The connector comes with a connection builder which allows you to build and test your connection settings outside of Tableau. It also allows you to create a connection string, which can be used to provide options not listed in the connection dialog in Tableau.

Configuring a Connection Builder

There are two ways to access the connection builder:

• On Windows, there is a shortcut called Connection Builder in the start menu, under the CData Tableau Connector for SuiteCRM folder.
• The connection builder can also be started by going to the driver install directory and running the .jar file in the lib directory.

In the connection builder, you can set values for connection properties and click the Test Connection button to validate that they work. You can also use the Copy to Clipboard button to save the connection string for use with Tableau.

Connecting To SuiteCRM V4.1 API

You can connect to SuiteCRM data via the V4.1 API by simply setting the following connection properties:

• Schema: Set this to suitecrmv4.
• Url: Set this to the URL associated with the SuiteCRM application, for example http://suite.crm.com.
• User: Set this to the user associated with the SuiteCRM account.
• Password: Set this to the password associated with the SuiteCRM account.

Note that retrieving SuiteCRM metadata can be expensive. It is advised that you store the metadata locally as described in Caching Metadata.

Connecting To SuiteCRM V8 API

Before Connecting

Before you connect to SuiteCRM V8 API you will need to first configure it in your SuiteCRM instance. The API can be configured in SuiteCRM version 7.10+. To configure the API, please follow the steps written in the SuiteCRM JSON API docs, found here: https://docs.suitecrm.com/developer/api/developer-setup-guide/json-api/#_before_you_start_calling_endpoints .

The SuiteCRM V8 API uses OAuth2.0 as its main method of authentication using 2 types of grant type, password or client credentials. Please see Using OAuth Authentication for a guide on how to connect with OAuth.

Next Step

See Getting Data for the next step, which includes authenticating to the SuiteCRM APIs.