How to integrate Metabase with Sage 200 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 Sage 200 data. This article describes how to connect to Sage 200 and build a simple visualization using Sage 200 data.

CData Connect provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for Sage 200, allowing you to easily integrate with live Sage 200 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 Sage 200, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Sage 200 data.

Configure Sage 200 Connectivity for Metabase

Connectivity to Sage 200 from Metabase is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Sage 200 data from Metabase, we start by creating and configuring a Sage 200 connection.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Sage 200" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Sage 200.
   • Schema: Determines which Sage 200 edition you are connecting to. Specify either StandardUK or ProfessionalUK.
   • Subscription Key: Provides access to the APIs that are used to establish a connection. You will first need to log into the Sage 200 API website and subscribe to the API edition that matches your account. You can do so here: https://developer.columbus.sage.com/docs/services/api/uk. Afterwards, the subscription key may be found in your profile after logging into Sage 200.
4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Sage 200 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 Sage 200 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. "Sage 200 (Connect Cloud)")
   • Host: tds.cdata.com
   • Port: 14333
   • Database name: The name of the connection you just created (e.g. Sage2001)
   • 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 Sage 200 Data with Metabase

Once you configure the connection to Connect Cloud, you can query Sage 200 and build visualizations.

1. Use the "Write SQL" tool to retrieve the Sage 200 data
2. Write a SQL query based on the Sage 200 connection in CData Connect Cloud, e.g.
   
   

   SELECT Id, Code FROM Banks WHERE Code = '12345'

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 Sage 200 data in Metabase. You can continue to work with live Sage 200 data in Metabase just like you would any SQL Server database. For more information on creating a live connection to Sage 200 (and more than 100 other data sources), visit the Connect Cloud page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live Sage 200 data in Metabase today.