How to integrate OData with SSRS

Learn how to quickly and efficiently connect OData with SSRS for smooth data access.

Read and write OData API data effortlessly. Query, integrate, and manage entities and feeds — almost no coding required. You can do it all using the high-performance OData ODBC Driver for SSRS (often referred to as the OData Connector). We'll walk you through the entire setup.

Ready to dive in? Download the product to jump right in, or follow the step-by-step guide below to see how it works.

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

Video Tutorial

This video covers the following topics and more, so please watch carefully. After watching the video, follow the steps outlined in this article:

How to download and install the required PowerPack for OData integration in SSRS
How to configure the connection for OData
Features of the ZappySys API Driver (Authentication / Query Language / Examples / Driver UI)
How to use the OData in SSRS

Create data source in ZappySys Data Gateway

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

Download and install ODBC PowerPack (if you haven't already).
Search for gateway in the Windows Start Menu and open ZappySys Data Gateway Configuration:
Go to the Users tab and follow these steps to add a Data Gateway user:
- Click the Add button
- In the Login field enter a username, e.g., john
- Then enter a Password
- Check the Is Administrator checkbox
- Click OK to save
Now we are ready to add a data source:
- Click the Add button
- Give the Data source a name (have it handy for later)
- Then select Native - ZappySys API Driver
- Finally, click OK
OdataDSN

ZappySys API Driver
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

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 - OData

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

OdataDSN
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 SSRS to retrieve data from OData. Hit OK button to use this query in the next step.
```
SELECT * FROM Customers
```
Some parameters configured in this window will be passed to the OData 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.
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 SSRS:
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 Customers
```
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).
Click OK to finish creating the data source.
Once done, go to the Network Settings tab and Add a firewall rule for inbound traffic:
- This will initially allow all inbound traffic.
- Click Edit IP filters to restrict access to specific IP addresses or ranges.
Crucial Step: After creating or modifying the data source, you must:
- Click the Save button to persist your changes.
- Hit Yes when prompted to restart the Data Gateway service.
This ensures all changes are properly applied:

Skipping this step may cause the new settings to fail, preventing you from connecting to the data source.

Read data in SSRS from ZappySys Data Gateway

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

OdataDSN
Another window opens, and it should look similarly to this one below which ends the creation of a Data Source:

DataSource=localhost,5000;Initial Catalog=OdataDSN
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:

SELECT * FROM Customers
Finally, once you complete the report, similar results will show up:

Passing Parameters to SSRS Report / Filter data

If you want to parameterize your report, then refer to this article

Supported OData Connector actions

Got a specific use case in mind? We've mapped out exactly how to perform a variety of essential OData operations directly in SSRS, so you don't have to figure out the setup from scratch. Check out the step-by-step guides below:

Conclusion

In this article we showed you how to connect to OData in SSRS and integrate data without writing complex code — all of this was powered by OData ODBC Driver.

Download ODBC PowerPack 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):

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