Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

Build 22.0.8462
  • Microsoft Power BI XMLA
    • Establishing a Connection
      • Retrieving PowerBI Data
      • Fine-Tuning Data Access
    • Advanced Features
      • SSL Configuration
      • Firewall and Proxy
    • Data Model
    • Connection String Options
      • Azure Authentication
        • AzureTenant
        • AzureEnvironment
      • OAuth
        • OAuthClientId
        • OAuthClientSecret
      • SSL
        • SSLClientCert
        • SSLClientCertType
        • SSLClientCertPassword
        • SSLClientCertSubject
        • SSLServerCert
      • Firewall
        • FirewallType
        • FirewallServer
        • FirewallPort
        • FirewallUser
        • FirewallPassword
      • Proxy
        • ProxyAutoDetect
        • ProxyServer
        • ProxyPort
        • ProxyAuthScheme
        • ProxyUser
        • ProxyPassword
        • ProxySSLType
        • ProxyExceptions
      • Logging
        • LogModules
      • Schema
        • Location
        • BrowsableSchemas
        • Tables
        • Views
        • Catalog
        • IncludeJoinColumns
      • Miscellaneous
        • CustomHeaders
        • ExpressionInDescription
        • ExtraProperties
        • MaxRows
        • Other
        • ResponseRowLimit
        • ShowHiddenEntities
        • SplitMeasures
        • Timeout
        • UseMDX
        • UserDefinedViews
        • Workspace

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

Overview

The CData Sync App provides a straightforward way to continuously pipeline your Microsoft Power BI XMLA data to any database, data lake, or data warehouse, making it easily available for Analytics, Reporting, AI, and Machine Learning.

The Microsoft Power BI XMLA connector can be used from the CData Sync application to pull data from Microsoft Power BI XMLA and move it to any of the supported destinations.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

Establishing a Connection

Create a connection to Microsoft Power BI XMLA by navigating to the Connections page in the Sync App application and selecting the corresponding icon in the Add Connections panel. If the Microsoft Power BI XMLA icon is not available, click the Add More icon to download and install the Microsoft Power BI XMLA connector from the CData site.

Required properties are listed under the Settings tab. The Advanced tab lists connection properties that are not typically required.

Connecting to Microsoft Power BI XMLA

To connect, set the Workspace property to a valid PowerBIXMLA workspace (ex: CData).

To connect to multiple workspaces at the same time, simply supply a comma-separated list of workspaces.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

Retrieving PowerBI Data

Microsoft Power BI XMLA is an OLAP database that exposes data as cubes, which you query with MDX (multidimensional expressions). The Sync App models these cubes in relational views that you can query with SQL-92. The following mapping is for the layout of the model:

  • Catalog - Displayed in the Sync App as a Catalog.
  • Cube - Displayed in the Sync App as a Schema.
  • Measure - Available in the Sync App under the special Measures view.
  • Dimension - Each dimension is exposed as a view.
  • Level - Each individual level of a hierarchy is exposed as a column on the appropriate dimension view.

Joining Measures and Dimensions

In order to retrieve measures per specific level value, issue a join between the Measure view and any Dimension or set of dimensions. For example, issuing the following will retrieve the number of customers in each city:

SELECT m.[Customer Count], c.[City] 
FROM [AdventureWorksDW2012Multidimensional-SE].[Adventure Works].Customer AS c 
INNER JOIN [AdventureWorksDW2012Multidimensional-SE].[Adventure Works].Measures AS m

Note that there is no ON condition necessary. That is because tables are already related appropriately in Microsoft Power BI XMLA. If you are using a tool that requires ON conditions, set IncludeJoinColumns to true. This will append a number of foreign key columns to each view which will relate them to one another another. These columns will not return data on their own, but may be picked up on automatically with tools to construct the ON conditions for joins where needed.

Aggregating Data

Data stored in Microsoft Power BI XMLA is already aggregated. In many cases, attempting to retrieve an aggregate may be syntactically equivalent to not specifying anything. For example, the following query will return the exact same data as the previous:

SELECT SUM(m.[Customer Count]), c.[City] 
FROM [AdventureWorksDW2012Multidimensional-SE].[Adventure Works].Customer AS c 
INNER JOIN [AdventureWorksDW2012Multidimensional-SE].[Adventure Works].Measures AS m
GROUP BY c.[City]

The exception to this rule is when an aggregation of filtered results is requested. In such cases, a calculation will be requested from Microsoft Power BI XMLA. For example, to calculate the sum and average of customers in France and Germany:

SELECT SUM(m.[Customer Count]), AVG(m.[Customer Count]), c.[Country] 
FROM [AdventureWorksDW2012Multidimensional-SE].[Adventure Works].Customer AS c 
INNER JOIN [AdventureWorksDW2012Multidimensional-SE].[Adventure Works].Measures AS m
WHERE c.[Country] IN ('France', 'Germany')
GROUP BY c.[Country]

Selecting Multiple Hierarchies

In Microsoft Power BI XMLA, individual dimensions are made up of hierarchies which may have one or more levels. For instance, the AdventureWorks Customers table has City, Country and Gender. City and Country are part of the same hierarchy while Gender is its own hierarchy.

When selecting multiple hierarchies, the method to support this is to cross join the values in MDX. While not obvious from a relational table model of the data as the Sync App presents, this can cause for very expensive queries to be executed. For example, executing the following:

SELECT c.[Country], m.[Customer Count]
FROM [AdventureWorksDW2012Multidimensional-SE].[Adventure Works].Customer AS c 
INNER JOIN [AdventureWorksDW2012Multidimensional-SE].[Adventure Works].Measures AS m

Will result in 6 rows. However, selecting Gender as well:

SELECT c.[Country], c.[Gender], m.[Customer Count]
FROM [AdventureWorksDW2012Multidimensional-SE].[Adventure Works].Customer AS c 
INNER JOIN [AdventureWorksDW2012Multidimensional-SE].[Adventure Works].Measures AS m

Will now result in 12 rows. It is because Gender and Country are on different hierarchies, thus a crossjoin is required in order to return both together. Each additional hierarchy added to the SELECT will multiply the total results by the number of available values in that hierarchy. Thus to get a count of how many rows to expect, one can execute the following:

SELECT (COUNT(c.[Country])*COUNT(c.[Gender])) AS totalrows
FROM [AdventureWorksDW2012Multidimensional-SE].[Adventure Works].Customer AS c 

Response Row Limit

Due to how selecting multiple hierarchies will multiply the total number of result rows, it is possible to balloon the number of response rows very quickly, which will result in timeouts. In order to try and give some visibility into what queries will be very expensive, the ResponseRowLimit connection property has been added as a mechanism to guide users into an ideal configuration. When set, it will calculate how many rows to expect before any query is executed. If the number of predicted rows exceeds the limit, an error will be thrown indicating how many rows to expect back with the query.

It is recommended to select only the columns required or to apply a WHERE criteria. Both can significantly reduce the number of response rows, which will have a huge impact on performance. If you are already familiar with the Sync App and what queries may be expensive, ResponseRowLimit may be disabled by setting it to 0.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

Fine-Tuning Data Access

Fine Tuning Data Access

The following are properties that allow for more granular control over data access:

  • UseMDX: Indicates if MDX queries are being submitted. By default this is false, which will cause the driver to accept only SQL-92 compliant queries.

    Setting this property to true will cause all queries to be passed through directly to Microsoft Power BI XMLA.

  • ExtraProperties: Additional properties to submit along with an MDX query. Only meaningful if UseMDX is true.
  • IncludeJoinColumns: Boolean indicating if extra columns used to make ON conditions with joins should be added.

    These do not come back with any values - they are added purely to enable tools that require them in order to automatically set up relationships between tables when creating joins.

  • ResponseRowLimit: Sets a calculated limit on the number of rows to allow the user to select before returning an error.

    Because queries are being translated to MDX, selecting only a few columns may exponentially multiply the number of expected results.

    For this reason, ResponseRowLimit is available to try and give some guidance on what types of queries are likely to result in a Timeout. May be disabled by setting to 0.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

Advanced Features

This section details a selection of advanced features of the Microsoft Power BI XMLA Sync App.

User Defined Views

The Sync App allows you to define virtual tables, called user defined views, whose contents are decided by a pre-configured query. These views are useful when you cannot directly control queries being issued to the drivers. See User Defined Views for an overview of creating and configuring custom views.

SSL Configuration

Use SSL Configuration to adjust how Sync App handles TLS/SSL certificate negotiations. You can choose from various certificate formats; see the SSLServerCert property under "Connection String Options" for more information.

Firewall and Proxy

Configure the Sync App for compliance with Firewall and Proxy, including Windows proxies and HTTP proxies. You can also set up tunnel connections.

Query Processing

The Sync App offloads as much of the SELECT statement processing as possible to Microsoft Power BI XMLA and then processes the rest of the query in memory (client-side).

See Query Processing for more information.

Logging

See Logging for an overview of configuration settings that can be used to refine CData logging. For basic logging, you only need to set two connection properties, but there are numerous features that support more refined logging, where you can select subsets of information to be logged using the LogModules connection property.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

SSL Configuration

Customizing the SSL Configuration

By default, the Sync App attempts to negotiate SSL/TLS by checking the server's certificate against the system's trusted certificate store.

To specify another certificate, see the SSLServerCert property for the available formats to do so.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

Firewall and Proxy

Connecting Through a Firewall or Proxy

HTTP Proxies

To connect through the Windows system proxy, you do not need to set any additional connection properties. To connect to other proxies, set ProxyAutoDetect to false.

In addition, to authenticate to an HTTP proxy, set ProxyAuthScheme, ProxyUser, and ProxyPassword, in addition to ProxyServer and ProxyPort.

Other Proxies

Set the following properties:

  • To use a proxy-based firewall, set FirewallType, FirewallServer, and FirewallPort.
  • To tunnel the connection, set FirewallType to TUNNEL.
  • To authenticate, specify FirewallUser and FirewallPassword.
  • To authenticate to a SOCKS proxy, additionally set FirewallType to SOCKS5.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

Data Model

Overview

This section shows the available API objects and provides more information on executing SQL to Microsoft Power BI XMLA APIs.

The Sync App models dimensions as tables, cubes as schemas, and a combination of the Workspace and DataSet Catalog as the Catalog. The Sync App supports connecting to multiple workspaces at the same time by supplying a comma-separated list of workspaces in the Workspace property. The result is that each workspace shows up in the catalogs as WorkspaceName_CatalogName.

Key Features

  • The Sync App models Microsoft Power BI XMLA entities like documents, folders, and groups as relational views, allowing you to write SQL to query Microsoft Power BI XMLA data.
  • Stored procedures allow you to execute operations to Microsoft Power BI XMLA.
  • Live connectivity to these objects means any changes to your Microsoft Power BI XMLA account are immediately reflected when using the Sync App.

Measure Attributes

By default, all measure attributes are listed in a 'Measures' view. However, you can set SplitMeasures to 'true' to split the measures view; the result is each measure attribute is included in its respective view based on the Measure Group value. Further classification based on 'Measure Directories' is not included.

Stored Procedures

Stored Procedures are function-like interfaces to Microsoft Power BI XMLA. Stored procedures allow you to execute operations to Microsoft Power BI XMLA, including downloading documents and moving envelopes.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

Connection String Options

The connection string properties are the various options that can be used to establish a connection. This section provides a complete list of the options you can configure in the connection string for this provider. Click the links for further details.

For more information on establishing a connection, see Establishing a Connection.

Azure Authentication


PropertyDescription
AzureTenantThe Microsoft Online tenant being used to access data. If not specified, your default tentant will be used.
AzureEnvironmentThe Azure Environment to use when establishing a connection.

OAuth


PropertyDescription
OAuthClientIdThe client Id assigned when you register your application with an OAuth authorization server.
OAuthClientSecretThe client secret assigned when you register your application with an OAuth authorization server.

SSL


PropertyDescription
SSLClientCertThe TLS/SSL client certificate store for SSL Client Authentication (2-way SSL).
SSLClientCertTypeThe type of key store containing the TLS/SSL client certificate.
SSLClientCertPasswordThe password for the TLS/SSL client certificate.
SSLClientCertSubjectThe subject of the TLS/SSL client certificate.
SSLServerCertThe certificate to be accepted from the server when connecting using TLS/SSL.

Firewall


PropertyDescription
FirewallTypeThe protocol used by a proxy-based firewall.
FirewallServerThe name or IP address of a proxy-based firewall.
FirewallPortThe TCP port for a proxy-based firewall.
FirewallUserThe user name to use to authenticate with a proxy-based firewall.
FirewallPasswordA password used to authenticate to a proxy-based firewall.

Proxy


PropertyDescription
ProxyAutoDetectThis indicates whether to use the system proxy settings or not. This takes precedence over other proxy settings, so you'll need to set ProxyAutoDetect to FALSE in order use custom proxy settings.
ProxyServerThe hostname or IP address of a proxy to route HTTP traffic through.
ProxyPortThe TCP port the ProxyServer proxy is running on.
ProxyAuthSchemeThe authentication type to use to authenticate to the ProxyServer proxy.
ProxyUserA user name to be used to authenticate to the ProxyServer proxy.
ProxyPasswordA password to be used to authenticate to the ProxyServer proxy.
ProxySSLTypeThe SSL type to use when connecting to the ProxyServer proxy.
ProxyExceptionsA semicolon separated list of destination hostnames or IPs that are exempt from connecting through the ProxyServer .

Logging


PropertyDescription
LogModulesCore modules to be included in the log file.

Schema


PropertyDescription
LocationA path to the directory that contains the schema files defining tables, views, and stored procedures.
BrowsableSchemasThis property restricts the schemas reported to a subset of the available schemas. For example, BrowsableSchemas=SchemaA,SchemaB,SchemaC.
TablesThis property restricts the tables reported to a subset of the available tables. For example, Tables=TableA,TableB,TableC.
ViewsRestricts the views reported to a subset of the available tables. For example, Views=ViewA,ViewB,ViewC.
CatalogThe Power BI workspace and dataset to use.
IncludeJoinColumnsSet this to true to include extra join columns on each table.

Miscellaneous


PropertyDescription
CustomHeadersOther headers as determined by the user (optional).
ExpressionInDescriptionSet this to true to report expressions as part of the description on measure columns.
ExtraPropertiesAdditional properties to submit on each MDX request to Microsoft Power BI XMLA.
MaxRowsLimits the number of rows returned rows when no aggregation or group by is used in the query. This helps avoid performance issues at design time.
OtherThese hidden properties are used only in specific use cases.
ResponseRowLimitThe number of response rows to allow before triggering an error. Set to 0 for no limit.
ShowHiddenEntitiesSet this to true to include hidden dimensions, measures and levels.
SplitMeasuresSet this to true to split Measures table into individual tables.
TimeoutThe value in seconds until the timeout error is thrown, canceling the operation.
UseMDXSet this to true to pass MDX queries to Microsoft Power BI XMLA as-is.
UserDefinedViewsA filepath pointing to the JSON configuration file containing your custom views.
WorkspaceThe comma separated PowerBI workspace(s) to connect to.
Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

Azure Authentication

This section provides a complete list of the Azure Authentication properties you can configure in the connection string for this provider.


PropertyDescription
AzureTenantThe Microsoft Online tenant being used to access data. If not specified, your default tentant will be used.
AzureEnvironmentThe Azure Environment to use when establishing a connection.
Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

AzureTenant

The Microsoft Online tenant being used to access data. If not specified, your default tentant will be used.

Remarks

The Microsoft Online tenant being used to access data. For instance, contoso.onmicrosoft.com. Alternatively, specify the tenant Id. This value is the directory Id in the Azure Portal > Azure Active Directory > Properties.

Typically it is not necessary to specify the Tenant. This can be automatically determined by Microsoft when using the OAuthGrantType set to CODE (default). However, it may fail in the case that the user belongs to multiple tenants. For instance, if an Admin of domain A invites a user of domain B to be a guest user. The user will now belong to both tenants. It is a good practice to specify the Tenant, although in general things should normally work without having to specify it.

The AzureTenant is required when setting OAuthGrantType to CLIENT. When using client credentials, there is no user context. The credentials are taken from the context of the app itself. While Microsoft still allows client credentials to be obtained without specifying which Tenant, it has a much lower probability of picking the specific tenant you want to work with. For this reason, we require AzureTenant to be explicitly stated for all client credentials connections to ensure you get credentials that are applicable for the domain you intend to connect to.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

AzureEnvironment

The Azure Environment to use when establishing a connection.

Remarks

In most cases, leaving the environment set to global will work. However, if your Azure Account has been added to a different environment, the AzureEnvironment may be used to specify which environment. The available values are GLOBAL, CHINA, USGOVT, USGOVTDOD.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

OAuth

This section provides a complete list of the OAuth properties you can configure in the connection string for this provider.


PropertyDescription
OAuthClientIdThe client Id assigned when you register your application with an OAuth authorization server.
OAuthClientSecretThe client secret assigned when you register your application with an OAuth authorization server.
Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

OAuthClientId

The client Id assigned when you register your application with an OAuth authorization server.

Remarks

As part of registering an OAuth application, you will receive the OAuthClientId value, sometimes also called a consumer key, and a client secret, the OAuthClientSecret.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

OAuthClientSecret

The client secret assigned when you register your application with an OAuth authorization server.

Remarks

As part of registering an OAuth application, you will receive the OAuthClientId, also called a consumer key. You will also receive a client secret, also called a consumer secret. Set the client secret in the OAuthClientSecret property.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

SSL

This section provides a complete list of the SSL properties you can configure in the connection string for this provider.


PropertyDescription
SSLClientCertThe TLS/SSL client certificate store for SSL Client Authentication (2-way SSL).
SSLClientCertTypeThe type of key store containing the TLS/SSL client certificate.
SSLClientCertPasswordThe password for the TLS/SSL client certificate.
SSLClientCertSubjectThe subject of the TLS/SSL client certificate.
SSLServerCertThe certificate to be accepted from the server when connecting using TLS/SSL.
Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

SSLClientCert

The TLS/SSL client certificate store for SSL Client Authentication (2-way SSL).

Remarks

The name of the certificate store for the client certificate.

The SSLClientCertType field specifies the type of the certificate store specified by SSLClientCert. If the store is password protected, specify the password in SSLClientCertPassword.

SSLClientCert is used in conjunction with the SSLClientCertSubject field in order to specify client certificates. If SSLClientCert has a value, and SSLClientCertSubject is set, a search for a certificate is initiated. See SSLClientCertSubject for more information.

Designations of certificate stores are platform-dependent.

The following are designations of the most common User and Machine certificate stores in Windows:

MYA certificate store holding personal certificates with their associated private keys.
CACertifying authority certificates.
ROOTRoot certificates.
SPCSoftware publisher certificates.

In Java, the certificate store normally is a file containing certificates and optional private keys.

When the certificate store type is PFXFile, this property must be set to the name of the file. When the type is PFXBlob, the property must be set to the binary contents of a PFX file (for example, PKCS12 certificate store).

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

SSLClientCertType

The type of key store containing the TLS/SSL client certificate.

Remarks

This property can take one of the following values:

USER - defaultFor Windows, this specifies that the certificate store is a certificate store owned by the current user. Note that this store type is not available in Java.
MACHINEFor Windows, this specifies that the certificate store is a machine store. Note that this store type is not available in Java.
PFXFILEThe certificate store is the name of a PFX (PKCS12) file containing certificates.
PFXBLOBThe certificate store is a string (base-64-encoded) representing a certificate store in PFX (PKCS12) format.
JKSFILEThe certificate store is the name of a Java key store (JKS) file containing certificates. Note that this store type is only available in Java.
JKSBLOBThe certificate store is a string (base-64-encoded) representing a certificate store in JKS format. Note that this store type is only available in Java.
PEMKEY_FILEThe certificate store is the name of a PEM-encoded file that contains a private key and an optional certificate.
PEMKEY_BLOBThe certificate store is a string (base64-encoded) that contains a private key and an optional certificate.
PUBLIC_KEY_FILEThe certificate store is the name of a file that contains a PEM- or DER-encoded public key certificate.
PUBLIC_KEY_BLOBThe certificate store is a string (base-64-encoded) that contains a PEM- or DER-encoded public key certificate.
SSHPUBLIC_KEY_FILEThe certificate store is the name of a file that contains an SSH-style public key.
SSHPUBLIC_KEY_BLOBThe certificate store is a string (base-64-encoded) that contains an SSH-style public key.
P7BFILEThe certificate store is the name of a PKCS7 file containing certificates.
PPKFILEThe certificate store is the name of a file that contains a PuTTY Private Key (PPK).
XMLFILEThe certificate store is the name of a file that contains a certificate in XML format.
XMLBLOBThe certificate store is a string that contains a certificate in XML format.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

SSLClientCertPassword

The password for the TLS/SSL client certificate.

Remarks

If the certificate store is of a type that requires a password, this property is used to specify that password to open the certificate store.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

SSLClientCertSubject

The subject of the TLS/SSL client certificate.

Remarks

When loading a certificate the subject is used to locate the certificate in the store.

If an exact match is not found, the store is searched for subjects containing the value of the property. If a match is still not found, the property is set to an empty string, and no certificate is selected.

The special value "*" picks the first certificate in the certificate store.

The certificate subject is a comma separated list of distinguished name fields and values. For example, "CN=www.server.com, OU=test, C=US, [email protected]". The common fields and their meanings are shown below.

FieldMeaning
CNCommon Name. This is commonly a host name like www.server.com.
OOrganization
OUOrganizational Unit
LLocality
SState
CCountry
EEmail Address

If a field value contains a comma, it must be quoted.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

SSLServerCert

The certificate to be accepted from the server when connecting using TLS/SSL.

Remarks

If using a TLS/SSL connection, this property can be used to specify the TLS/SSL certificate to be accepted from the server. Any other certificate that is not trusted by the machine is rejected.

This property can take the following forms:

Description Example
A full PEM Certificate (example shortened for brevity) -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- MIIChTCCAe4CAQAwDQYJKoZIhv......Qw== -----END CERTIFICATE-----
A path to a local file containing the certificate C:\cert.cer
The public key (example shortened for brevity) -----BEGIN RSA PUBLIC KEY----- MIGfMA0GCSq......AQAB -----END RSA PUBLIC KEY-----
The MD5 Thumbprint (hex values can also be either space or colon separated) ecadbdda5a1529c58a1e9e09828d70e4
The SHA1 Thumbprint (hex values can also be either space or colon separated) 34a929226ae0819f2ec14b4a3d904f801cbb150d

If not specified, any certificate trusted by the machine is accepted.

Use '*' to signify to accept all certificates. Note that this is not recommended due to security concerns.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

Firewall

This section provides a complete list of the Firewall properties you can configure in the connection string for this provider.


PropertyDescription
FirewallTypeThe protocol used by a proxy-based firewall.
FirewallServerThe name or IP address of a proxy-based firewall.
FirewallPortThe TCP port for a proxy-based firewall.
FirewallUserThe user name to use to authenticate with a proxy-based firewall.
FirewallPasswordA password used to authenticate to a proxy-based firewall.
Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

FirewallType

The protocol used by a proxy-based firewall.

Remarks

This property specifies the protocol that the Sync App will use to tunnel traffic through the FirewallServer proxy. Note that by default, the Sync App connects to the system proxy; to disable this behavior and connect to one of the following proxy types, set ProxyAutoDetect to false.

Type Default Port Description
TUNNEL 80 When this is set, the Sync App opens a connection to Microsoft Power BI XMLA and traffic flows back and forth through the proxy.
SOCKS4 1080 When this is set, the Sync App sends data through the SOCKS 4 proxy specified by FirewallServer and FirewallPort and passes the FirewallUser value to the proxy, which determines if the connection request should be granted.
SOCKS5 1080 When this is set, the Sync App sends data through the SOCKS 5 proxy specified by FirewallServer and FirewallPort. If your proxy requires authentication, set FirewallUser and FirewallPassword to credentials the proxy recognizes.

To connect to HTTP proxies, use ProxyServer and ProxyPort. To authenticate to HTTP proxies, use ProxyAuthScheme, ProxyUser, and ProxyPassword.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

FirewallServer

The name or IP address of a proxy-based firewall.

Remarks

This property specifies the IP address, DNS name, or host name of a proxy allowing traversal of a firewall. The protocol is specified by FirewallType: Use FirewallServer with this property to connect through SOCKS or do tunneling. Use ProxyServer to connect to an HTTP proxy.

Note that the Sync App uses the system proxy by default. To use a different proxy, set ProxyAutoDetect to false.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

FirewallPort

The TCP port for a proxy-based firewall.

Remarks

This specifies the TCP port for a proxy allowing traversal of a firewall. Use FirewallServer to specify the name or IP address. Specify the protocol with FirewallType.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

FirewallUser

The user name to use to authenticate with a proxy-based firewall.

Remarks

The FirewallUser and FirewallPassword properties are used to authenticate against the proxy specified in FirewallServer and FirewallPort, following the authentication method specified in FirewallType.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

FirewallPassword

A password used to authenticate to a proxy-based firewall.

Remarks

This property is passed to the proxy specified by FirewallServer and FirewallPort, following the authentication method specified by FirewallType.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

Proxy

This section provides a complete list of the Proxy properties you can configure in the connection string for this provider.


PropertyDescription
ProxyAutoDetectThis indicates whether to use the system proxy settings or not. This takes precedence over other proxy settings, so you'll need to set ProxyAutoDetect to FALSE in order use custom proxy settings.
ProxyServerThe hostname or IP address of a proxy to route HTTP traffic through.
ProxyPortThe TCP port the ProxyServer proxy is running on.
ProxyAuthSchemeThe authentication type to use to authenticate to the ProxyServer proxy.
ProxyUserA user name to be used to authenticate to the ProxyServer proxy.
ProxyPasswordA password to be used to authenticate to the ProxyServer proxy.
ProxySSLTypeThe SSL type to use when connecting to the ProxyServer proxy.
ProxyExceptionsA semicolon separated list of destination hostnames or IPs that are exempt from connecting through the ProxyServer .
Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

ProxyAutoDetect

This indicates whether to use the system proxy settings or not. This takes precedence over other proxy settings, so you'll need to set ProxyAutoDetect to FALSE in order use custom proxy settings.

Remarks

This takes precedence over other proxy settings, so you'll need to set ProxyAutoDetect to FALSE in order use custom proxy settings.

To connect to an HTTP proxy, see ProxyServer. For other proxies, such as SOCKS or tunneling, see FirewallType.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

ProxyServer

The hostname or IP address of a proxy to route HTTP traffic through.

Remarks

The hostname or IP address of a proxy to route HTTP traffic through. The Sync App can use the HTTP, Windows (NTLM), or Kerberos authentication types to authenticate to an HTTP proxy.

If you need to connect through a SOCKS proxy or tunnel the connection, see FirewallType.

By default, the Sync App uses the system proxy. If you need to use another proxy, set ProxyAutoDetect to false.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

ProxyPort

The TCP port the ProxyServer proxy is running on.

Remarks

The port the HTTP proxy is running on that you want to redirect HTTP traffic through. Specify the HTTP proxy in ProxyServer. For other proxy types, see FirewallType.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

ProxyAuthScheme

The authentication type to use to authenticate to the ProxyServer proxy.

Remarks

This value specifies the authentication type to use to authenticate to the HTTP proxy specified by ProxyServer and ProxyPort.

Note that the Sync App will use the system proxy settings by default, without further configuration needed; if you want to connect to another proxy, you will need to set ProxyAutoDetect to false, in addition to ProxyServer and ProxyPort. To authenticate, set ProxyAuthScheme and set ProxyUser and ProxyPassword, if needed.

The authentication type can be one of the following:

  • BASIC: The Sync App performs HTTP BASIC authentication.
  • DIGEST: The Sync App performs HTTP DIGEST authentication.
  • NEGOTIATE: The Sync App retrieves an NTLM or Kerberos token based on the applicable protocol for authentication.
  • PROPRIETARY: The Sync App does not generate an NTLM or Kerberos token. You must supply this token in the Authorization header of the HTTP request.

If you need to use another authentication type, such as SOCKS 5 authentication, see FirewallType.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

ProxyUser

A user name to be used to authenticate to the ProxyServer proxy.

Remarks

The ProxyUser and ProxyPassword options are used to connect and authenticate against the HTTP proxy specified in ProxyServer.

You can select one of the available authentication types in ProxyAuthScheme. If you are using HTTP authentication, set this to the user name of a user recognized by the HTTP proxy. If you are using Windows or Kerberos authentication, set this property to a user name in one of the following formats:

user@domain
domain\user

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ProxyPassword

A password to be used to authenticate to the ProxyServer proxy.

Remarks

This property is used to authenticate to an HTTP proxy server that supports NTLM (Windows), Kerberos, or HTTP authentication. To specify the HTTP proxy, you can set ProxyServer and ProxyPort. To specify the authentication type, set ProxyAuthScheme.

If you are using HTTP authentication, additionally set ProxyUser and ProxyPassword to HTTP proxy.

If you are using NTLM authentication, set ProxyUser and ProxyPassword to your Windows password. You may also need these to complete Kerberos authentication.

For SOCKS 5 authentication or tunneling, see FirewallType.

By default, the Sync App uses the system proxy. If you want to connect to another proxy, set ProxyAutoDetect to false.

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ProxySSLType

The SSL type to use when connecting to the ProxyServer proxy.

Remarks

This property determines when to use SSL for the connection to an HTTP proxy specified by ProxyServer. This value can be AUTO, ALWAYS, NEVER, or TUNNEL. The applicable values are the following:

AUTODefault setting. If the URL is an HTTPS URL, the Sync App will use the TUNNEL option. If the URL is an HTTP URL, the component will use the NEVER option.
ALWAYSThe connection is always SSL enabled.
NEVERThe connection is not SSL enabled.
TUNNELThe connection is through a tunneling proxy. The proxy server opens a connection to the remote host and traffic flows back and forth through the proxy.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

ProxyExceptions

A semicolon separated list of destination hostnames or IPs that are exempt from connecting through the ProxyServer .

Remarks

The ProxyServer is used for all addresses, except for addresses defined in this property. Use semicolons to separate entries.

Note that the Sync App uses the system proxy settings by default, without further configuration needed; if you want to explicitly configure proxy exceptions for this connection, you need to set ProxyAutoDetect = false, and configure ProxyServer and ProxyPort. To authenticate, set ProxyAuthScheme and set ProxyUser and ProxyPassword, if needed.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

Logging

This section provides a complete list of the Logging properties you can configure in the connection string for this provider.


PropertyDescription
LogModulesCore modules to be included in the log file.
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LogModules

Core modules to be included in the log file.

Remarks

Only the modules specified (separated by ';') will be included in the log file. By default all modules are included.

See the Logging page for an overview.

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Schema

This section provides a complete list of the Schema properties you can configure in the connection string for this provider.


PropertyDescription
LocationA path to the directory that contains the schema files defining tables, views, and stored procedures.
BrowsableSchemasThis property restricts the schemas reported to a subset of the available schemas. For example, BrowsableSchemas=SchemaA,SchemaB,SchemaC.
TablesThis property restricts the tables reported to a subset of the available tables. For example, Tables=TableA,TableB,TableC.
ViewsRestricts the views reported to a subset of the available tables. For example, Views=ViewA,ViewB,ViewC.
CatalogThe Power BI workspace and dataset to use.
IncludeJoinColumnsSet this to true to include extra join columns on each table.
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Location

A path to the directory that contains the schema files defining tables, views, and stored procedures.

Remarks

The path to a directory which contains the schema files for the Sync App (.rsd files for tables and views, .rsb files for stored procedures). The folder location can be a relative path from the location of the executable. The Location property is only needed if you want to customize definitions (for example, change a column name, ignore a column, and so on) or extend the data model with new tables, views, or stored procedures.

If left unspecified, the default location is "%APPDATA%\\CData\\PowerBIXMLA Data Provider\\Schema" with %APPDATA% being set to the user's configuration directory:

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BrowsableSchemas

This property restricts the schemas reported to a subset of the available schemas. For example, BrowsableSchemas=SchemaA,SchemaB,SchemaC.

Remarks

Listing the schemas from databases can be expensive. Providing a list of schemas in the connection string improves the performance.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

Tables

This property restricts the tables reported to a subset of the available tables. For example, Tables=TableA,TableB,TableC.

Remarks

Listing the tables from some databases can be expensive. Providing a list of tables in the connection string improves the performance of the Sync App.

This property can also be used as an alternative to automatically listing views if you already know which ones you want to work with and there would otherwise be too many to work with.

Specify the tables you want in a comma-separated list. Each table should be a valid SQL identifier with any special characters escaped using square brackets, double-quotes or backticks. For example, Tables=TableA,[TableB/WithSlash],WithCatalog.WithSchema.`TableC With Space`.

Note that when connecting to a data source with multiple schemas or catalogs, you will need to provide the fully qualified name of the table in this property, as in the last example here, to avoid ambiguity between tables that exist in multiple catalogs or schemas.

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Views

Restricts the views reported to a subset of the available tables. For example, Views=ViewA,ViewB,ViewC.

Remarks

Listing the views from some databases can be expensive. Providing a list of views in the connection string improves the performance of the Sync App.

This property can also be used as an alternative to automatically listing views if you already know which ones you want to work with and there would otherwise be too many to work with.

Specify the views you want in a comma-separated list. Each view should be a valid SQL identifier with any special characters escaped using square brackets, double-quotes or backticks. For example, Views=ViewA,[ViewB/WithSlash],WithCatalog.WithSchema.`ViewC With Space`.

Note that when connecting to a data source with multiple schemas or catalogs, you will need to provide the fully qualified name of the table in this property, as in the last example here, to avoid ambiguity between tables that exist in multiple catalogs or schemas.

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Catalog

The Power BI workspace and dataset to use.

Remarks

The Sync App combines each Power BI workspace and dataset into a single catalog name. For example, if you have a workspace called MyWorkspace and a dataset called MyDataset then its catalog name will be MyWorkspace_MyDataset.

By default the Sync App will report all workspaces and datasets as separate catalogs. A query can either use the catalog directly, or leave off the catalog to have the Sync App search for a matching table.

-- Use this specific catalog
SELECT ... FROM MyWorkspace_MyDataset.Model.MyDimension

-- Search for a catalog containing this table
SELECT ... FROM Model.MyDimension

However, if you have enabled UseMDX then you may want to set this value so that MDX queries go to the correct workspace and dataset. The Sync App cannot determine the workspace and dataset automatically from an MDX query.

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IncludeJoinColumns

Set this to true to include extra join columns on each table.

Remarks

Some tools may require an ON condition (or generate them automatically) based on foreign key references. By setting IncludeJoinColumns to true, every table will include a foreign key reference to the other tables. These columns will not return any data and are not useful for anything other than passing as ON conditions to perform joins upon.

In Microsoft Power BI XMLA, the dimensions and measures making up the tables are already related naturally. There is no context on which to join them provided. Therefore, the CData Sync App supports joining without specifying an ON condition, so they are optional to specify.

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Miscellaneous

This section provides a complete list of the Miscellaneous properties you can configure in the connection string for this provider.


PropertyDescription
CustomHeadersOther headers as determined by the user (optional).
ExpressionInDescriptionSet this to true to report expressions as part of the description on measure columns.
ExtraPropertiesAdditional properties to submit on each MDX request to Microsoft Power BI XMLA.
MaxRowsLimits the number of rows returned rows when no aggregation or group by is used in the query. This helps avoid performance issues at design time.
OtherThese hidden properties are used only in specific use cases.
ResponseRowLimitThe number of response rows to allow before triggering an error. Set to 0 for no limit.
ShowHiddenEntitiesSet this to true to include hidden dimensions, measures and levels.
SplitMeasuresSet this to true to split Measures table into individual tables.
TimeoutThe value in seconds until the timeout error is thrown, canceling the operation.
UseMDXSet this to true to pass MDX queries to Microsoft Power BI XMLA as-is.
UserDefinedViewsA filepath pointing to the JSON configuration file containing your custom views.
WorkspaceThe comma separated PowerBI workspace(s) to connect to.
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CustomHeaders

Other headers as determined by the user (optional).

Remarks

This property can be set to a string of headers to be appended to the HTTP request headers created from other properties, like ContentType, From, and so on.

The headers must be of the format "header: value" as described in the HTTP specifications. Header lines should be separated by the carriage return and line feed (CRLF) characters.

Use this property with caution. If this property contains invalid headers, HTTP requests may fail.

This property is useful for fine-tuning the functionality of the Sync App to integrate with specialized or nonstandard APIs.

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ExpressionInDescription

Set this to true to report expressions as part of the description on measure columns.

Remarks

The Sync App reports the remarks for several types of entities (dimensions, measures, measure groups and heirarchies) as table and column descriptions. By default, the Sync App will include only the remarks in measure column descriptions.

If this option is enabled, then the measure expression is included in the measure column description, along with the remarks. The descriptions on other types of entities are not affected.

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ExtraProperties

Additional properties to submit on each MDX request to Microsoft Power BI XMLA.

Remarks

When setting UseMDX to true, properties may be specified using this connection property to fill out extra values in the PropertiesList of the XMLA request. Use name=value pairs separated by a semicolon to submit the properties. For example, Catalog=MyCatalog;Cube=MyCube;.

A list of properties may be found by executing SELECT * FROM $System.DISCOVER_PROPERTIES.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

MaxRows

Limits the number of rows returned rows when no aggregation or group by is used in the query. This helps avoid performance issues at design time.

Remarks

Limits the number of rows returned rows when no aggregation or group by is used in the query. This helps avoid performance issues at design time.

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Other

These hidden properties are used only in specific use cases.

Remarks

The properties listed below are available for specific use cases. Normal driver use cases and functionality should not require these properties.

Specify multiple properties in a semicolon-separated list.

Integration and Formatting

DefaultColumnSizeSets the default length of string fields when the data source does not provide column length in the metadata. The default value is 2000.
ConvertDateTimeToGMTDetermines whether to convert date-time values to GMT, instead of the local time of the machine.
RecordToFile=filenameRecords the underlying socket data transfer to the specified file.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

ResponseRowLimit

The number of response rows to allow before triggering an error. Set to 0 for no limit.

Remarks

Selecting a lot of columns results in a number of crossjoins occurring under the hood when translated to something that is acceptable for Microsoft Power BI XMLA. This is not intuitive if you are not familiar with MDX. It can easily result in very large responses that time out. The ResponseRowLimit is designed to alert the user to very expensive requests.

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ShowHiddenEntities

Set this to true to include hidden dimensions, measures and levels.

Remarks

By default the Sync App does not report entities that Microsoft Power BI XMLA marks as hidden. Enabling this option allows you to query them.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

SplitMeasures

Set this to true to split Measures table into individual tables.

Remarks

All measures are currently grouped into a single table 'Measures'. Set this to true to split Measures table into individual tables (if a table only contains measures) and include measures into respective dimensions tables.

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Timeout

The value in seconds until the timeout error is thrown, canceling the operation.

Remarks

If Timeout = 0, operations do not time out. The operations run until they complete successfully or until they encounter an error condition.

If Timeout expires and the operation is not yet complete, the Sync App throws an exception.

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UseMDX

Set this to true to pass MDX queries to Microsoft Power BI XMLA as-is.

Remarks

You can execute SQL-92 SELECT queries to the views modeled by the Sync App; set this property to instead execute MDX queries directly to Microsoft Power BI XMLA.

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

UserDefinedViews

A filepath pointing to the JSON configuration file containing your custom views.

Remarks

User Defined Views are defined in a JSON-formatted configuration file called UserDefinedViews.json. The Sync App automatically detects the views specified in this file.

You can also have multiple view definitions and control them using the UserDefinedViews connection property. When you use this property, only the specified views are seen by the Sync App.

This User Defined View configuration file is formatted as follows:

  • Each root element defines the name of a view.
  • Each root element contains a child element, called query, which contains the custom SQL query for the view.

For example:

{
	"MyView": {
		"query": "SELECT * FROM [AdventureWorksDW2012Multidimensional-SE].[Adventure Works].Customer WHERE MyColumn = 'value'"
	},
	"MyView2": {
		"query": "SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE Id IN (1,2,3)"
	}
}
Use the UserDefinedViews connection property to specify the location of your JSON configuration file. For example:
"UserDefinedViews", "C:\\Users\\yourusername\\Desktop\\tmp\\UserDefinedViews.json"

Microsoft Power BI XMLA Connector for CData Sync

Workspace

The comma separated PowerBI workspace(s) to connect to.

Remarks

The comma separated PowerBI workspace(s) to connect to. If not specified, objects from all workspaces will be available. This will cause extra requests to be executed to list objects from all workspaces.

Note: The workspace names are case-sensitive.

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