Tableau Connector for Adobe Analytics

Build 23.0.8839

Configuring a Connection

After Installing the Connector you can connect and create a Data Source for data in Adobe Analytics.

Setting Up a Data Source

Complete the following steps to connect to the data:

  1. Under Connect | To a Server, click More....
  2. Select the data source called Adobe Analytics by CData.
  3. Enter the information required for the connection.
  4. Click Sign In.
  5. 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 Adobe Analytics 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 Adobe Analytics

In order to connect to Adobe Analytics, the GlobalCompanyId and RSID need to be identified. By default, the connector attempts to automatically identify your company and report suite. Alternatively, you can identify the company and report suite explicitly:

Global Company Id

GlobalCompanyId is an optional connection property. If left empty, the connector tries to automatically detect the Global Company ID. To find the Global Company ID:

  1. Find it in the request URL for the users/me endpoint on the Swagger UI.
  2. Expand the users endpoint and then click the GET users/me button.
  3. Click the Try it out > Execute buttons.
  4. Set the GlobalCompanyId connection property to the Global Company ID shown in the Request URL immediately preceding the users/me endpoint.

Report Suite Id

RSID is an optional connection property. If not set, the driver tries to automatically detect it. To get a full list of your report suites along with their identifiers next to the name, navigate to Admin > Report Suites.

Authenticating to Adobe Analytics

Adobe Analytics uses the OAuth authentication standard. You can authenticate with OAuth integration or Service Account integration.

User Accounts (OAuth)

AuthScheme must be set to OAuth in all user account flows.

NOTE: Adobe authentication via OAuth requires that you update your refresh token every two weeks. We recommend using OAuthJWT instead.

Desktop Applications

CData provides an embedded OAuth application that simplifies OAuth desktop Authentication. Alternatively, you can create a custom OAuth application. See Creating a Custom OAuth App for information about creating custom applications and reasons for doing so.

Get and Refresh the OAuth Access Token

After setting the following, you are ready to connect:

  • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
  • OAuthClientId (custom applications only): Set this to the client Id assigned when you registered your app.
  • OAuthClientSecret (custom applications only): Set this to the client secret assigned when you registered your app.
  • CallbackURL (custom application only): Set this to the redirect URI defined when you registered your app. For example: https://localhost:3333
When you connect, the connector opens Adobe Analytics's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application. The connector then completes the OAuth process:
  1. The connector obtains an access token from Adobe Analytics and uses it to request data.
  2. The OAuth values are saved in the location specified in OAuthSettingsLocation, to be persisted across connections.
The connector refreshes the access token automatically when it expires.

Service Account (JWT OAuth)

Set the AuthScheme to OAuthJWT to authenticate with this method.

Service accounts have silent authentication, which does not require user authentication in the browser.
You need to create an application in this flow. See Creating a Custom OAuth App to create and authorize an app. You can then connect to Adobe Analytics data that the service account has permission to access.

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

  • InitiateOAuth: Set to GETANDREFRESH.
  • OAuthClientId: Set to the client Id in your app settings.
  • OAuthClientSecret: Set to the client secret in your app settings.
  • OAuthJWTCertType: Set to "PUBLIC_KEY_FILE".
  • OAuthJWTCert: Set to the path to the .key file you generated.
  • OAuthJWTCertPassword: Set to the password of the .key file.
  • OAuthJWTIssuer: Set to your Organization ID from the Adobe I/O Console integration in the format org_ident@AdobeOrg. This identifies the organization that has been configured for access to the Adobe I/O API.

When you connect the connector completes the OAuth flow for a service account.

  1. Creates and signs the JWT with the claim set required by the connector.
  2. Exchanges the JWT for the access token.
  3. Saves OAuth values in OAuthSettingsLocation to be persisted across connections.
  4. Submits the JWT for a new access token when the token expires.

Next Step

See Using the Connector to create data visualizations.

Copyright (c) 2024 CData Software, Inc. - All rights reserved.
Build 23.0.8839