Use the CData JDBC Driver for Cvent in MicroStrategy Desktop

MicroStrategy is an analytics and mobility platform that enables data-driven innovation. When you pair MicroStrategy with the CData JDBC Driver for Cvent, you gain database-like access to live Cvent data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through adding Cvent as a data source in MicroStrategy Desktop and creating a simple visualization of Cvent data.

The CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Cvent data in MicroStrategy due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from MicroStrategy to Cvent, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Cvent and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations (often SQL functions and JOIN operations) client-side. With built-in dynamic metadata querying, you can use native MicroStrategy data types to visualize and analyze Cvent data.

Connect to and Visualize Cvent Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

In addition to connecting to Cvent in MicroStrategy enterprise products, you can connect to Cvent in MicroStrategy Desktop. Follow the steps below to add Cvent data as a dataset using JDBC and create visualizations and reports of Cvent data.

1. Open MicroStrategy Desktop and create a new dossier.
2. In the datasets panel, click New Data, select Databases, and choose Select a Table as the Import Option.
3. Add a new data source and choose the DSN-less data sources option.
4. Choose Generic in the Database menu and Generic DBMS in the Version menu.
5. Click the link to show the connection string and opt to edit the connection string. In the Driver menu, select MicroStrategy Cassandra ODBC Driver. (MicroStrategy requires a certified driver to interface through JDBC; the actual driver will not be used.)
6. Set the connection string as follows and click OK:
   • Add the JDBC keyword to the connection string.
   • Set MSTR_JDBC_JAR_FOLDER to the path of the JAR file for the JDBC driver. (C:\Program Files\CData JDBC Driver for Cvent\lib\ on Windows.)
   • Set DRIVER to cdata.jdbc.cvent.CventDriver, the driver class.
   • Set URL to the JDBC URL for the Cvent driver, setting the necessary connection properties.

     Before you can authenticate to Cvent, you must create a workspace and an OAuth application.

     Creating a Workspace

     To create a workspace:

     1. Sign into Cvent and navigate to App Switcher (the blue button in the upper right corner of the page) >> Admin.
     2. In the Admin menu, navigate to Integrations >> REST API.
     3. A new tab launches for Developer Management. Click on Manage API Access in the new tab.
     4. Create a Workspace and name it. Select the scopes you would like your developers to have access to. Scopes control what data domains the developer can access.
        • Choose All to allow developers to choose any scope, and any future scopes added to the REST API.
        • Choose Custom to limit the scopes developers can choose for their OAuth apps to selected scopes. To access all tables exposed by the driver, you need to set the following scopes:

          event/attendees:read	event/attendees:write	event/contacts:read
          event/contacts:write	event/custom-fields:read	event/custom-fields:write
          event/events:read	event/events:write	event/sessions:delete
          event/sessions:read	event/sessions:write	event/speakers:delete
          event/speakers:read	event/speakers:write	budget/budget-items:read
          budget/budget-items:write	exhibitor/exhibitors:read	exhibitor/exhibitors:write
          survey/surveys:read	survey/surveys:write

     Creating an OAuth Application

     After you have set up a Workspace and invited them, developers can sign up and create a custom OAuth app. See the Creating a Custom OAuth Application section in the Help documentation for more information.

     Connecting to Cvent

     After creating an OAuth application, set the following connection properties to connect to Cvent:

     • InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. Used to automatically get and refresh the OAuthAccessToken.
     • OAuthClientId: The Client ID associated with the OAuth application. You can find this on the Applications page in the Cvent Developer Portal.
     • OAuthClientSecret: The Client secret associated with the OAuth application. You can find this on the Applications page in the Cvent Developer Portal.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Cvent JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.cvent.jar

     Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

     When you configure the JDBC URL, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

   A typical connection string follows:

   JDBC;MSTR_JDBC_JAR_FOLDER=PATH\TO\JAR\;DRIVER=cdata.jdbc.cvent.CventDriver;URL={jdbc:cvent:OAuthClientId=MyOAuthClientId;OAuthClientSecret=MyOAuthClientSecret;};
7. Right-click on the new data source, and choose Edit catalog options.
8. Edit the SQL Statement to SELECT * FROM SYS_SCHEMAS to read the metadata from the JDBC Driver.
9. Select the new data source to view the available tables. You may need to manually click the search icon in the Available Tables section to see the tables.
10. Drag tables into the pane to import them. Note: Since we create a live connection, we can import whole tables and utilize the filtering and aggregation features native to the MicroStrategy products.
11. Click Finish and choose the option to connect Live. Live connections are possible and effective, thanks to the high-performance data processing native to CData JDBC Drivers.
12. Choose a visualization, choose fields to display, and apply any filters to create a new visualization of Cvent data. Data types are discovered automatically through dynamic metadata discovery. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to Cvent, while any unsupported operations (which can include SQL functions and JOIN operations) will be managed client-side by the CData SQL engine embedded in the driver.
13. Once you are finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

Using the CData JDBC Driver for Cvent in MicroStrategy Desktop, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on Cvent data. Read our other articles for connecting to Cvent data in MicroStrategy Developer and connecting to Cvent data in MicroStrategy Web for more examples.