OData Connector for Alteryx : Generic read data (XML API) via SQL

Learn how to generic read data (XML API) using the OData Connector for Alteryx. This connector enables you to read and write OData API data effortlessly. Query, integrate, and manage entities and feeds — almost no coding required. We'll walk you through the exact setup.

Let's dive in!

OData ODBC Driver Powering this integration

High performance
Bidirectional
Low-code / No-code
Easy to use

Built on the ZappySys API Driver, the OData ODBC Driver is a high-performance, low-code / no-code solution. It enables you to connect to OData data without any coding right in your SQL Server, or any ODBC/JDBC application. Part of the ODBC PowerPack.

Documentation

Create data source using OData ODBC Driver

Download and install ODBC PowerPack (if you haven't already).
Search for odbc and open the ODBC Data Sources (64-bit):
Create a User data source (User DSN) based on the ZappySys API Driver driver:

ZappySys API Driver
- Create and use a User DSN if the client application runs under a User Account. This is the ideal option at design time (e.g., when developing in Visual Studio). Use it for both types of applications (64-bit and 32-bit).
- Create and use a System DSN if the client application runs under a System Account (e.g., as a Windows Service). This is usually the required option in a production environment. If your Windows Service is a 32-bit application, you must use the 32-bit ODBC Data Source Administrator to configure this
When the Configuration window appears give your data source a name if you haven't done that already, then select "OData" from the list of Popular Connectors. If "OData" 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:

OdataDSN

OData

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.

No Authentication

OData authentication

No instructions available.

API Connection Manager configuration

Just perform these simple steps to finish authentication configuration:

Set Authentication Type to No Authentication [Http]
Optional step. Modify API Base URL if needed (in most cases default will work).
Fill in all the required parameters and set optional parameters if needed.
Finally, hit OK button:

OdataDSN

OData

No Authentication [Http]

https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc

Optional Parameters
RetryMode	RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
RetryStatusCodeList	429
RetryCountMax	5
RetryMultiplyWaitTime	True
IgnoreSSLCertificateErrors
SslVersion

Windows Authentication

OData authentication

No instructions available.

API Connection Manager configuration

Just perform these simple steps to finish authentication configuration:

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

OdataDSN

OData

Windows Authentication [Http]

https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc

There are no parameters to configure.

Basic Authentication

OData authentication

No instructions available.

API Connection Manager configuration

Just perform these simple steps to finish authentication configuration:

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

OdataDSN

OData

Basic Authentication [Http]

https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc

Required Parameters
UserName	Fill-in the parameter...
Password	Fill-in the parameter...
Optional Parameters
RetryMode	RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
RetryStatusCodeList	429
RetryCountMax	5
RetryMultiplyWaitTime	True
IgnoreSSLCertificateErrors
SslVersion

NTLM Authentication

OData authentication

No instructions available.

API Connection Manager configuration

Just perform these simple steps to finish authentication configuration:

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

OdataDSN

OData

NTLM Authentication [Http]

https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc

Required Parameters
UserName (i.e. Domain\UserName)	Fill-in the parameter...
Password	Fill-in the parameter...
Optional Parameters
RetryMode	RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
RetryStatusCodeList	429
RetryCountMax	5
RetryMultiplyWaitTime	True
IgnoreSSLCertificateErrors
SslVersion

Token Authentication

OData authentication

No instructions available.

API Connection Manager configuration

Just perform these simple steps to finish authentication configuration:

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

OdataDSN

OData

Token Authentication [Http]

https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc

Required Parameters
Token	Fill-in the parameter...
Optional Parameters
AuthScheme	Bearer
AuthHeader	Authorization
RetryMode	RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
RetryStatusCodeList	429
RetryCountMax	5
RetryMultiplyWaitTime	True
IgnoreSSLCertificateErrors
SslVersion

OAuth Connection for OData API

OData authentication

No instructions available.

API Connection Manager configuration

Just perform these simple steps to finish authentication configuration:

Set Authentication Type to OAuth Connection for OData API [OAuth]
Optional step. Modify API Base URL if needed (in most cases default will work).
Fill in all the required parameters and set optional parameters if needed.
Press Generate Token button to generate the tokens.
Finally, hit OK button:

OdataDSN

OData

OAuth Connection for OData API [OAuth]

https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc

Optional Parameters
GrantType	Default
OAuthVersion	Default
ClientId
ClientSecret
UserName
Password
Scope
AuthUrl	https://some-domain.com/api/auth
TokenUrl	https://some-domain.com/api/token
ReturnUrl	https://zappysys.com/oauth
ExtraAttributesForTokenRequest
ExtraAttributesForAuthRequest
DoNotIncludeCredentialsInHeader
DoNotIncludeCredentialsInBody
RenewBeforeSec
ExtraHeaders (e.g. x-hdr1:AAA\|\|x-hdr2:BBB)
ContentType
EnableCodeVerifier
RemoveAuthHeader
CustomAuthHeader
CustomTokenPrefix
RetryMode	RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
RetryStatusCodeList	429
RetryCountMax	5
RetryMultiplyWaitTime	True
IgnoreSSLCertificateErrors
SslVersion

Then go to Preview tab to start building a SQL query.
Once you do that, proceed by opening Query Builder:

ZappySys API Driver - OData

Read and write OData API data effortlessly. Query, integrate, and manage entities and feeds — almost no coding required.

OdataDSN
Then simply select the Generic Read Data (XML API) endpoint (action).
Continue by configuring the Required parameters. You can also set optional parameters too.
Move on by hitting Preview Data button to preview the results.

If you see the results you need, simply copy the generated query:

Generic Read Data (XML API)

Optional Parameters
TableName
Format	json
PageSize (Keep blank for default)
Search Criteria
Advanced Properties
IgnoreSSLCertificateErrors
Filter	$.value[*]
DataFormat	OData

SELECT * FROM read_data_xml WITH(TableName='MyTable')

Click OK to use built SQL query and close the Query Builder.
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 Alteryx:
ZappySys API Driver - OData

Read and write OData API data effortlessly. Query, integrate, and manage entities and feeds — almost no coding required.

OdataDSN
```
SELECT * FROM read_data_xml WITH(TableName='MyTable')
```
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 OData 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 OData servers).

Let's not stop here and explore SQL query examples, including how to use them in Stored Procedures and Views (virtual tables) in the next steps.

OData SQL query examples

Use these SQL queries in your Alteryx data source:

Read all records from an XML OData service table

Gets all rows from a table when the service uses XML. Supply TableName in WITH to identify the entity set (e.g. MyTable).

SELECT * FROM read_data_xml WITH(TableName='MyTable')

Create SQL view in ODBC data source

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.

Go to Custom Objects Tab and Click on Add button and Select Add Table:
Enter the desired Table name and click on OK:
And it will open the New Query Window Click on Cancel to close that window and go to Custom Objects Tab.
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'
```
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"
```

Generic read data in Alteryx via SQL view

Open Alteryx Designer.
First, verify your DCM Settings to ensure you can access ODBC drivers. Go to Options > User Settings > Edit User Settings.

If DCM Mode is set to DCM Only, change it to DCM Optional if you would like to access the legacy Generic ODBC Connection.

After changing this setting, you may need to click Save and restart the connection window for the "Generic ODBC" icon to appear.
Drag an Input Data tool onto your Alteryx canvas.
In the Configuration pane, click Set Up a Connection.
Note for DCM Users: If your environment has DCM (Data Connection Manager) enabled, the classic "Generic ODBC" icon may be hidden. To find it, select Data sources on the left and type "ODBC" in the search bar.
Once the ODBC window opens, click Connect Asset and select your OdataDSN DSN from the list.

Ensure you have configured a 64-bit System DSN in the Windows ODBC Data Source Administrator before this step.
After selecting your DSN, configure your SQL Query in the Input Data tool configuration:
To save your data, drag an Output Data tool and connect it to the Input Data tool.
Configure the Output Data tool to write to a CSV file:
Press Run (Ctrl+R) to execute the workflow. Verify the results in the Results Window at the bottom.

Advanced topics

Creating SQL stored procedures

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

Go to Custom Objects Tab and Click on Add button and Select Add Procedure:
Enter the desired Procedure name and click on OK:
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>';
```
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';
```

Conclusion

And there you have it — a complete guide on how to generic read data (XML API) in Alteryx without writing complex code. All of this was powered by OData ODBC Driver, which handled the REST API pagination and authentication for us automatically.

Download the trial now or ping us via chat if you have any questions or are looking for a specific feature (you can also reach out to us by submitting a ticket):

Download Chat

More actions supported by OData Connector

Got another use case in mind? We've documented the exact setups for a variety of essential OData operations directly in Alteryx, so you can skip the trial and error. Find your next step-by-step guide below: