Analyze Excel Online Data in Infragistics Reveal

Reveal, an offering from Infragistics, serves as a data visualization tool that seamlessly integrates with CData Connect Cloud. Together, they empower users to deliver dynamic dashboards using real-time data from a diverse range of data sources, including Excel Online data. In this article, we will guide you through the process of connecting to Excel Online via Connect Cloud and subsequently linking Connect Cloud with Infragistics Reveal to construct a straightforward dashboard.

Connect to Excel Online from Infragistics Reveal

To work with live Excel Online data in Infragistics Reveal, we need to connect to Excel Online from Connect Cloud, provide user access to the connection, and create a Workspace for the Excel Online data.

Connect to Excel Online from Connect Cloud

CData Connect Cloud uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "Excel Online" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Excel Online.

   You can connect to a workbook by providing authentication to Excel Online and then setting the following properties:

   • Workbook: Set this to the name or Id of the workbook.

     If you want to view a list of information about the available workbooks, execute a query to the Workbooks view after you authenticate.

   • UseSandbox: Set this to true if you are connecting to a workbook in a sandbox account. Otherwise, leave this blank to connect to a production account.

   You use the OAuth authentication standard to authenticate to Excel Online. See the Getting Started section in the help documentation for a guide. Getting Started also guides you through executing SQL to worksheets and ranges.

   
4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Excel Online 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.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect Cloud app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Configure Excel Online Endpoints for Infragistics Reveal

After connecting to Excel Online, create a workspace for your desired table(s).

1. Navigate to the Workspaces page and click Add to create a new Workspace (or select an existing workspace).
2. Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
3. Select the Excel Online connection (e.g. ExcelOnline1) and click Next.
4. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm.
5. Make note of the OData Service URL for your workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}

With the connection, PAT, and Workspace configured, you are ready to connect to Excel Online data from Infragistics Reveal.

Create a Dashboard in Reveal

With Connect Cloud configured, we can visualize Excel Online data in Reveal.

1. Log into Reveal and click Dashboards -> New
2. Click Data Sources -> OData Feed
3. Specify the Connect Cloud OData API endpoint URL (found on the OData page): https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}
4. Select Generic Credentials and
   • Set Username to a Connect Cloud username (e.g. [email protected])
   • Set Password to the PAT for the user
   
5. Select the entity you wish to visualize
6. Select fields and choose a chart type

More Information & Free Trial

At this point, you have created a simple dashboard from live Excel Online data. For more information on creating OData feeds from Excel Online (and more than 100 other sources), visit the Connect Cloud page. Sign up for a free trial and start working live Excel Online data in tools that consume OData APIs.