How to integrate Metabase with Raisers Edge NXT Data

Metabase is an open source data visualization tool that allows users to create interactive dashboards. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, users can easily create visualizations and dashboards linked to live Raisers Edge NXT data. This article describes how to connect to Raisers Edge NXT and build a simple visualization using Raisers Edge NXT data.

CData Connect provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for Raisers Edge NXT, allowing you to easily integrate with live Raisers Edge NXT data in Metabase — without replicating the data. Connect looks exactly like a SQL Server database to Metabase and uses optimized data processing out of the box to push all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Raisers Edge NXT, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Raisers Edge NXT data.

Configure Raisers Edge NXT Connectivity for Metabase

Connectivity to Raisers Edge NXT from Metabase is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Raisers Edge NXT data from Metabase, we start by creating and configuring a Raisers Edge NXT connection.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Raisers Edge NXT" from the Add Connection panel
3. Raisers Edge NXT uses OAuth to authenticate. Click "Sign in" to authenticate with Raisers Edge NXT.
4. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Raisers Edge NXT Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Raisers Edge NXT data from Metabase.

Connect to CData Connect from Metabase

After creating the virtual database, navigate to your Metabase instance. Use the SQL Server interface to connect to Connect Cloud.

1. Navigate to the administration screen (Settings -> Admin) and click "Add Database" from the "Databases" tab
2. Configure the connection to Connect Cloud and click "Save"
   • Database type: Select "SQL Server"
   • Name: Name the connection (e.g. "Raisers Edge NXT (Connect Cloud)")
   • Host: tds.cdata.com
   • Port: 14333
   • Database name: The name of the connection you just created (e.g. RaiserEdgeNXT1)
   • Username: A Connect Cloud username (e.g. user@mydomain.com)
   • Password: The PAT for the above Connect Cloud user
   • Click to Use a secure connection (SSL)

Execute Raisers Edge NXT Data with Metabase

Once you configure the connection to Connect Cloud, you can query Raisers Edge NXT and build visualizations.

1. Use the "Write SQL" tool to retrieve the Raisers Edge NXT data
2. Write a SQL query based on the Raisers Edge NXT connection in CData Connect Cloud, e.g.
   
   

   SELECT Id, AddressLines FROM Constituents WHERE Type = 'Home'

3. Navigate to the "Visualization" screen, choose a visualization, and configure the visualization

More Information & Free Trial

At this point, you have built a simple visualization from Raisers Edge NXT data in Metabase. You can continue to work with live Raisers Edge NXT data in Metabase just like you would any SQL Server database. For more information on creating a live connection to Raisers Edge NXT (and more than 100 other data sources), visit the Connect Cloud page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live Raisers Edge NXT data in Metabase today.