Feed SAP Data into FineReport

The CData JDBC Driver for SAP fully implements the JDBC standard and can provide SAP data connectivity to a wide variety of BI, reporting, and ETL tools and custom applications. In this article, we explain how to set SAP data as JDBC data source in FineReport and view SAP data as a table in the Report Designer.

Set Up a JDBC Data Source of SAP Data

Follow the instruction below to set SAP data as a FineReport database connection.

1. Copy the cdata.jdbc.saperp.jar file from the lib folder in the CData JDBC Driver for SAP installation directory to the lib folder of the FineReport installation directory. You will need to copy the cdata.jdbc.saperp.lic file as well.
2. From the Server tab, select Define Data Connection, click to add a new connection, and click JDBC.

Next we will set up the data connection definition in the window.

1. Database: Others
2. JDBC Driver: cdata.jdbc.saperp.SAPERPDriver
3. URL: A standard JDBC connection string using semicolon-separated connection properties.

   The driver supports connecting to an SAP system using the SAP Java Connector (SAP JCo). Install the files (sapjco3.jar and sapjco3.dll) to the appropriate directory for the hosting application or platform. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for information on using the SAP JCo files.

   In addition, you can connect to an SAP system using Web services (SOAP). To use Web services, you must enable SOAP access to your SAP system and set the Client, RFCUrl, User, and Password properties, under the Authentication section.

   For more information, see this guide on obtaining the connection properties needed to connect to any SAP system.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.saperp.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 JDBC URL is below:

   jdbc:saperp:Host=sap.mydomain.com;User=EXT90033;Password=xxx;Client=800;System Number=09;ConnectionType=Classic;Location=C:/mysapschemafolder;
4. Click Connection pool attributes and set Test before getting connections to No.

Click Test connection to ensure you have configured the connection properly. With the connection to SAP set up, you can use it as FineReport data source.

Select SAP Data in the Report Designer.

1. Click to add a new template data set and select DB query to open the database query window.
2. Choose the JDBC connection that you created from the dropdown list.
3. The SAP entities will appear as tables on the left pane.
4. Write a SELECT statement for the SAP data tables and columns that you want to load.
5. Click preview and data is shown as table.

With these simple steps, SAP can be used as a JDBC data source in FineReport.