OData Connector for SSAS

In this article you will learn how to integrate OData data in SSAS without coding in just a few clicks (live / bi-directional connection to OData). OData Connector can be used to integrated any REST API which supports OData Standard. You can view tables, read data from tables using this connector. It also comes with some example OData Services to get started..

Using OData Connector you will be able to connect, read, and write data from within SSAS. Follow the steps below to see how we would accomplish that.

Download Documentation

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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:
    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:
    ZappySys Data Gateway - Add User

  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.

    ODataDSN

    ZappySys Data Gateway - Add Data Source

  5. 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
    ODBC DSN Template Selection

  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). More info is available in the Authentication section.

     No Authentication [Http]

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

    ODataDSN
    OData
    No Authentication [Http]
    https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc
    Required Parameters
    Optional Parameters
    RetryMode Fill in the parameter...
    RetryStatusCodeList Fill in the parameter...
    RetryCountMax Fill in the parameter...
    RetryMultiplyWaitTime Fill in the parameter...
    IgnoreSSLCertificateErrors Fill in the parameter...
    SslVersion Fill in the parameter...
    ODBC DSN HTTP Connection Configuration

     Windows Authentication [Http]

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

    ODataDSN
    OData
    Windows Authentication [Http]
    https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc
    Required Parameters
    Optional Parameters
    ODBC DSN HTTP Connection Configuration

     Basic Authentication [Http]

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

    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 Fill in the parameter...
    RetryStatusCodeList Fill in the parameter...
    RetryCountMax Fill in the parameter...
    RetryMultiplyWaitTime Fill in the parameter...
    IgnoreSSLCertificateErrors Fill in the parameter...
    SslVersion Fill in the parameter...
    ODBC DSN HTTP Connection Configuration

     NTLM Authentication [Http]

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

    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 Fill in the parameter...
    RetryStatusCodeList Fill in the parameter...
    RetryCountMax Fill in the parameter...
    RetryMultiplyWaitTime Fill in the parameter...
    IgnoreSSLCertificateErrors Fill in the parameter...
    SslVersion Fill in the parameter...
    ODBC DSN HTTP Connection Configuration

     Token Authentication [Http]

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

    ODataDSN
    OData
    Token Authentication [Http]
    https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc
    Required Parameters
    Token Fill in the parameter...
    Optional Parameters
    AuthScheme Fill in the parameter...
    AuthHeader Fill in the parameter...
    RetryMode Fill in the parameter...
    RetryStatusCodeList Fill in the parameter...
    RetryCountMax Fill in the parameter...
    RetryMultiplyWaitTime Fill in the parameter...
    IgnoreSSLCertificateErrors Fill in the parameter...
    SslVersion Fill in the parameter...
    ODBC DSN HTTP Connection Configuration

     OAuth Connection for OData API [OAuth]

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

    ODataDSN
    OData
    OAuth Connection for OData API [OAuth]
    https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc
    Required Parameters
    Optional Parameters
    GrantType Fill in the parameter...
    OAuthVersion Fill in the parameter...
    ClientId Fill in the parameter...
    ClientSecret Fill in the parameter...
    UserName Fill in the parameter...
    Password Fill in the parameter...
    Scope Fill in the parameter...
    AuthUrl Fill in the parameter...
    TokenUrl Fill in the parameter...
    ReturnUrl Fill in the parameter...
    ExtraAttributesForTokenRequest Fill in the parameter...
    ExtraAttributesForAuthRequest Fill in the parameter...
    RetryMode Fill in the parameter...
    RetryStatusCodeList Fill in the parameter...
    RetryCountMax Fill in the parameter...
    RetryMultiplyWaitTime Fill in the parameter...
    IgnoreSSLCertificateErrors Fill in the parameter...
    SslVersion Fill in the parameter...
    ODBC DSN Oauth Connection Configuration

  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:
    ODBC ZappySys Data Source Preview

  8. Click OK to finish creating the data source.

Read OData data in SSAS cube

With the data source created in the Data Gateway (previous step), we're now ready to read OData data in an SSAS cube. Before we dive in, open Visual Studio and create a new Analysis Services project. Then, you're all set!

In the example below, we use Multidimensional and Data Mining Analysis Services project, but it should work with Tabular project too.

Create data source based on ZappySys Data Gateway

Let's start by creating a data source for a cube, based on the Data Gateway's data source we created earlier. So, what are we waiting for? Let's do it!

  1. Create a new data source: Create new data source in SSAS to read API data
  2. Once a window opens, select Create a data source based on an existing or new connection option and click New...: Connect to ZappySys Data Gateway in SSAS to read API data
  3. Here things become a little complicated, but do not despair, it's only for a little while. Just perform these little steps:
    • Select Native OLE DB\SQL Server Native Client 11.0 as provider.
    • Enter your Server name (or IP address) and Port, separated by a comma.
    • Select SQL Server Authentication option for authentication.
    • Input User name which has admin permissions in the ZappySys Data Gateway.
    • In Database name field enter the same data source name you use in the ZappySys Data Gateway.
    • Hopefully, our hard work is done, when we Test Connection.
    ODataDSN
    ODataDSN
    Configure new data source in SSAS to read API data
    If SQL Server Native Client 11.0 is not listed as Native OLE DB provider, try using these:
    • Microsoft OLE DB Driver for SQL Server
    • Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server
  4. Indeed, life is easy again: Test connection to ZappySys Data Gateway in SSAS to read API data

Add data source view

We have data source in place, it's now time to add a data source view. Let's not waste a single second and get on to it!

  1. Start by right-clicking on Data Source Views and then choosing New Data Source View...: Create new data source view in SSAS to read API data
  2. Select the previously created data source and click Next: Connect to ZappySys Data Gateway in SSAS to read API data
  3. Ignore the Name Matching window and click Next.
  4. Add the tables you will use in your SSAS cube: Select tables to read API data in SSAS cube
    For cube dimensions, consider creating a Virtual Table in the Data Gateway's data source. Use the DISTINCT keyword in the SELECT statement to get unique values from the facts table, like this: 
    SELECT DISTINCT Country FROM Customers
    For demonstration purposes we are using sample tables which may not be available in OData.
  5. Review your data source view and click Finish: Successful data source view creation in SSAS
  6. Add the missing table relationships and you're done! Create additional table relationships in SSAS to read API data

Create cube

We have a data source view ready to be used by our cube. Let's create one!

  1. Start by right-clicking on Cubes and selecting New Cube... menu item: Create new SSAS cube to read API data
  2. Select tables you will use for the measures: Choose measure tables in SSAS to read API data
  3. And then select the measures themselves: Selecting measures for SSAS cube to read API data
  4. Don't stop and select the dimensions too: Choosing dimensions for SSAS cube to read API data
  5. Move along and click Finish before the final steps: Read API data in SSAS cube
  6. Review your cube before processing it: Read API data in SSAS cube
  7. It's time for the grand finale! Hit Process... to create the cube: Process SSAS cube to read API data
  8. A splendid success! SSAS cube processed to read API data

Execute MDX query

The cube is created and processed. It's time to reap what we sow! Just execute an MDX query and get OData data in your SSAS cube:

Execute MDX in SSAS cube to read API 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:
    ZappySys Driver - Add Stored Procedure

  2. Enter the desired Procedure name and click on OK:
    ZappySys Driver - Add Stored Procedure Name

  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>';

    ZappySys Driver - Create Custom Stored Procedure

  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';

    ZappySys Driver - Execute Custom Stored Procedure

  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([MY_API_SERVICE], 'EXEC usp_get_orders @fromdate=''1996-07-30''')

    ZappySys Driver - Generate SQL Server Query

  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.
    ZappySys Driver - Generate SQL Server Query

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:
    ZappySys Driver - Add Table

  2. Enter the desired Table name and click on OK:
    ZappySys Driver - Add Table Name

  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'

    ZappySys Driver - Create Custom Table

  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"

    ZappySys Driver - Execute Custom Virtual Table Query

  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([MY_API_SERVICE], 'EXEC [usp_get_orders] ''1996-01-01''')

    ZappySys Driver - Generate SQL Server Query

  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.
    ZappySys Driver - Generate SQL Server Query

Actions supported by OData Connector

OData Connector support following actions for REST API integration. If some actions are not listed below then you can easily edit Connector file and enhance out of the box functionality.
 List Tables (JSON API)
   [Read more...]
 List Tables (XML API)
   [Read more...]
 Generic Read Data (JSON API)
   [Read more...]
Parameter Description
TableName Read data from specified module (Json Format API)
 Generic Read Data (XML API)
   [Read more...]
Parameter Description
TableName Read data from specified module (Xml Format API)
 Read [$parent.name$]
   [Read more...]
 Generic Request
This is generic endpoint. Use this endpoint when some actions are not implemented by connector. Just enter partial URL (Required), Body, Method, Header etc. Most parameters are optional except URL.    [Read more...]
Parameter Description
Url API URL goes here. You can enter full URL or Partial URL relative to Base URL. If it is full URL then domain name must be part of ServiceURL or part of TrustedDomains
Body Request Body content goes here
IsMultiPart Set this option if you want to upload file(s) (i.e. POST RAW file data) or send data using Multi-Part encoding method (i.e. Content-Type: multipart/form-data). Multi-Part request allows you to mix key/value and upload files in same request. On the other hand raw upload allows only single file upload (without any key/value) ==== Raw Upload (Content-Type: application/octet-stream) ===== To upload single file in raw mode check this option and specify full file path starting with @ sign in the Body (e.g. @c:\data\myfile.zip ) ==== Form-Data / Multipart Upload (Content-Type: multipart/form-data) ===== To treat your Request data as multi part fields you must specify key/value pairs separated by new lines into RequestData field (i.e. Body). Each key value pair is entered on new-line and key/value are separated using equal sign (=). Preceding and trailing spaces are ignored also blank lines are ignored. If field value has some any special character(s) then use escape sequence (e.g. For NewLine: \r\n, For Tab: \t, For at (@): \@). When value of any field starts with at sign (@) its automatically treated as File you want to upload. By default file content type is determined based on extension however you can supply content type manually for any field using this way [ YourFileFieldName.Content-Type=some-content-type ]. By default File Upload Field always includes Content-Type in the request (non file fields do not have content-type by default unless you supply manually). For some reason if you dont want to use Content-Type header in your request then supply blank Content-Type to exclude this header altogather [e.g. SomeFieldName.Content-Type= ]. In below example we have supplied Content-Type for file2 and SomeField1, all other fields are using default content-type. See below Example of uploading multiple files along with additional fields. If some API requires you to pass Content-Type: multipart/form-data rather than multipart/form-data then manually set Request Header => Content-Type: multipart/mixed (it must starts with multipart/ else will be ignored). file1=@c:\data\Myfile1.txt file2=@c:\data\Myfile2.json file2.Content-Type=application/json SomeField1=aaaaaaa SomeField1.Content-Type=text/plain SomeField2=12345 SomeFieldWithNewLineAndTab=This is line1\r\nThis is line2\r\nThis is \ttab \ttab \ttab SomeFieldStartingWithAtSign=\@MyTwitterHandle
Filter Enter filter to extract array from response. Example: $.rows[*] --OR-- $.customers[*].orders[*]. Check your response document and find out hierarchy you like to extract
Headers Headers for Request. To enter multiple headers use double pipe or new line after each {header-name}:{value} pair

OData Connector Examples for SSAS Connection

This page offers a collection of SQL examples designed for seamless integration with the ZappySys API ODBC Driver under ODBC Data Source (36/64) or ZappySys Data Gateway, enhancing your ability to connect and interact with Prebuilt Connectors effectively.

Read all records from an JSON OData Service Table    [Read more...] 

SELECT * FROM Customers

Read all records from an XML OData Service Table    [Read more...] 

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

Filter records using server side criteria    [Read more...] 

SELECT * FROM Customers WITH( SearchCriteria='Country -eq ''USA'' ')

Filter records using client side criteria    [Read more...] 

SELECT * FROM Customers WHERE Country = 'USA'

List all Tables (JSON Based Format)    [Read more...] 

SELECT * FROM list_tables_json

List all Tables (XML Based Format)    [Read more...] 

SELECT * FROM list_tables_xml

Conclusion

In this article we discussed how to connect to OData in SSAS and integrate data without any coding. Click here to Download OData Connector for SSAS and try yourself see how easy it is. If you still have any question(s) then ask here or simply click on live chat icon below and ask our expert (see bottom-right corner of this page).

Download OData Connector for SSAS Documentation 

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OData for PowerShell
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OData for ODBC
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Custom Connector
Build your own Custom API Connector


Download OData Connector for SSAS Documentation

  • How to connect OData in SSAS?

  • How to get OData data in SSAS?

  • How to read OData data in SSAS?

  • How to load OData data in SSAS?

  • How to import OData data in SSAS?

  • How to pull OData data in SSAS?

  • How to push data to OData in SSAS?

  • How to write data to OData in SSAS?

  • How to POST data to OData in SSAS?

  • Call OData API in SSAS

  • Consume OData API in SSAS

  • OData SSAS Automate

  • OData SSAS Integration

  • Integration OData in SSAS

  • Consume real-time OData data in SSAS

  • Consume real-time OData API data in SSAS

  • OData ODBC Driver | ODBC Driver for OData | ODBC OData Driver | SSIS OData Source | SSIS OData Destination

  • Connect OData in SSAS

  • Load OData in SSAS

  • Load OData data in SSAS

  • Read OData data in SSAS

  • OData API Call in SSAS