Connecting Bold BI to CDATA data source

The Bold BI Dashboard Designer supports connecting to a CDATA database using the SQL Live Query.

Choose CDATA data source

To configure the CDATA data source, follow these steps:

1. Click on Data Sources in the configuration panel to add a new data connection.

   

2. Click CREATE NEW to launch a new connection from the connection panel.

3. Select the CDATA connection in the connection panel.

   

NOTE: You can also create a data source from the home page by clicking on the Data Sources menu in the left menu panel and selecting Create Data Source from the data sources page.

Connect to CDATA

Create CDATA data source

After clicking on the data source, the NEW DATA SOURCE configuration panel opens. Follow the given steps to create the CDATA data source:

1. Enter a name and description (optional) for the data source.

2. Enter a valid CDATA server or host name in the ServerName text box.

3. Enter a valid CDATA username in the UserName text box.

4. Enter a valid CDATA password in the Password text box.

5. Select a database that you want to query from the listed databases associated with the given CDATA server in the database combo box.

   

NOTE: To connect to a data source with SSH, enable the SSH checkbox in the NEW DATA SOURCE configuration panel and enter the required credentials.

There are two connection types available in a data source:

* Live mode
* Extract mode

Live mode connection

Live mode connection In this connection type, data is directly fetched from the source. Choose the Live mode option for this connection.

Data Preview

1. Click Connect to connect to the CDATA server with the configured details.

The schema represents the collection list retrieved from the CDATA server. This dialog displays a list of schemas in tree view and their corresponding values.

2. Now, the data design view page with the selected table schema opens. Drag the table.

   

   You can use the Code View option to pass queries to display data.

   

3. Click Save to save the data source with a relevant name.

Extract mode connection

In this connection type, data is fetched from the source periodically. Choose the Extract mode option for this connection.

NOTE: Initially, data will be extracted based on the Max Rows selected in order to proceed with data model creation. The remaining records (there is no limit) will be extracted during the next refresh.

Refresh Settings

Steps to configure the data source refresh settings:

1. Click Refresh Settings in the configuration panel.

   

2. Select the recurrence type, recurrence start, and end dates in the Refresh Setting dialog box.

   • Data refresh can be scheduled hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly.
   • The Application Time Zone is displayed below the date picker. The start time of the schedule is converted to the client Time Zone and shown on the right side for users’ convenience. After selecting, click Schedule.

   

Preview and data import

1. Click Connect to connect the CDATA server with configured details.
2. The Extract Data dialog opens. This dialog has two modes of connection, either via Table or Custom query. Under the custom query option, write the required query and click Connect.

Under Table option, this dialog displays list of tables and views in treeview. Select the required table(s) or view(s) from treeview to use in the designer. Incremental Update can be performed in both tables and views. The option is available for configuring incremental refresh column for the selected items in the right-side panel. * The table must have a primary key column and date column to configure the incremental refresh option. * The Views must have a date column to configure the incremental refresh option and unique column(s) is optional which is used to update the modified records.

If you configured it, then the data source will work on Incremental update; otherwise, it works on the Full load concept. Finally, click Connect.

3. Now, the data design view page with the selected table schema opens. Drag the table.

   

   You can use the Code View option to pass a query to display data.

   

4. Click Save to save the data source with a relevant name.

NOTE: In the future, you can edit the connection information for both Live and Extract mode connections using the Edit Connection option.

Connect using custom attribute and dashboard parameter

We have added support for custom attributes and dashboard parameters to the data source connection. You can connect to the data source using custom attributes or dashboard parameters.

Custom Attribute

Dashboard Parameter

Note: Refer to the Dashboard Parameter Documentation and Custom Attributes Documentation for more details.

Connecting Bold BI to CDATA Data Source via REST API

Prerequisites

The type while creating the data source needs to be cdata.

Rest API - v4.0

Modes

Through the REST API, only the live mode data source can be created and edited.

Parameters for creating Data Source

NOTE: The ability to provide join support is available only during the creation of a new data source. Join in edit connection mode is not supported.

Parameters for edit the connection while upload the dashboard via API

Parameters for adding expressions when creating Data Source

Parameters for editing Data Source

NOTE: To edit the Data Source via the API, all parameters are optional. The parameter that needs to be changed can be provided.

Parameters for modifying expressions when editing Data Source

Connection Sample for Table Mode

For creating connection:

"Connection":
{
"Servername": "string",
"Port": "string",
"Username": "string",
"Password": "string",
"Database": "string",
"Schemaname": "string",
"Tablename": "string",
"AdvancedSettings": "string",
"CommandTimeout": "string",
"IsSshConnection": "false",
"SshServerName": "string",
"SshPort": 0,
"SshUsername": "string",
"SshPassword": "string",
"Expressions" : [{
"Name": "Expression1",
"Expression" : "SUM(numeric expression)"
    },
    {
"Name": "Expression2",
"Expression" :  "UPPER(string expression)"
}]
}

For creating connection with multiple tables :

"Connection":
{
"Servername": "string",
"Port": "string",
"Username": "string",
"Password": "string",
"Database": "string",
"Tables": [
            {
                "Tablename": "string",
                "Schemaname": "string"
            },
            {
                "Tablename": "string",
                "Schemaname": "string"
            }
        ],
"JoinInfo": [
            {
                "JoinType": "string",
                "LeftTable": "string",
                "RightTable": "string",
                "JoinFieldInfos": [
                    {
                        "Condition": "string",
                        "LeftField": "string",
                        "Operator": "string",
                        "RightField": "string",
                        "Value": "string"
                    },
                    {
                        "Condition": "string",
                        "LeftField": "string",
                        "Operator": "string",
                        "RightField": "string",
                        "Value": "string"
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
"AdvancedSettings": "string",
"CommandTimeout": "string",
"IsSshConnection": "false",
"SshServerName": "string",
"SshPort": 0,
"SshUsername": "string",
"SshPassword": "string",
"Expressions" : [{
"Name": "Expression1",
"Expression" : "SUM(numeric expression)"
    },
    {
"Name": "Expression2",
"Expression" :  "UPPER(string expression)"
}]
}

For editing connection:

"Connection":
{
"Servername": "string",
"Port": "string",
"Username": "string",
"Password": "string",
"Database": "string",
"Schemaname": "string",
"Tablename": "string",
"AdvancedSettings": "string",
"CommandTimeout": "string",
"IsSshConnection": "false",
"SshServerName": "string",
"SshPort": 0,
"SshUsername": "string",
"SshPassword": "string",
"Expressions" : [{
"Name": "Expression1",
"Expression" : "SUM(numeric expression)",
"NewName" : "Sum",
"Action": "edit"
    },
    {
"Name": "Expression2",
"Expression" :  "UPPER(string expression)"
"Action": "delete"
}]
}

NOTE: Through the REST API, the data source can be created or edited using only one table. If a different table is provided when editing the data source, the table will be replaced. The widgets will be retained only if the schema is the same as the previous table.

Connection Sample for Code View Mode

"Connection":
{
"Servername": "string",
"Port": "string",
"Username": "string",
"Password": "string",
"Database": "string",
"Query": "string",
"AdvancedSettings": "string",
"CommandTimeout": "string",
"IsSshConnection": "false",
"SshServerName": "string",
"SshPort": 0,
"SshUsername": "string",
"SshPassword": "string",
"Expressions" : [{
"Name": "Expression1",
"Expression" : "SUM(numeric expression)"
    },
    {
"Name": "Expression2",
"Expression" :  "UPPER(string expression)"
}]
}

Sample connection for editing the connection while uploading the “string” via API.

"Connection":  {   
       "ServerName": "string",
       "Database": "string",
       "UserName": "string",
       "Password": "string",
       "Port": "string",
       "AdvancedSettings": "string",
       "CommandTimeout": "string",
       "Schema": "string"
  } 

Related links

Data Transformation

Editing a Data Connection

Dashboard Designer Walkthrough

CDATA Integration