How to Connect DBeaver to SAP BusinessObjects BI via a JDBC Driver

The CData JDBC Driver for SAP BusinessObjects BI implements JDBC standards that enable third-party tools to interoperate, from wizards in IDEs to business intelligence tools. This article shows how to connect to SAP BusinessObjects BI data with wizards in DBeaver and browse data in the DBeaver GUI.

Create a JDBC Data Source for SAP BusinessObjects BI Data

Follow the steps below to load the driver JAR in DBeaver.

1. Open the DBeaver application and, in the "Database" menu, select the "Driver Manager" option. Click "New" to open the "Create new driver" form.
2. In the Settings tab:
   • Set Driver Name to a user-friendly name for the driver (e.g. CData JDBC Driver for SAP BusinessObjects BI).
   • Set Class Name to the class name for the JDBC driver: cdata.jdbc.sapbusinessobjectsbi.SAPBusinessObjectsBIDriver.
   • Set URL Template to jdbc:sapbusinessobjectsbi:.
3. In the Libraries tab, click "Add File," navigate to the "lib" folder in the installation directory (C:\Program Files\CData[product_name] XXXX\) and select the JAR file (cdata.jdbc.SAPBusinessObjectsBI.jar).

Create a Connection to SAP BusinessObjects BI Data

Follow the steps below to add credentials and other required connection properties.

1. In the "Database" menu, click "New Database Connection."
2. In the "Connect to a database" wizard that results, select the driver you just created (e.g. CData JDBC Driver for SAP BusinessObjects BI) and click "Next >."
3. On the Main tab of the configuration wizard, set the JDBC URL, using the required connection properties:

   To connect to your SAP Business Objects BI instance, you must set the following connection properties:

   • Url: set this to the rest API URL. After logging into the Central Management Console, choose 'Applications' from the combo box. Double-click on 'RESTful Web Service' and you'll see the access URL. By default it is, http://{Server-Name}:6405/biprws.
   • User: set this to the username of your instance.
   • Password: set this to the password of your instance.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.sapbusinessobjectsbi.jar

   Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

   Below is a typical connection string:

   jdbc:sapbusinessobjectsbi:User=username;Password=password;Url=http://myinstance:6405/biprws
4. Click "Test Connection ..." to ensure you have configured the connection properly.
5. Click "Finish."

Query SAP BusinessObjects BI Data

You can now query information from the tables exposed by the connection: Right-click a Table and then click View Table. The data is available on the Data tab.

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