Configuring a Connection
After Installing the Connector you can connect and create a Data Source for data in SAP Gateway.
Setting Up a Data Source
Complete the following steps to connect to the data:
- Under Connect | To a Server, click More....
- Select the data source called SAP Gateway by CData.
- Enter the information required for the connection.
- Click Sign In.
- If necessary, select a Database and Schema to discover what tables and views are available.
Using the Connection Builder
The connector makes the most common connection properties available directly in Tableau. However, it can be difficult to use if you need to use more advanced settings or need to troubleshoot connection issues. The connector includes a separate connection builder that allows you to create and test connections outside of Tableau.
There are two ways to access the connection builder:
- On Windows, use a shortcut called Connection Builder in the Start menu, under the CData Tableau Connector for SAP Gateway folder.
- You can also start the connection builder 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 Test Connection to validate that they work. You can also use the Copy to Clipboard button to save the connection string. This connection string can be given to the Connection String option included in the connector connection window in Tableau.
Connecting to SAP Gateway
SAP Gateway provides two ways to connect to data:
- To connect to your own local data via the desktop (non-browser connection, referred to below as "basic authentication"), use the CData-supplied embedded OAuth application.
- To connect to shared data over the network (browser connection), use a custom OAuth application.
To access SAP Gateway tables, set the following connection properties:
- Url = the URL of your environment, or the full URL of the service. For example, the full URL might appear as: https://sapes5.sapdevcenter.com/sap/opu/odata/IWBEP/GWSAMPLE_BASIC/. In this example, the environment url would just be: https://sapes5.sapdevcenter.com. Add any additional properties using the CustomUrlParams property.
- Namespace = the appropriate Service Namespace. In the example above, IWBEP is the namespace. It is optional if the full url to the service is specified.
- SAP Gateway = the service from which you want to retrieve data. In the example above, the service is GWSAMPLE_BASIC. It is not required if the full url is specified.
- CustomUrlParams = any required additional properties that need to be included with the HTTP request; for example, sap-client=001&sap-language=EN.
Authenticating to SAP Gateway
SAP Gateway allows both basic and OAuth 2.0 authentication. Use basic authentication to connect to your own account, or use OAuth to authenticate to shared data via a browser connection.
Basic
To enable basic authentication, set the following properties:- AuthScheme = Basic.
- User = the username you use to log in to SAP Gateway.
- Password = the password you use to log in to SAP Gateway.
After you set the above properties are set, you are ready to connect. Use your personal credentials to access your local data.
OAuth
The following subsections provide details about authenticating from a desktop application, the web, or a headless machine. For information about creating a custom OAuth application, see Creating a Custom OAuth Application.
Desktop Applications
To authenticate with the credentials for a custom OAuth application, you must get and refresh the OAuth access token. After you do that, you are ready to connect.Get and Refresh the OAuth Access Token
- OAuthClientId = the client Id assigned when you registered your application.
- OAuthClientSecret = the client secret that was assigned when you registered your application.
- CallbackURL = the redirect URI that was defined when you registered your application.
Log in and grant permissions to the application. The connector then completes the OAuth process:
- The connector obtains an access token from SAP Gateway and uses it to request data.
- The OAuth values are saved in the path specified in OAuthSettingsLocation. These values persist across connections.
Next Step
See Using the Connector to create data visualizations.