How do I connect TARGIT to a database that supports ODBC?

Use an Easysoft ODBC driver to connect TARGIT to a database that supports ODBC, enabling you to analyse data stored in data stores such as MongoDB and Salesforce from TARGIT Business Intelligence & Analytics applications such as TARGIT Decision Suite.

TARGIT Decision Suite uses an ODBC driver to interact with an external data source. ODBC is a data access technology, the Microsoft implementation of which is included with Windows.

Example: How to connect TARGIT to Salesforce

The components necessary to connect TARGIT to Salesforce are:

TARGIT <-> Salesforce ODBC driver <-> Salesforce

Example: How to connect TARGIT to MongoDB

The components necessary to connect TARGIT to MongoDB are:

TARGIT <-> MongoDB ODBC driver <-> MongoDB

Installing, licensing, and testing the Easysoft ODBC driver

  1. Download the Windows Salesforce ODBC driver or Windows MongoDB ODBC driver as required.
  2. Install and license the Easysoft ODBC driver on a Windows machine.

    For installation instructions, refer to the Salesforce ODBC driver documentation or MongoDB ODBC driver documentation.

Before you can use the Easysoft ODBC driver to connect TARGIT to Salesforce or MongoDB, you need to configure a system ODBC data source in ODBC Data Source Administrator. An ODBC data source stores the connection details for the target database (in this case, Salesforce or MongoDB) and the ODBC driver that's required to connect to it (in this case, the Salesforce ODBC driver or the MongoDB ODBC driver).

To run ODBC Data Source Administrator, in the Windows Run dialog box, enter this command:

%windir%\syswow64\odbcad32.exe

Creating a Salesforce ODBC data source

  1. Choose the System DSN tab, and then choose Add.
  2. In the Create New Data Source dialog box, choose Easysoft ODBC-Salesforce Driver, and then choose Finish.
  3. Complete the DSN Setup dialog box:
    Setting Value
    DSN Salesforce
    User Name The name of your Salesforce user. For example, myuser@mydomain.com.
    Password The password for your Salesforce user.
    Token The security token for your Salesforce user, if required.

    To find out whether you need to supply a security token, choose the Test button. If the connection attempt fails with an error which contains LOGIN_MUST_USE_SECURITY_TOKEN, you need to supply one.

    Salesforce emails the security token to the email address associated with your Salesforce user account. If you have not received a security token, you can regenerate it. Salesforce will then email the new security token to you. To regenerate your security token, log in to Salesforce and then choose Setup from the user menu. Search for "security token" in the Quick Find box. Choose Reset Security Token in the Reset Security Token page. When you receive the token in your email client, copy it and then paste it into the Token field.

  4. Use the Test button to verify that you can successfully connect to Salesforce.

Creating a MongoDB ODBC data source

  1. Choose the System DSN tab, and then choose Add.
  2. In the Create New Data Source dialog box, choose Easysoft ODBC-MongoDB Driver, and then choose Finish.
  3. Complete these fields in the Easysoft ODBC-MongoDB Driver DSN Setup dialog box:
    Setting Value
    DSN MongoDB
    Description Easysoft MongoDB ODBC driver
    Server The name or IP address of the host where your MongoDB instance is running.
    User Name If you need to supply a user name to access your MongoDB database, enter it here.
    Password The password for your MongoDB user name.
  4. Use the Test button to verify that you can successfully connect to your MongoDB database.

Connecting TARGIT to your ODBC database

You can now connect TARGIT to Salesforce or MongoDB:

  1. In TARGIT Management, choose your TARGIT server, and then choose Manage Server.
  2. Choose Connections, right-click in the right-hand pane and then choose Add.
  3. Choose Relational Database.
  4. Choose Generic.
  5. Name your Connection when prompted. For example, Salesforce or MongoDB. Choose Next.
  6. Choose Change connection string.
  7. In the Data Link Properties dialog box, in the Use data source name list, choose the ODBC data source that you configured earlier.
  8. In the Enter the initial catalog to use list, choose the database that contains the data you want to access from TARGIT, if applicable to your data source. Choose OK.
  9. Choose Next, and then choose Create.
  10. Right-click the new connection, and then choose Edit data model.
  11. Drag the schema from the Schema pane to the Global pane.
  12. Choose the New Cube button.
  13. Choose the schema when prompted, and then choose OK.
  14. Add dimensions and measures to the cube by dragging them to the correct folders. Build hierarchies by dropping dimensions on top of each other.
  15. Save and close the data model, which is now available for analysis in TARGIT Decision Suite.