Visualize Excel Data in Sisense

Sisense lets you join, analyze, and picture data to make more intelligent business decisions and craft effective strategies. The CData JDBC Driver for Microsoft Excel makes it easy to integrate with Excel data in Sisense. This article shows how to create an ElastiCube that connects to Excel data and use the ElastiCube to visualize Excel data in Sisense.

Configure the Connection to Excel

Before creating the ElastiCube, note the installation location for the JAR file for the JDBC Driver (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for Microsoft Excel 20XX\lib) or copy the jar file (cdata.jdbc.excel.Excel.jar) to a new folder in the Sisense JDBC driver directory (typically C:\ProgramData\Sisense\DataConnectors\jdbcdrivers).

1. In the Data page of the Sisense application, create a new ElastiCube (or open an existing one).
2. In the Model Editor, click "+ Data" to open the Add Data dialog box.
3. Click Generic JDBC to open the JDBC settings.
4. Set the connection string property to the JDBC URL for Excel, adding required properties.

   The ExcelFile, under the Authentication section, must be set to a valid Excel File.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.excel.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 example follows:

   jdbc:excel:Excel File='C:/MyExcelWorkbooks/SampleWorkbook.xlsx';
5. Set the JDBC JARs folder property to the location of the CData JDBC Driver JAR file (see above).
6. Set the driver's class name to the class name for the JDBC Driver: cdata.jdbc.excel.ExcelDriver
7. Leave the username and password properties blank.
8. Click Next.

Add Excel Data to an ElastiCube

Once you are connected to Excel, you can add tables and views to your ElastiCubes.

1. From the Tables list, select the tables and/or views you wish to work with.
2. (Optional) Click "+" to customize the data you want to import with SQL.
3. Click Done.
4. Click Build to build the ElastiCube for analytics.

Visualize Excel Data

With Excel tables added to your ElastiCube, you can perform analytics on your Excel data.

1. Navigate to the Analytics page of the Sisense application
2. Select a Dashboard (or create a new one)
3. Select your Data Source and click Create
4. Click "+ Select Data" and choose fields to add to your visualization.

With the CData JDBC Driver for Microsoft Excel, you can access Excel data right in Sisense for powerful visualization and analytics. Download a free, 30-day trial and start working with Excel data in Sisense today!