Build Oracle Visualizations in Tableau Desktop

Tableau is a visual analytics platform transforming the way businesses use data to solve problems. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, you get instant, cloud-to-cloud access to Oracle data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to connect to Oracle and build visualizations from Oracle data in Tableau.

CData Connect Cloud provides a pure SQL Server, cloud-to-cloud interface for Oracle, allowing you to easily build visualizations from live Oracle data in Tableau without installing connectors. As you build visualizations, Tableau generates SQL queries to gather data. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Cloud pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Oracle, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Oracle data.

Configure Oracle Connectivity for Tableau

Connectivity to Oracle from Tableau is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Oracle data from Tableau, we start by creating and configuring a Oracle connection.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Oracle" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Oracle.

   To connect to Oracle, you'll first need to update your PATH variable and ensure it contains a folder location that includes the native DLLs. The native DLLs can be found in the lib folder inside the installation directory. Once you've done this, set the following to connect:

   • Port: The port used to connect to the server hosting the Oracle database.
   • User: The user Id provided for authentication with the Oracle database.
   • Password: The password provided for authentication with the Oracle database.
   • Service Name: The service name of the Oracle database.
4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Oracle Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Oracle data from Tableau.

Visualize Live Oracle Data in Tableau

To establish a connection from Tableau Desktop to the CData Connect Cloud Virtual SQL Server API, follow these steps.

1. In Tableau Desktop, open a new book. Under To a Server, select More, then Microsoft SQL Server.
2. Enter your credentials:
   • Server: enter the Virtual SQL Server endpoint and port separated by a comma: tds.cdata.com,14333
   • Database: enter the Connection Name of the CData Connect Cloud data source you want to connect to (for example, OracleOCI1).
   • Authentication: select Use a specific username and password.
   • Username: enter your CData Connect Cloud username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect Cloud interface. For example, [email protected].
   • Password: enter the PAT you previously generated.
   • Require SSL: leave this selected.
3. Click Sign In.
4. Select the Database (Connect Cloud connection) you wish to work with and opt for a Live or Extract Connection type.
5. Select the table(s) you wish to visualize. If you select multiple tables, define the relationship between the tables using the appropriate columns.
6. Select the fields to visualize.

Real-Time Access to Oracle Data from Data Applications

At this point, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Oracle data from your Tableau workbook. You can create new visualizations, build dashboards, and more. For more information on gaining live access to data from more than 100 SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources from applications like Tableau, refer to our Connect Cloud page.