Connect to SAS xpt 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 SASxpt, Denodo users can work with live SAS xpt data alongside other enterprise data sources. This article walks through creating a virtual data source for SAS xpt in the Denodo Virtual DataPort Administrator.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live SAS xpt data. When you issue complex SQL queries to SAS xpt, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to SAS xpt 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 xpt data using native data types.

Create the SAS xpt Virtual Port

To connect to live SAS xpt 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 SASxpt 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 SASxpt\lib\) to the Denodo external library directory (C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-sasxpt-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.: sasxpt
   • Database adapter: Generic
   • Driver class path: C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-sasxpt-19
   • Driver class: cdata.jdbc.sasxpt.SASXptDriver

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

     jdbc:sasxpt:URI=C:/folder;

     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 xpt JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.sasxpt.jar

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

     Connecting to Local SASXpt Files

     You can connect to local SASXpt file by setting the URI to a folder containing SASXpt files.

     Connecting to S3 data source

     You can connect to Amazon S3 source to read SASXpt files. Set the following properties to connect:

     • URI: Set this to the folder within your bucket that you would like to connect to.
     • AWSAccessKey: Set this to your AWS account access key.
     • AWSSecretKey: Set this to your AWS account secret key.
     • TemporaryLocalFolder: Set this to the path, or URI, to the folder that is used to temporarily download SASXpt file(s).

     Connecting to Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2

     You can connect to ADLS Gen2 to read SASXpt files. Set the following properties to connect:

     • URI: Set this to the name of the file system and the name of the folder which contacts your SASXpt files.
     • AzureAccount: Set this to the name of the Azure Data Lake storage account.
     • AzureAccessKey: Set this to our Azure DataLakeStore Gen 2 storage account access key.
     • TemporaryLocalFolder: Set this to the path, or URI, to the folder that is used to temporarily download SASXpt file(s).

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

View SAS xpt Data in the VirtualPort Administrator Tool

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

1. Click the "Create base view" button in the newly created VirtualPort (admin.SASXpt).
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 xpt 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_sasxpt_sampletable_1) 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_sasxpt_sampletable_1 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 xpt data like you would any other data source in Denodo Platform, for example, querying SAS xpt in the Denodo Data Catalog.

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