Build Visualizations of Live Clio Data in Power BI (through CData Connect)

Power BI transforms your company's data into rich visuals for you to collect and organize so you can focus on what matters to you. When paired with CData Connect (on-premise or in the cloud), you get access to Clio data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to use CData Connect to create a virtual database for Clio, connect to Clio data into Power BI and then create reports on Clio data in Power BI.

Create a Virtual SQL Database for Clio Data

CData Connect Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.

1. Login to Connect Server and click Connections.
2. Select "Clio" from Available Data Sources.
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Clio.

   Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the Clio Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Clio.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Clio (see below).

   Clio API Profile Settings

   Clio uses OAuth-based authentication.

   First, register an OAuth application with Clio. You can do so by logging to your Developer Account and clicking the Add button. Enter details and select the scope of your application here - these details will be shown to Clio users when they're asked to authorize your application. Your Oauth application will be assigned a client id (key) and a client secret (secret). Additionally you will need to set the Region in ProfileSettings connection property.

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

   • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
   • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to manage the process to obtain the OAuthAccessToken.
   • OAuthClientId: Set this to the client_id that is specified in you app settings.
   • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client_secret that is specified in you app settings.
   • CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI that is specified in your app settings.
   • Region: Set this in ProfileSettings to your Clio geographic region. Defaults to app.clio.com.
4. Click Save Changes
5. Click Privileges -> Add and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions.

With the virtual database created, you are ready to connect to and visualize Clio from Power BI.

Query Clio Tables

Follow the steps below to build a query to pull Clio data into the report:

1. Open Power BI Desktop and click Get Data -> Other -> SQL Server and click "Connect"
2. Set Server to the address and port of your CData Connect instance (localhost:8033 by default) and set Database to the name of the virtual database you just created (API1)
3. Use "Database" authentication, enter the credentials for a CData Connect user and click "Connect"
4. Select tables in the Navigator dialog
5. Click Load to import the data into Power BI

Create Clio Data Visualizations

After connecting to the data into Power BI, you can create data visualizations in the Report view by dragging fields from the Fields pane onto the canvas. Select the dimensions and measures you wish to visualize along with the chart type.

Click Refresh to synchronize your report with any changes to the data.

SQL Access to Clio Data from Data Applications

With CData Connect you have a direct connection to Clio data from Power BI. You can import more data, create new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating Clio data.

To get SQL data access to 200+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources (including Clio) directly from your on-premise BI, reporting, ETL and other data applications, visit the CData Connect page and download a free trial.