How do I connect Arcplan to a database that supports ODBC?

Use an Easysoft ODBC driver to connect Arcplan to a database that supports ODBC, enabling you to analyse data stored in backends such as MongoDB and Salesforce from your Arcplan Enterprise dashboard.

Arcplan Enterprise uses an ODBC driver to interact with an external data source. ODBC is a data access technology, the Microsoft implementation of which is included with Windows.

Example: How to connect Arcplan to Salesforce

The components necessary to connect Arcplan to Salesforce are:

Arcplan <-> Salesforce ODBC driver <-> Salesforce

Example: How to connect Arcplan to MongoDB

The components necessary to connect Arcplan to MongoDB are:

Arcplan <-> MongoDB ODBC driver <-> MongoDB

Installing, licensing, and testing the Easysoft ODBC driver

  1. Download the Windows Salesforce ODBC driver or Windows MongoDB ODBC driver as required.
  2. Install and license the Easysoft ODBC driver on a Windows machine.

    For installation instructions, refer to the Salesforce ODBC driver documentation or MongoDB ODBC driver documentation.

Before you can use the Easysoft ODBC driver to connect Arcplan to Salesforce or MongoDB, you need to configure a system ODBC data source in ODBC Data Source Administrator. An ODBC data source stores the connection details for the target database (in this case, Salesforce or MongoDB) and the ODBC driver that's required to connect to it (in this case, the Salesforce ODBC driver or the MongoDB ODBC driver).

To run ODBC Data Source Administrator, in the Windows Run dialog box, enter this command:

%windir%\syswow64\odbcad32.exe

Creating a Salesforce 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 DSN Setup dialog box:
    Setting Value
    DSN Salesforce
    User Name The name of your Salesforce user. For example, myuser@mydomain.com.
    Password The password for your Salesforce user.
    Token The security token for your Salesforce 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 emails the security token to the email address associated with your Salesforce user account. If you have not received a security token, you can regenerate it. Salesforce will then email the new security token to you. To regenerate your security token, log in to Salesforce and then choose Setup from the user menu. Search for "security token" in the Quick Find box. Choose 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.

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 in the 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.

Connecting Arcplan to your ODBC database

You can now connect Arcplan to Salesforce or MongoDB:

  1. In Arcplan Application designer, on the Window menu, choose Database.
  2. In the Database window, create a new connection.
  3. In the Create new connection dialog box, choose External data source.
  4. In the Interface for list, choose ODBC.
  5. In the Data Sources list, choose your Easysoft data source.
  6. Choose OK, and then enter Easysoft when prompted to save the Connect file.
  7. Create a new Arcplan application, in which you insert a new row and column.
  8. Drag a column from the Database window to your row.

    The data from your Easysoft data source displays in the Arcplan application.

  9. Drag a column heading from the Database window to your column.