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Visualize Dynamics 365 Data in TIBCO Spotfire through OData


Integrate Dynamics 365 data into dashboards in TIBCO Spotfire.

OData is a major protocol enabling real-time communication among cloud-based, mobile, and other online applications. The CData Connect Server provides Dynamics 365 data to OData consumers like TIBCO Spotfire. This article shows how to use the Connect Server and Spotfire's built-in support for OData to access Dynamics 365 data in real time.

About Dynamics 365 Data Integration

CData simplifies access and integration of live Microsoft Dynamics 365 data. Our customers leverage CData connectivity to:

  • Read and write data in the full Dynamics 365 ecosystem: Sales, Customer Service, Finance & Operations, Marketing, and more.
  • Extend the native features of Dynamics CRM with customizable caching and intelligent query aggregation and separation.
  • Authenticate securely with Dynamics 365 in a variety of ways, including Azure Active Directory, Azure Managed Service Identity credentials, and Azure Service Principal using either a client secret or a certificate.
  • Use SQL stored procedures to manage their Dynamics 365 entities - listing, creating, and removing associations between entities.

CData customers use our Dynamics 365 connectivity solutions for a variety of reasons, whether they're looking to replicate their data into a data warehouse (alongside other data sources)or analyze live Dynamics 365 data from their preferred data tools inside the Microsoft ecosystem (Power BI, Excel, etc.) or with external tools (Tableau, Looker, etc.).


Getting Started


Configuring Connect Server

To work with live Dynamics 365 data in TIBCO Spotfire, we need to connect to Dynamics 365 from Connect Server, provide user access to the new virtual database, and create OData endpoints for the Dynamics 365 data.

Add a Connect Server User

Create a User to connect to Dynamics 365 from TIBCO Spotfire through Connect Server.

  1. Click Users -> Add
  2. Configure a User
  3. Click Save Changes and make note of the Authtoken for the new user

Connect to Dynamics 365 from Connect Server

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

  1. Open Connect Server and click Connections
  2. Select "Dynamics 365" from Available Data Sources
  3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Dynamics 365.

    Edition and OrganizationUrl are required connection properties. The Dynamics 365 connector supports connecting to the following editions: CustomerService, FieldService, FinOpsOnline, FinOpsOnPremise, HumanResources, Marketing, ProjectOperations and Sales.

    For Dynamics 365 Business Central, use the separate Dynamics 365 Business Central driver.

    OrganizationUrl is the URL to your Dynamics 365 organization. For instance, https://orgcb42e1d0.crm.dynamics.com

  4. Click Save Changes
  5. Click Privileges -> Add and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions (SELECT is all that is required for Reveal).

Add Dynamics 365 OData Endpoints in Connect Server

After connecting to Dynamics 365, create OData Endpoints for the desired table(s).

  1. Click OData -> Tables -> Add Tables
  2. Select the Dynamics 365 database
  3. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Next
  4. (Optional) Edit the resource to select specific fields and more
  5. Save the settings

(Optional) Configure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)

When accessing and connecting to multiple domains from an application such as Ajax, there is a possibility of violating the limitations of cross-site scripting. In that case, configure the CORS settings in OData -> Settings.

  • Enable cross-origin resource sharing (CORS): ON
  • Allow all domains without '*': ON
  • Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, PUT, POST, OPTIONS
  • Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Authorization

Save the changes to the settings.

Create Data Visualizations on External Dynamics 365 Data

  1. Open Spotfire and click Data -> Add data...
  2. Then, click "Connect to" -> OData -> New Connection. In the OData Connection dialog, enter the following information:
    • Service URL: Enter the Connect Server's OData endpoint. For example: http://localhost:8080/odata.rsc
    • Authentication Method: Select Username and Password.
    • Username: Enter the username of a Connect Server user. You can create API users on the Security tab of the administration console.
    • Password: Enter the authtoken of a Connect Server user.
  3. Select the tables and columns you want to add to the dashboard. This example uses GoalHeadings.

  4. 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.

  5. After you have selected a table, Spotfire uses the data to detect number, time, and other categories. You are now on your way to creating new visualizations for analytics, reporting, and more.

Free Trial & More Information

If you are interested in connecting to your Dynamics 365 data (or data from any of our other supported data sources) from TIBCO Spotfire, sign up for a free trial of CData Connect Server today! For more information on Connect Server and to see what other data sources we support, refer to our CData Connect page.

Ready to get started?

Learn more or sign up for a free trial:

CData Connect Server

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