Connect to SAS Data Sets Data in the Denodo Platform

Denodo Platform is a data virtualization product providing a single point of contact for enterprise database data. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver for SAS Data Sets, Denodo users can work with live SAS Data Sets data alongside other enterprise data sources. This article walks through creating a virtual data source for SAS Data Sets in the Denodo Virtual DataPort Administrator.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live SAS Data Sets data. When you issue complex SQL queries to SAS Data Sets, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to SAS Data Sets and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). Its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze SAS Data Sets data using native data types.

Create the SAS Data Sets Virtual Port

To connect to live SAS Data Sets data from Denodo, you need to copy the JDBC Driver JAR file to the external library directory for Denodo and create a new JDBC Data Source from the Virtual DataPort Administrator tool.

1. Download the CData JDBC Driver for SAS Data Sets installer, unzip the package, and run the JAR file to install the driver.
2. Copy the JAR File (and license file if it exists) from the installation location (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for SAS Data Sets\lib\) to the Denodo external library directory (C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-sasdatasets-19).
3. Open the Denodo Virtual DataPort Administrator tool and navigate to the Server Explorer tab.
4. Right-click "admin" and select New -> Data source -> JDBC.
5. Configure the JDBC Connection:
   • Name: your choice, e.g.: sasdatasets
   • Database adapter: Generic
   • Driver class path: C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-sasdatasets-19
   • Driver class: cdata.jdbc.sasdatasets.SASDataSetsDriver

   • Database URI: Set this to a JDBC URL using the necessary connection properties. For example,

     jdbc:sasdatasets:URI=C:/myfolder;

     Information on creating the Database URI follows:

     Built-In Connection String Designer

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

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.sasdatasets.jar

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

     Set the following connection properties to connect to your SAS DataSet files:

     Connecting to Local Files

     • Set the Connection Type to "Local." Local files support SELECT, INSERT, and DELETE commands.
     • Set the URI to a folder containing SAS files, e.g. C:\PATH\TO\FOLDER\.

     Connecting to Cloud-Hosted SAS DataSet Files

     While the driver is capable of pulling data from SAS DataSet files hosted on a variety of cloud data stores, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE are not supported outside of local files in this driver.

     Set the Connection Type to the service hosting your SAS DataSet files. A unique prefix at the beginning of the URI connection property is used to identify the cloud data store and the remainder of the path is a relative path to the desired folder (one table per file) or single file (a single table). For more information, refer to the Getting Started section of the Help documentation.

6. Click the "Test connection" button to confirm the configuration and click Save.

View SAS Data Sets Data in the VirtualPort Administrator Tool

After creating the data source, you can create a base view of SAS Data Sets data for use in the Denodo Platform.

1. Click the "Create base view" button in the newly created VirtualPort (admin.SASDataSets).
2. Expand the object tree and select the objects (tables) you wish to import.
3. Click the "Create selected" button to create views of the SAS Data Sets data.
   Optional: Click "Create associations from foreign keys" to define relationships between the objects.
4. With the view(s) created, navigate to a table (cdata_sasdatasets_restaurants) in the Server Explorer and double-click the selected table.
5. In the new tab, click "Execution panel" to open a query panel.
6. Customize the query in the "Execute" tab or use the default:

   SELECT * FROM cdata_sasdatasets_restaurants CONTEXT ('i18n'='us_est', 'cache_wait_for_load'='true')
   

7. Click Execute to view the data.

With the base view created, you can now work with live SAS Data Sets data like you would any other data source in Denodo Platform, for example, querying SAS Data Sets in the Denodo Data Catalog.

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for SAS Data Sets and start working with your live SAS Data Sets data in Denodo Platform. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.