rather than long SQL to execute your API call.

Steps to create Custom Stored Procedure in ZappySys Driver. You can insert Placeholders anywhere inside Procedure Body. Read more about placeholders here

1. Go to Custom Objects Tab and Click on Add button and Select Add Procedure:
   

2. Enter the desired Procedure name and click on OK:
   

3. Select the created Stored Procedure and write the your desired stored procedure and Save it and it will create the custom stored procedure in the ZappySys Driver:
   Here is an example stored procedure for ZappySys Driver. You can insert Placeholders anywhere inside Procedure Body. Read more about placeholders here
   

   CREATE PROCEDURE [usp_get_orders]
       @fromdate = '<<yyyy-MM-dd,FUN_TODAY>>'
    AS
       SELECT * FROM Orders where OrderDate >= '<@fromdate>';
   

   
   

4. That's it now go to Preview Tab and Execute your Stored Procedure using Exec Command. In this example it will extract the orders from the date 1996-01-01:
   

   Exec usp_get_orders '1996-01-01';

   
   

5. Let's generate the SQL Server Query Code to make the API call using stored procedure. Go to Code Generator Tab, select language as SQL Server and click on Generate button the generate the code.
   As we already created the linked server for this Data Source, in that you just need to copy the Select Query and need to use the linked server name which we have apply on the place of [MY_API_SERVICE] placeholder.
   

   SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY([LINKED_SERVER_TO_CUSTOM_API_CONNECTOR_IN_DATA_GATEWAY], 'EXEC usp_get_orders @fromdate=''1996-07-30''')

   
   

6. Now go to SQL served and execute that query and it will make the API call using stored procedure and provide you the response.
   

Create Custom Virtual Table in ZappySys Driver

ZappySys API Drivers support flexible Query language so you can override Default Properties you configured on Data Source such as URL, Body. This way you don't have to create multiple Data Sources if you like to read data from multiple EndPoints. However not every application support supplying custom SQL to driver so you can only select Table from list returned from driver.

If you're dealing with Microsoft Access and need to import data from an SQL query, it's important to note that Access doesn't allow direct import of SQL queries. Instead, you can create custom objects (Virtual Tables) to handle the import process.

Many applications like MS Access, Informatica Designer wont give you option to specify custom SQL when you import Objects. In such case Virtual Table is very useful. You can create many Virtual Tables on the same Data Source (e.g. If you have 50 URLs with slight variations you can create virtual tables with just URL as Parameter setting.

1. Go to Custom Objects Tab and Click on Add button and Select Add Table:
   

2. Enter the desired Table name and click on OK:
   

3. And it will open the New Query Window Click on Cancel to close that window and go to Custom Objects Tab.

4. Select the created table, Select Text Type AS SQL and write the your desired SQL Query and Save it and it will create the custom table in the ZappySys Driver:
   Here is an example SQL query for ZappySys Driver. You can insert Placeholders also. Read more about placeholders here
   

   SELECT
     "ShipCountry",
     "OrderID",
     "CustomerID",
     "EmployeeID",
     "OrderDate",
     "RequiredDate",
     "ShippedDate",
     "ShipVia",
     "Freight",
     "ShipName",
     "ShipAddress",
     "ShipCity",
     "ShipRegion",
     "ShipPostalCode"
   FROM "Orders"
   Where "ShipCountry"='USA'

   
   

5. That's it now go to Preview Tab and Execute your custom virtual table query. In this example it will extract the orders for the USA Shipping Country only:
   

   SELECT * FROM "vt__usa_orders_only"

   
   

6. Let's generate the SQL Server Query Code to make the API call using stored procedure. Go to Code Generator Tab, select language as SQL Server and click on Generate button the generate the code.
   As we already created the linked server for this Data Source, in that you just need to copy the Select Query and need to use the linked server name which we have apply on the place of [MY_API_SERVICE] placeholder.
   

   SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY([LINKED_SERVER_TO_CUSTOM_API_CONNECTOR_IN_DATA_GATEWAY], 'EXEC [usp_get_orders] ''1996-01-01''')

   
   

7. Now go to SQL served and execute that query and it will make the API call using stored procedure and provide you the response.
   

Conclusion

In this article we showed you how to connect to Custom API in SSRS and integrate data without any coding, saving you time and effort. We encourage you to download Custom API Connector for SSRS 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 Custom API Connector for SSRS Documentation

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