Visualize Dynamics 365 Business Central Data from Tableau

With CData Drivers for Dynamics 365 Business Central, you can use data access standards to unlock connectivity to business intelligence tools like Tableau. The CData JDBC Driver for Dynamics 365 Business Central allows you to connect from Tableau on Windows and macOS. This article covers how to discover schemas and query Dynamics 365 Business Central data data in real-time.

NOTE: If you are using Tableau 2020.3 or higher, you can use the CData JDBC Driver for Dynamics 365 Business Central. If you wish to connect to Dynamics 365 Business Central data in Tableau Cloud, you will need to use CData Connect Cloud.

Connect to Dynamics 365 Business Central 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.

To authenticate to Dynamics 365 Business Central, you must provide the User and AccessKey properties.

To obtain the User and AccessKey values, navigate to the Users page in Dynamics 365 Business Central and then click on Edit. The User Name and Web Service Access Key values are what you will enter as the User and AccessKey connection string properties. Note that the User Name is not your email address. It is a shortened user name.

To connect to data, specify OrganizationUrl. If you have multiple companies in your organization, you must also specify the Company to indicate which company you would like to connect to. Company does not need to be specified if you have only one company.

Built-in Connection String Designer

For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Dynamics 365 Business Central 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.d365businesscentral.jar'

From MacOS:

java -jar cdata.jdbc.d365businesscentral.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:d365businesscentral:OrganizationUrl=https://myaccount.financials.dynamics.com/;
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 Dynamics 365 Business Central with Tableau, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on Dynamics 365 Business Central data. Download a free, 30-day trial and get started today.