How to integrate FTP/SFTP JSON File with SSRS

Learn how to quickly and efficiently connect FTP/SFTP JSON File with SSRS for smooth data access.

Read and write JSON files over FTP/SFTP effortlessly. Streamline, manage, and automate JSON files on FTP and SFTP for analytics, reporting, and data pipelines — almost no coding required. You can do it all using the high-performance FTP/SFTP JSON File ODBC Driver for SSRS (often referred to as the FTP/SFTP JSON File 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.

FTP/SFTP JSON File ODBC Driver Powering this integration

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

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

Documentation

Create data source in ZappySys Data Gateway

In this section we will create a data source for FTP/SFTP JSON File 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 SFTP JSON Driver
- Finally, click OK
FtpSftpJsonFileDSN

ZappySys SFTP JSON Driver
Create and configure a connection for the FTP/SFTP storage account.
You can use select your desired single file by clicking [...] path button.

mybucket/dbo.tblNames.json

dbo.tblNames.json

----------OR----------
You can also read the multiple files stored in FTP/SFTP Storage using wildcard pattern supported e.g. dbo.tblNames*.json.
```
Note: If you want to operation with multiple files then use wild card pattern as below 
(when you use wild card pattern in source path then system will treat target path as folder regardless you end with slash)

mybucket/dbo.tblNames.json (will read only single .JSON file)
mybucket/dbo.tbl*.json (all files starting with file name)
mybucket/*.json (all files with .json Extension and located under folder subfolder)
```
mybucket/dbo.tblNames*.json

----------OR----------
You can also read the zip and gzip compressed files also without extracting it in using FTP/SFTP JSON Source File Task.

mybucket/dbo.tblNames*.gz
Now select/enter Path expression in Path textbox to extract only specific part of JSON string as below ($.value[*] will get content of value attribute from JSON document. Value attribute is array of JSON documents so we have to use [*] to indicate we want all records of that array)

NOTE: Here, We are using our desired filter, but you need to select your desired filter based on your requirement.
Go to Preview Tab.
Navigate to the Preview Tab and let's explore the different modes available to access the data.
1. --- Using Direct Query ---
  Click on Preview Tab, Select Table from Tables Dropdown and select [value] and click Preview.
2. --- Using Stored Procedure ---
  
  Note : For this you have to Save ODBC Driver configuration and then again reopen to configure same driver. For more information click here.
  Click on the Custom Objects Tab, Click on Add button and select Add Procedure and Enter an appropriate name and Click on OK button to create.
  1. --- Without Parameters ---
    Now Stored Procedure can be created with or without parameters (see example below). If you use parameters then Set default value otherwise it may fail to compilation)
  2. --- With Parameters ---
    
    Note : Here you can use Placeholder with Paramters in Stored Procedure. Example : SELECT * FROM $ WHERE OrderID = '<@OrderID, FUN_TRIM>' or CustId = '<@CustId>' and Total >= '<@Total>'
3. --- Using Virtual Table ---
  
  Note : For this you have to Save ODBC Driver configuration and then again reopen to configure same driver. For more information click here.
  
  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.
  
  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 Buckets with slight variations you can create virtual tables with just URL as Parameter setting).
```
vt__Customers
DataPath=mybucket_1/customers.json

vt__Orders
DataPath=mybucket_2/orders.json

vt__Products
DataPath=mybucket_3/products.json
```
  1. Click on the Custom Objects Tab, Click on Add button and select Add Table and Enter an appropriate name and Click on OK button to create.
  2. Once you see Query Builder Window on screen Configure it.
  3. Click on Preview Tab, Select Virtual Table(prefix with vt__) from Tables Dropdown or write SQL query with Virtual Table name and click Preview.
Click OK to finish creating the data source
That's it; we are done. In a few clicks we configured the to Read the FTP/SFTP JSON File data using ZappySys FTP/SFTP JSON File Connector
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 "FtpSftpJsonFileDSN" as database name. Finally, hit Test Connection and OK:

FtpSftpJsonFileDSN
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=FtpSftpJsonFileDSN
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 Orders
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

Conclusion

In this article we showed you how to connect to FTP/SFTP JSON File in SSRS and integrate data without writing complex code — all of this was powered by FTP/SFTP JSON File 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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