This article applies to the Admin Console > 
Data > 
Sources settings.
Data Sources establish the connection between Exago and a database or a web service. Although typically only one database is used, Exago can join data from different sources into a single report.
NoteTo utilize some types of data sources you may need to download and install the appropriate driver. Refer to Data Source Drivers below.
Creating, Editing or Deleting Data Sources
- To add a new data source click Sources in the Main Menu and either:
- click the Add
icon at the top of the main menu - right-click and select
Add from the context menu
- click the Add
- To edit a source either:
- double click it
- select it and click the Edit
icon at the top of the main menu - right-click it and select
Edit from the context menu
- To delete a source either:
- select it and click the Delete
icon at the top of the main menu - right-click it and select
Delete from the context menu
- select it and click the Delete
- To save changes and new objects click the Apply or Okay buttons.
Data Source Properties
Each data source must have the following:
Name
A name for the data source.
Type
The type of source being used. Valid types include:
- Relational databases
- SQL Server — Microsoft SQL Server
- MySQL
- Oracle
- Postgres — PostgreSQL
- DB2 — IBM db2
- Informix — IBM Informix
- ODBC — ODBC Driver
- Non-relational databases
- MongoDB (v2018.2+)
- ElasticSearch (v2018.2+) — ElasticSearch/ELK database (For more information see CData Drivers.)
- Data warehouses
- Redshift (v2019.1.11+)
- Snowflake (v2019.1.9+)
- Other
- File — XML or Excel file (For more information see Excel and XML Files.)
- .NET Assembly — .NET Assembly DLL (For more information see .NET Assemblies.)
- MS OLAP — OLAP (For more information OLAP and MDX Queries.)
Schema/Owner Name (blank for default)
Provide a default database schema for the data source.
NoteOnly use this if you are using schema to provide Multi-Tenant security. For more details see Multi-Tenant Environment Integration.
Connection String
The method that is used to connect to the data source. Connection strings vary by type:
| Type | Connection Strings |
|---|---|
| mssql, oracle, postgres, mysql and olap | Refer to connectionstrings.com for database connection strings. If using Integrated Authentication from an IIS Application Pool to connect to a remote MSSQL or Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) server, review these MSDN and Stack Overflow articles to ensure the correct credentials are sent to the SQL server. The database driver specified in Database Settings determines the character set used in the application. If the data in the data source uses a different character set, it should be explicitly set in the connection string. |
| dewebsvc | Required parameters:
|
| assembly | Required parameters:
|
| file | Requires the physical path to the Excel or XML file and the file type. Example: File=C:\example.xls;Type=excel; |
| mongodb | For more information see CData Drivers |
| elasticsearch | For more information see CData Drivers |
| snowflake | For more information see CData Drivers |
| redshift | For more information see CData Drivers |
- Click the Test Connection
icon to verify the connection succeeds. - Click the Make Connection String Visible
or Connection String Hide 
icons to show/hide the connection string in the Data Source tab.
Data Source Drivers
Below is a list and the associated links for recommended ADO.NET drivers for each type of data source.
- SQL Server
- No external ADO.NET driver needed
- Oracle
- ODAC1120320_x64 or newer
- Oracle ODAC Connector
- Oracle.ManagedDataAccess.Client
- MySQL/MariaDB
- dcmysqlfree.exe
- Devart Connector
- PostgreSQL
- dcpostgresqlfree.exe
- Devart Connector
- DB2/Informix
- 5.exe or newer
- IBM Data Server Driver Package
- Elasticsearch, Redshift, Snowflake, MongoDB
MySQL on Linux v2019.2+
As of v2019.2 the Exago Linux Installer does not install a MySQL ADO.NET driver at the time of installation. Instead, clients wishing to use a MySQL data source for either reporting or for Storage Management will need to provide their own.
Exago has provided wrappers around two popular MySQL data drivers that clients may choose to install on their own.
- Devart dotconnect free edition
- MySQL ADO.NET
Contact your Customer Success Manager or the Exago Support Team for assistance. Install the driver by extracting the contents of the download and then running either installMySql.sh or installDevartMySql.sh as root. Provide the Exago installation path to the installer script. For example:
sudo ./installDevartMySql.sh /opt/Exago
Once installed, update the Admin Console > General > Database Settings to reflect the new data provider.
.NET Assemblies
.NET Assemblies can be used as data sources. This is possible when the .NET Assemblies underlying methods are setup as data objects.
An advantage of doing this is being able to use high-level language to manipulate the data being reported on at run-time. The main disadvantage is not being able to take advantage of the database to perform joins with other data objects; data from methods can still be joined, but the work to do this is done within Exago. For more information see Note about Cross Source Joins.
Parameters
Parameters are passed from Exago to .NET Assemblies. Three types of parameters can be passed but only Call Type is required.
Call Type (required)
Integer that specifies what Exago needs at the time of the call. There are three possible values. You may specify the name of this parameter in the Programmable Object Settings of the 
General section.
- 0 : Schema - returns a DataSet with no rows.
- 1 : Data - returns a full DataSet.
- 2 : Filter Dropdown Values – returns data for the filter dropdown list. The Data Field being requested is passed in the column parameter. The filter type is passed in the filter parameter (see below).
Column, Filter and Sort Strings
To optimize performance Exago can pass user-specified sorts and filters to the .NET Assembly. This process reduces the amount of data sent to Exago. If these parameters are not used, all of the data will be sent to Exago to sort and filter. Column, filter and sort strings are sent as standard SQL. You may specify the name of these parameters in the General > 
Programmable Object Settings section.
Custom Parameter Values (optional)
Additional parameters can be specified to be sent to individual methods in the Data Object Menu.
ImportantTo increase performance, when a .NET Assembly is first accessed it is compiled and cached within Exago. Therefore, Exago will not be aware of any changes within .NET Assembly. If the assembly is subsequently changed, reset the internal cache by clicking the Test Connection
NoteIf an Exago .NET API application needs to access reports with an assembly data source, it must include a reference to the assembly
WebReportsAsmi.dll.
SessionInfo (optional) v2016.2+
Session state variables. See SessionInfo for more information.
.NET Assemblies
It is important to note that when a connection string for .NET Assembly is set the class name must match the name of the class where the static methods will be searched. UNC or absolute paths may be used. Make sure that the assembly has read privileges for the IIS user running Exago. Below is an example of a .NET Assembly connection string:
assembly=\\MyServerName\MyShareName\MyAssembly.dll;class=Main
.NET Assembly methods must be static. Below is an example of a .NET Assembly method.
public class Main
{
public static DataSet dotnet_optionees(int callType, string columnStr, string filterStr, int myCustomParameter)
{
switch (callType)
{
case 0:
// return schema
case 1:
// return data
case 2:
// return filter values for dropdown
}
}
}
Method signature using SessionInfo (v2016.2+):
public class Main
{
public static DataSet dotnet_optionees(WebReports.Api.Common.SessionInfo sessionInfo, int callType, string columnStr, string filterStr, int myCustomParameter)
{
switch (callType)
...
}
}
Excel and XML Files
Exago can read Microsoft Excel workbooks and XML files as Data Sources.
CautionExcel workbooks and XML files will have less speed, performance, and security of a database. Using Excel and XML files is recommended only if the dataset is small or if the information is only available in this format.
Excel
Each worksheet in the Excel file will be read as a separate table with the sheet name as the table's name. The top row will be read as the column headers, and the remaining cells will be read as the data. Do not leave any blank rows or columns.
Connection String Example
File=C:\example.xls;Type=excel;
XML
The XML document must begin with the schema. After defining the schema the data must be placed into the appropriate tags. For reference see the working example below:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <ExagoData> <xs:schema xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:msdata="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-msdata" id="ExagoData"> <xs:element name="ExagoData" msdata:IsDataSet="true" msdata:UseCurrentLocale="true"> <xs:complexType> <xs:choice minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"> <xs:element name="Call"> <xs:complexType> <xs:sequence> <xs:element name="CallID" type="xs:unsignedInt" minOccurs="0" /> <xs:element name="StaffID" type="xs:string" minOccurs="0" /> <xs:element name="VehicleUsed" type="xs:unsignedInt" minOccurs="0" /> </xs:sequence> </xs:complexType> </xs:element> <xs:element name="Staff"> <xs:complexType> <xs:sequence> <xs:element name="StaffID" type="xs:unsignedInt" minOccurs="0" /> <xs:element name="Rank" type="xs:string" minOccurs="0" /> <xs:element name="LastName" type="xs:string" minOccurs="0" /> <xs:element name="FirstName" type="xs:string" minOccurs="0" /> </xs:sequence> </xs:complexType> </xs:element> </xs:choice> </xs:complexType> </xs:element> </xs:schema> <Call> <CallID>890</CallID> <StaffID>134</StaffID> <VehicleUsed>12</VehicleUsed> </Call> <Call> <CallID>965</CallID> <StaffID>228</StaffID> <VehicleUsed>4</VehicleUsed> </Call> <Call> <CallID>740</CallID> <StaffID>1849</StaffID> <VehicleUsed>2</VehicleUsed> </Call> <Staff> <StaffID>134</StaffID> <Rank>Captain</Rank> <LastName>Renolyds</LastName> <FirstName>Malcom</FirstName> </Staff> <Staff> <StaffID>228</StaffID> <Rank>Lieutenant</Rank> <LastName>Brown</LastName> <FirstName>Bill</FirstName> </Staff> <Staff> <StaffID>1849</StaffID> <Rank>Sergeant</Rank> <LastName>John</LastName> <FirstName>Pepper</FirstName> </Staff> </ExagoData>
Connection String Example
File=C:\example.xml;Type=xml;
OLAP and MDX Queries
Exago can query OLAP Data Sources using MDX Queries. OLAP Data Sources and Objects are identical to a regular data base type object, with the following exceptions:
- Data Objects belonging to OLAP type Data Sources must have their Schema Access Type set to Metadata and must have Column Metadata set for all fields.
- OLAP Data Objects will always be MDX Queries written in the Custom SQL Object dialog. These queries are passed directly through to the data source. Exago simply passes through the MDX query to the data source and does not modify it in any way. Therefore, all filtering and sorting are done in memory, tenanting at the data object level and database aggregation do not work with OLAP data sources.
Connecting to a Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) data source will use Integrated Authentication. See the notes in the Connection String section above how to handle this situation. In a general sense, the IIS Application Pool will need to login with a credential assigned in an appropriately provisioned SSAS role on the data source.
Sample Connection String
Data Source=SERVER1\MSSQLSERVER2014;Catalog=AdventureWorksDWAnalysis;
TipThe
Catalogparameter should match the Database name in Microsoft SQL Server Manageent Studio.
Using Azure based SSAS
In order to use an Azure based Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services Database (SSAS) you need the most up to date ADOMD.NET driver, which is available from Microsoft. Then, in order to properly configure Data Object entities through joins, the following information must be provided:
- The entity containing the primary key should be specified in the "From" section.
- The entity containing the foreign key should be specified in the "To" section.
- The IDs used in the join configuration must be included in the metadata fields and should be available in the design model.
ODBC Drivers
Exago can use ODBC drivers to connect to data sources. When connecting to an ODBC data source, an extra option will appear to set the Column Delimiters. The delimiter character depends on which type of data base you are connecting to.
Examples
MySql
' (grave accent)MsSql, OLAP
[] (brackets)DB2, Informix, Oracle, Postgres, Sqlite
" (quotation marks)If you don't know which delimiter character to use, contact your database administrator.
WarningIf your data objects have spaces in their names, you must set the correct delimiter in order to access the data. Otherwise, improper SQL will be generated and you will see errors or erroneous data.
CData Drivers
As of v2018.2+, Exago allows for additional data source types through CData ADO.NET drivers. For more information, see the article on CData Drivers.