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Connect to Microsoft Dataverse Data in ACL Analytics
Connect to Microsoft Dataverse data via CData Connect Cloud in ACL Analytics to run your data analysis workflows with real-time access to Microsoft Dataverse data.
ACL Analytics, part of Diligent HighBond, is a powerful data analysis software primarily used for audit, risk management, and compliance. It enables professionals to examine and analyze large volumes of data to identify anomalies, trends, and potential risks or fraudulent activities.
CData Connect Cloud offers a dedicated cloud-to-cloud interface for Microsoft Dataverse, enabling analytics directly from live Microsoft Dataverse data within ACL Analytics, all without the need for data replication to a native database. With its inherent optimized data processing capabilities, CData Connect Cloud efficiently channels all supported SQL operations, including filters and JOINs, directly to Microsoft Dataverse. This leverages server-side processing to swiftly deliver the requested Microsoft Dataverse data.
About Microsoft Dataverse Data Integration
CData provides the easiest way to access and integrate live data from Microsoft Dataverse (formerly the Common Data Service). Customers use CData connectivity to:
- Access both Dataverse Entities and Dataverse system tables to work with exactly the data they need.
- Authenticate securely with Microsoft Dataverse in a variety of ways, including Azure Active Directory, Azure Managed Service Identity credentials, and Azure Service Principal using either a client secret or a certificate.
- Use SQL stored procedures to manage Microsoft Dataverse entities - listing, creating, and removing associations between entities.
CData customers use our Dataverse connectivity solutions for a variety of reasons, whether they're looking to replicate their data into a data warehouse (alongside other data sources)or analyze live Dataverse data from their preferred data tools inside the Microsoft ecosystem (Power BI, Excel, etc.) or with external tools (Tableau, Looker, etc.).
Getting Started
Configure Microsoft Dataverse Connectivity for ACL Analytics
Connectivity to Microsoft Dataverse from ACL Analytics is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Microsoft Dataverse data from ACL Analytics, we start by creating and configuring a Microsoft Dataverse connection in CData Connect Cloud.
- Log into Connect Cloud, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
- Select "Microsoft Dataverse" from the Add Connection panel
- Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Microsoft Dataverse.
Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Microsoft Dataverse.
You can connect without setting any connection properties for your user credentials. Below are the minimum connection properties required to connect.
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
- OrganizationUrl: Set this to the organization URL you are connecting to, such as https://myorganization.crm.dynamics.com.
- Tenant (optional): Set this if you wish to authenticate to a different tenant than your default. This is required to work with an organization not on your default Tenant.
When you connect the Common Data Service OAuth endpoint opens in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions. The OAuth process completes automatically.
- Click Create & Test
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Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Microsoft Dataverse Connection page and update the User-based permissions.
Add a Personal Access Token
When connecting to Connect Cloud through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect Cloud. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.
- Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect Cloud app to open the settings page.
- On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
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Give the PAT a name and click Create.
- The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.
With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to Microsoft Dataverse data from ACL Analytics.
Connect to Microsoft Dataverse from ACL Analytics
The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect Cloud from ACL Analytics to create a new Microsoft Dataverse data source. The CData Connect Cloud Virtual SQL Server allows you to establish a connection to your data from integration tools that support connections to SQL servers. The Virtual SQL Server mimics the behavior of a traditional SQL server, and it supports a range of query options.
- With your Analytics File open, select 'Import' --> 'Database and application'
- Create a new SQL Server connection
- Set the connection information
- Server: tds.cdata.com
- Port: 14333
- Auth Scheme: Password
- Username: a Connect Cloud user, for example, [email protected]
- Password: the PAT for the above Connect Cloud user
- Database: the name of your Microsoft Dataverse connection, for example, CDS1
- Click "Test Connection"
- Click "OK"
- You are now ready to work with your Microsoft Dataverse data in ACL Analytics!
Live connections to Microsoft Dataverse data from your applications
ACL Analytics can now connect to live Microsoft Dataverse data directly through Connect Cloud, allowing you to analyze Microsoft Dataverse data without duplicating it.
To get live data access to 100+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your applications, try CData Connect Cloud today!
