Visualize Drift Data in TIBCO Spotfire through ADO.NET

TIBCO Spotfire is a data visualization and business intelligence software developed by TIBCO Software Inc. It allows users to connect, visualize, and share insights from various data sources in real-time. Spotfire provides interactive dashboards, data analytics, and predictive analytics capabilities, enabling users to explore data, uncover trends, and make data-driven decisions. It is commonly used in businesses and organizations to analyze large datasets, gain valuable insights, and improve decision-making processes. Learn more at https://www.tibco.com/analytics.

In this article, we will guide you through the process of utilizing the CData ADO.NET Provider for Drift within TIBCO Spotfire. You will learn how to establish a connection and build a basic dashboard.

1. Add the CData ADO.NET data source by clicking Add Data Tables.
2. Click Add -> Database.
3. Select the provider and click Configure.
4. Define the connection settings. Below is a typical connection string:

   Profile=C:\profiles\Drift.apip;Authscheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackUrl=your_callback_url;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH

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

   Drift API Profile Settings

   Drift uses OAuth-based authentication.

   You must first register an application here: https://dev.drift.com. Your app will be assigned a client ID and a client secret. Set these in your connection string via the OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret properties. More information on setting up an OAuth application can be found at https://devdocs.drift.com/docs/.

   After setting the following options in the ProfileSettings connection property, you are ready to connect:

   • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
   • OAuthClientId: Set this to the Client Id that is specified in your app settings.
   • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to Client Secret that is specified in your app settings.
   • CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI you specified in your app settings.
   • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to manage the process to obtain the OAuthAccessToken.

   When you configure the connection, 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.

5. Select the tables that you want to add to the dashboard. This example uses Contacts. You can also specify an SQL query. The driver supports the standard SQL syntax.
6. If you want to work with the live data, click the Keep Data Table External option. This option enables your dashboards to reflect changes to the data in real time.

   If you want to load the data into memory and process the data locally, click the Import Data Table option. This option is better for offline use or if a slow network connection is making your dashboard less interactive.

7. After adding tables, the Recommended Visualizations wizard is displayed. When you select a table, Spotfire uses the column data types to detect number, time, and category columns. This example uses DisplayName in the Numbers section and Id in the Categories section.

After adding several visualizations in the Recommended Visualizations wizard, you can make other modifications to the dashboard. For example, you can apply a filter: After clicking the Filter button, the available filters for each query are displayed in the Filters pane.