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How do I connect Yellowfin to an ODBC Database?

Article:
01090
Last Reviewed:
30th January 2024
Revision:
1

Use the JDBC-ODBC Bridge with an Easysoft ODBC Driver to connect Yellowfin to an ODBC Database, enabling you to analyse data stored in data stores such as MongoDB and Salesforce.com from your Yellowfin views, dashboards and reports.

Yellowfin is a Java application. To interact with a data source such as Salesforce.com, a Java application uses a JDBC driver. (JDBC is a Java application programming interface (API) that connects Java to relational databases and other tabular data such as spreadsheets and flat files.)

Easysoft ODBC drivers use ODBC to connect to the database for which they provide access. ODBC is another data access technology, the Microsoft implementation of which is included with Windows.

The JDBC-ODBC Bridge allows a Java application using JDBC to access an ODBC driver. The JDBC-ODBC Bridge and ODBC driver do not have to be installed on the same machine.

By default, Yellowfin expects to use Oracle's JDBC-ODBC bridge. However, the Oracle bridge has been removed from more recent versions of Java, and was never intended for production use anyway. It is a simple process, however, to install the Easysoft bridge under Yellowfin.

Example: How to connect Yellowfin to Salesforce.com

The components necessary to connect Yellowfin to Salesforce.com are:

Yellowfin <-> JDBC-ODBC Bridge <-> Salesforce.com ODBC Driver <-> Salesforce.com

Example: How to connect Yellowfin to MongoDB

The components necessary to connect Yellowfin to MongoDB are:

Yellowfin <-> JDBC-ODBC Bridge <-> MongoDB ODBC Driver <-> MongoDB

The JDBC-ODBC Bridge, Salesforce.com ODBC Driver and MongoDB ODBC driver are available to download from the Easysoft web site.

Installing, Licensing and Testing the Easysoft ODBC Driver

  1. Download the Windows Salesforce.com ODBC Driver or Windows MongoDB ODBC Driver as required. (Registration required.)
  2. Install and license the Easysoft ODBC Driver on a Windows machine.

    For installation instructions, see the Salesforce.com ODBC Driver documentation or MongoDB ODBC Driver documentation.

Before you can use the Easysoft ODBC Driver to connect Yellowfin to Salesforce.com or MongoDB, you need to configure a System ODBC data source. An ODBC data source stores the connection details for the target database (e.g. Salesforce.com) and the ODBC driver that is required to connect to it (e.g. the Salesforce.com ODBC driver).

To run ODBC Administrator, in the Windows Run dialog box, type:

%windir%\syswow64\odbcad32.exe

Use ODBC Administrator to create your ODBC Driver data source.

Creating a Salesforce.com ODBC Data Source

  1. Choose the System DSN tab, and then choose Add.
  2. In the Create New Data Source dialog box, choose Easysoft ODBC-Salesforce Driver, and then choose Finish.
  3. Complete the Easysoft ODBC-Salesforce Driver DSN Setup dialog box:
    Setting Value
    DSN Salesforce.com
    User Name The name of your Salesforce.com user. For example, myuser@mydomain.com.
    Password The password for your Salesforce.com user.
    Token The security token for your Salesforce.com user, if required.

    To find out whether you need to supply a security token, choose the Test button. If the connection attempt fails with an error which contains LOGIN_MUST_USE_SECURITY_TOKEN, you need to supply one.

    Salesforce.com emails the security token to the email address associated with your Salesforce.com user account. If you have not received a security token, you can regenerate it. Salesforce.com will then email the new security token to you. To regenerate your security token, log in to Salesforce.com and then choose Setup from the user menu. Search for "security token" in the Quick Find box. Click Reset Security Token in the Reset Security Token page. When you receive the token in your email client, copy it and then paste it into the Token field.
  4. Use the Test button to verify that you can successfully connect to Salesforce.com.

Creating a MongoDB ODBC Data Source

  1. Choose the System DSN tab, and then choose Add.
  2. In the Create New Data Source dialog box, choose Easysoft ODBC-MongoDB Driver, and then choose Finish.
  3. Complete these fields Easysoft ODBC-MongoDB Driver DSN Setup dialog box:
    Setting Value
    DSN MongoDB
    Description Easysoft MongoDB ODBC Driver
    Server The name or IP address of the host where your MongoDB instance is running.
    User Name If you need to supply a user name to access your MongoDB database, enter it here.
    Password The password for your MongoDB user name.
  4. Use the Test button to verify that you can successfully connect to your MongoDB database.

Installing and Licensing the JDBC-ODBC Bridge

  1. Download the JDBC-ODBC Bridge. (Registration required.)
  2. Install and license the JDBC-ODBC Bridge on the machine where the Salesforce.com ODBC driver is installed.

    For installation instructions, see the JDBC-ODBC Bridge documentation.

  3. In Window Services, make sure that the Easysoft JDBC-ODBC Bridge Server x64 service is running, and that the Easysoft JDBC-ODBC Bridge Server service is stopped (stop the service and in the server properties, set the Startup type to "Manual").

Connecting Yellowfin to your ODBC Database

You can now connect Yellowfin to Salesforce.com or MongoDB:

  1. Copy EJOB.jar to the the YELLOWFIN_install_dir\appserver\webapps\ROOT\WEB-INF\lib folder.

    EJOB.jar is installed in the following location on the machine where you installed the JDBC-ODBC Bridge:

    install_dir\Jars

    The default location for install_dir is drive:\Program Files (x86)\Easysoft Limited\Easysoft JDBC-ODBC Bridge.

  2. Open web.xml in a text editor.

    web.xml is located in the YELLOWFIN_install_dir\appserver\webapps\ROOT\WEB-INF folder.

  3. Add the JDBC-ODBC Bridge to Yellowfin's list of installed JDBC drivers. Do this by adding the JDBC-ODBC Bridge driver name, easysoft.sql.jobDriver, to the JDBCDrivers list. For example: 
    <init-param>
<param-name>JDBCDrivers</param-name>
<param-value>
   easysoft.sql.jobDriver,
   com.connectioncloud.jdbc.Driver,
   com.ddtek.jdbc.openedge.OpenEdgeDriver,
   com.filemaker.jdbc.Driver,
   .
   .
   .
  4. Start or restart the Yellowfin service.
  5. In your web browser, log into Yellowfin.
  6. Choose Administration > Admin Console.
  7. Choose Data Sources.
  8. Complete the Connection Details page:
    Setting Value
    Source Name Easysoft
    Connection Method JDBC
    Database Generic JDBC Data Source
    JDBC Driver easysoft.sql.jobDriver
    Connection String jdbc:easysoft://localhost:8831/my_odbc_system_dsn:logonuser=my_windows_user:logonpassword=my_windows_password
  9. Choose Save.
  10. Choose Create > View.
  11. Complete the Initialize View page:
    Setting Value
    I want to author the view using Drag and Drop Editor
    The data I need for my view is sourced from Easysoft
    Category List General Views
  12. Use the drag and drop editor to populate and save your View.
  13. Choose Create > Report.
  14. Create a report based on the data from your new view.
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