Connecting to Access

Note:

This topic describes how to import data using the online Sisense. You may also import data through the desktop ElastiCube Manager.

The Sisense Access connector is a certified connector that allows you to import data from the Access API into Sisense via the Sisense generic JDBC connector. The Access connector offers the most natural way to integrate with Microsoft Access databases, and provides additional powerful features.

The support for the connector is provided by Sisense and will be assisted by the certification partner's support, if needed. For any support issues or additional functionality requests, contact your Sisense representative or open a request through the Sisense Help Center .

For advanced inquiries specific to driver functionality, you can also contact the certification partner’s support directly via support@cdata.com .

After you have downloaded the driver, you can connect through a connection string in Sisense. The connection string must include the path to the Access database file. Once you have connected to Access, you can import a variety of tables from the Access API.

This page describes how to download the Access driver and deploy it, how to connect to Access with a connection string, provides information about the Access data model, and more.

Downloading the Access JDBC Driver

You can download the Access JDBC driver here .

Note:

  • The driver is certified for Sisense v7.2 and above.
  • Sisense v7.4 and above: Click the above link to download a ready-to-use driver.
  • Sisense prior to v7.4: Click the above link to download a 30-days free-trial of the driver. Contact Sisense for the full license version.

Deploying the Driver

Prerequisite: The install file (setup.jar) is a Java Application that requires Java 6 (J2SE) or above to run.
To install the driver, double-click the setup.jar file and proceed with the instructions in the installation wizard.
Depending on the machine on which you are accessing the Sisense application, install the driver in one of the following locations:

  • When Sisense is installed on your local machine, deploy the driver locally.
  • For a non-local installation(when accessing Sisense on a remote Windows server, or accessing the Sisense hosted cloud environment), select one of the below methods:
    • Deploy the driver on the Sisense server machine, and then perform all the authentication on the server machine. OR
    • Deploy the driver on your local machine (or any other machine, as convenient), perform all the authentication on that machine, and then copy the JAR file to the remote server.

Note:

The default location of the JAR file: C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for <Driver Name> 2019\lib

JAVA Troubleshooting

If you do not have Java 6 installed, you may download it from here .
If your system is not set up to run Java applications, execute the following command: java -jar setup.jar .

Connecting to Access

Sisense uses connection strings to connect to Access and import data into Sisense . Each connection string contains authentication parameters that the data source uses to verify your identity and what information you can export to Sisense .

To create the connection string:

  1. Open the lib directory for the connector. This is the default path: C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for <Driver Name> 2019\lib .

  2. Double-click the jar file in the lib directory.

    Alternatively, to open the jar file from the command line, enter the following command in the command prompt (change the driver name to your driver): cd C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for <Driver Name> 2019\lib . Press Enter and then enter the following command (change the driver name to your driver): “C:\Program Files\Sisense\infra\jre\bin\java.exe" -jar cdata.jdbc.<Driver Name>.jar . Press Enter again.
    For example:


    The Connection String Builder opens.

  3. Enter the values for the following connection properties (click in the Value column to enter a value or to modify an existing value):

    • Data Source: Set to the full path and name of the MS Access database file.

  4. If the Connection String Builder has a InitiateOAuth property, set it to OFF to avoid entering the OAuth Authorization process.

    Note:

    This property may not appear for some connectors.

  5. Press Enter to add all the connection properties to the connection string.
    An example of the connection string:
    jdbc:access:DataSource=C:\\My.accdb

  6. Click Test Connection . A new browser tab opens where you need to log in to your application in order to grant access. (Each application will display a different window and messages.)
    Close the Authorization Successful! message that opens.

  7. Go back to the Connection String Builder dialog, and click OK in the Test Connection Successful message to close it.

  8. Click Copy to Clipboard to obtain the connection string.

You need to follow the above instructions only on first connect, and then when your credentials to the application change.

Adding Access Tables to your ElastiCube

  1. Open Sisense.
    For a non-local installation, open Sisense on the hosted cloud environment.

  2. In the Data page, open an ElastiCube or create a new ElastiCube .

  3. In the Model Editor, click the Add Data button. The Add Data dialog box is displayed.

  4. Click Generic JDBC to open the JDBC settings.

  5. In Connection String , paste the string you obtained above.

  6. In JDBC JARs Folder , enter the name of the directory where the Access JAR file is located.

  7. In Driver's Class Name , enter the following class name: cdata.jdbc.access.AccessDriver .

  8. In User Name and Password , enter your Access credentials. These are not required if the user name and password were provided in the connection string.

  9. Click Next . A list of tables in the database are displayed. All tables and views associated with the database will appear in a new window.

  10. From the Tables list, select the relevant table or view you want to work with. You can click next to the relevant table or click Preview to see a preview of the data inside it.

  11. (Optional) Click + to customize the data you want to import with SQL. See Importing Data with Custom Queries for more information.

  12. After you have selected all the relevant tables, click Done . The tables are added to your data model.


Additional Resources

For the full documentation set for the Access connector, see here .

For connection string options, click here .

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