Visualize Cvent Data from Tableau

With CData Drivers for Cvent, you can use data access standards to unlock connectivity to business intelligence tools like Tableau. The CData JDBC Driver for Cvent allows you to connect from Tableau on Windows and macOS. This article covers how to discover schemas and query Cvent data data in real-time.

NOTE: If you are using Tableau 2020.3 or higher, you can use the CData JDBC Driver for Cvent. If you wish to connect to Cvent data in Tableau Cloud, you will need to use CData Connect.

Connect to Cvent in Tableau

Before starting Tableau, make sure you've placed the .jar file in the correct folder:

• Windows: C:\Program Files\Tableau\Drivers
• MacOS: ~/Library/Tableau/Drivers

Once your .jar file is in place, establishing a connection is straightforward.

1. Start Tableau.
2. Under To a Server, select More.
3. Select Other Databases (JDBC)
4. Enter the JDBC connection string in the URL field.

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.

From Windows:

java -jar 'C:\Program Files\CData[product_name]\lib\cdata.jdbc.cvent.jar'

From MacOS:

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.

The following is a sample URL created in the designer:

jdbc:cvent:OAuthClientId=MyOAuthClientId;OAuthClientSecret=MyOAuthClientSecret;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;
5. Select Sign in.

Discover Schemas and Query Data

1. Select CData from the Database pull-down menu.
2. Select CData from the Schema pull-down menu.
3. Drag the table onto the join area. You can include multiple tables.
4. Select Update Now or Automatically Update. Update Now lets you preview the first 10,000 rows of the data source (or enter the number of rows you want to see in the Rows text box). Automatically Update automatically reflects the changes in the preview area.
5. In the Connection menu, select the Live option, so that you skip loading a copy of the data into Tableau and instead work on real-time data.
6. Click the tab for your worksheet. Columns are listed as Dimensions and Measures, depending on the data type. The CData Driver discovers data types automatically, allowing you to leverage the powerful data processing and visualization features of Tableau.
7. Click and drag a field from the Dimensions or Measures area to Rows or Columns. Tableau creates column or row headers.
8. Select one of the chart types from the Show Me tab. Tableau displays the chart type that you selected.

Using the CData JDBC Driver for Cvent with Tableau, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on Cvent data. Download a free, 30-day trial and get started today.