Configuring a Connection
After Installing the Connector you can connect and create a Data Source for data in Snapchat Ads.
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 Snapchat Ads 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 Snapchat Ads 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 Snapchat Ads
Snapchat Ads supports OAuth authentication only. To enable this authentication from all OAuth flows, you must set AuthScheme to OAuth, and you must create a custom OAuth application.To simplify routine queries, you can also set AccountId to provide a default AccountId. This eliminates the need to provide it manually as part of the WHERE clause. (If the AccountId is not specified and no account ID is explicitly supplied in the WHERE clause, the connector looks for the first account from the list returned by the Accounts view.)
The following subsections describe how to authenticate to Snapchat Ads from three common authentication flows:
- Desktop: a connection to a server on the user's local machine, frequently used for testing and prototyping.
- Web: access to data via a shared website.
- Headless Server: a dedicated computer that provides services to other computers and their users, which is configured to operate without a monitor and keyboard.
For information about how to create a custom OAuth application, see Creating a Custom OAuth Application.
For a complete list of connection string properties available in Snapchat Ads, see Connection.
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:
- InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. Used to automatically get and refresh the OAuthAccessToken.
- 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.
When you connect, the connector opens Snapchat Ads's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application.
After you grant permissions to the application, the connector then completes the OAuth process:
- The connector obtains an access token from Snapchat Ads and uses it to request data.
- The OAuth values are saved in the path specified in OAuthSettingsLocation. These values persist across connections.
When the access token expires, the connector refreshes it automatically.
Automatic refresh of the OAuth access token:
To have the connector automatically refresh the OAuth access token, do the following:
- Before connecting to data for the first time, set the following connection parameters:
- InitiateOAuth: REFRESH.
- OAuthClientId: The client Id in your application settings.
- OAuthClientSecret: The client secret in your application settings.
- OAuthAccessToken: The access token returned by GetOAuthAccessToken.
- OAuthSettingsLocation: The path where you want the connector to save the OAuth values, which persist across connections.
- On subsequent data connections, set the following:
- InitiateOAuth
- OAuthSettingsLocation
Manual refresh of the OAuth access token:
The only value needed to manually refresh the OAuth access token is the OAuth refresh token.
- To manually refresh the OAuthAccessToken after the ExpiresIn period (returned by GetOAuthAccessToken) has elapsed, call the RefreshOAuthAccessToken stored procedure.
- Set the following connection properties:
- OAuthClientId: The Client Id in your application settings.
- OAuthClientSecret: The Client Secret in your application settings.
- Call RefreshOAuthAccessToken with OAuthRefreshToken set to the OAuth refresh token returned by GetOAuthAccessToken.
- After the new tokens have been retrieved, set the OAuthAccessToken property to the value returned by RefreshOAuthAccessToken. This opens a new connection.
Store the OAuth refresh token so that you can use it to manually refresh the OAuth access token after it has expired.
Next Step
See Using the Connector to create data visualizations.