How to Work with Workday Data in ETL Validator JDBC



Connect to Workday from ETL Validator jobs using the CData JDBC Driver.

ETL Validator provides data movement and transformation capabilities for integrating data platforms across your organization. CData's JDBC driver seamlessly integrates with ETL Validator and extends its native connectivity to include Workday data.

This tutorial walks through the process of building a simple ETL validator data flow to extract data from Workday data and load it into an example data storage solution: SQL Server.

About Workday Data Integration

CData provides the easiest way to access and integrate live data from Workday. Customers use CData connectivity to:

  • Access the tables and datasets you create in Prism Analytics Data Catalog, working with the native Workday data hub without compromising the fidelity of your Workday system.
  • Access Workday Reports-as-a-Service to surface data from departmental datasets not available from Prism and datasets larger than Prism allows.
  • Access base data objects with WQL, REST, or SOAP, getting more granular, detailed access but with the potential need for Workday admins or IT to help craft queries.

Users frequently integrate Workday with analytics tools such as Tableau, Power BI, and Excel, and leverage our tools to replicate Workday data to databases or data warehouses. Access is secured at the user level, based on the authenticated user's identity and role.

For more information on configuring Workday to work with CData, refer to our Knowledge Base articles: Comprehensive Workday Connectivity through Workday WQL and Reports-as-a-Service & Workday + CData: Connection & Integration Best Practices.


Getting Started


Add a new ETL Validator data source via CData

CData extends ETL Validator's data connectivity capabilities by providing the ability to add data sources that connect via CData's JDBC drivers. Connecting to Workday data simply requires creating a new data source in ETL Validator through CData's connectiviy suite as described below.

Login to ETL Validator

Begin by logging into ETL Validator to view the application dashboard.

Click on Add a DataSource

CData extends the data source options within ETL Validator.

Click on CData

CData's connectivity is embedded within ETL Validator's data source options.

Configure the CData Driver Connection String

You will need a JDBC connection string to establish a connection to Workday in ETL Validator.

To connect to Workday, users need to find the Tenant and BaseURL and then select their API type.

Obtaining the BaseURL and Tenant

To obtain the BaseURL and Tenant properties, log into Workday and search for "View API Clients." On this screen, you'll find the Workday REST API Endpoint, a URL that includes both the BaseURL and Tenant.

The format of the REST API Endpoint is: https://domain.com/subdirectories/mycompany, where:

  • https://domain.com/subdirectories/ is the BaseURL.
  • mycompany (the portion of the url after the very last slash) is the Tenant.
For example, in the REST API endpoint https://wd3-impl-services1.workday.com/ccx/api/v1/mycompany, the BaseURL is https://wd3-impl-services1.workday.com and the Tenant is mycompany.

Using ConnectionType to Select the API

The value you use for the ConnectionType property determines which Workday API you use. See our Community Article for more information on Workday connectivity options and best practices.

APIConnectionType Value
WQLWQL
Reports as a ServiceReports
RESTREST
SOAPSOAP

Authentication

Your method of authentication depends on which API you are using.

  • WQL, Reports as a Service, REST: Use OAuth authentication.
  • SOAP: Use Basic or OAuth authentication.

See the Help documentation for more information on configuring OAuth with Workday.

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

java -jar cdata.jdbc.workday.jar

A typical connection string looks like this:

jdbc:workday:User=myuser;Password=mypassword;Tenant=mycompany_gm1;BaseURL=https://wd3-impl-services1.workday.com;ConnectionType=WQL;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH

Licensing the Driver

To ensure the JDBC driver is licensed appropriately, copy the license file to the appropriate location:

Copy the JDBC Driver for Workday and lic file from "C:\Program Files\CData[product_name]\lib" to "C:\Datagaps\ETLValidator\Server\apache-tomcat\bin". cdata.jdbc.workday.jar cdata.jdbc.workday.lic

Note: If you do not copy the .lic file with the jar, you will see a licensing error that indicates you do not have a valid license installed. This is true for both the trial and full versions.

Save the connection

Should you encounter any difficulties loading the CData JDBC driver class, please contact DataGap's team, and they will provide you instructions on how to load the jar file for the relevant driver.

Add SQL Server as a Target

This example will use SQL Server as a destination for Workday data data, but any preferred destination can be used instead.

Go to DataSources and select MS_SQL_SERVER

This option is the default.

Fill in the necessary connection details and test the connection

The details will depend on the specific target, but these details may include a URL, authentiation credentials, etc.

Create a Dataflow in ETL Validator

Open the Dataflows tab

Configured data flows will appear in this window.

Select Create Dataflow

Name your new dataflow and save it.

Open the Dataflow to view the Dataflow Diagram

The details of the data movement will be configured in this panel.

Drag & drop the JDBC as a source from the right side

Give the new source an appropriate name and save it.

Fill in the Query section of the new source

Select the Table from the Schema option that reflects which data should be pulled from Workday data.

View the expected results of your query

The anticipated outcome of the configured query is displayed in the Result tab.

Add the destination to the Dataflow

Select Switch to Diagram, then drag & drop the DB Sink as a target from the right side (under Sink options). Give the sink an appropriate name and save it.

Set the appropriate Schema for the destination

Choose the Schema and table that matches the structure of the source table. For this example, the table on the target side was created to match the Source so that data flow seamlessly. More advanced schema transformation operations are beyond the scope of this article.

Hit the RUN option to begin replication

Running the job will take some time.

View the finished Dataflow

Return to the diagram to see the finished data replication job from Workday data to SQL Server.

Get Started Today

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Workday and start building Workday-connected applications with ETL Validator. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.

Ready to get started?

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