OData Integration for Power BI and Tableau

Export Fact Sheet data to Power BI and Tableau through the OData protocol.

Overview

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Note

The OData integration is only supported for PowerBI and Tableau.

The integration with Power BI and Tableau enhances your ad-hoc reporting capabilities, allowing you to take advantage of the extensive features that these Business Intelligence (BI) tools offer.

The OData integration provides a read-only connector to export Fact Sheet data in the form of saved searches (also referred to as bookmarks) to Power BI and Tableau. Because this is only a one-way integration, importing data back into your LeanIX workspace is not possible.

The current integration supports OData version 4.

Prerequisites

Before you start, ensure that you have administrator access to:

  • Your LeanIX workspace
  • Your BI tool: Power BI or Tableau

Procedure

Follow these steps:

  1. In LeanIX:
    1. In the Integrations section of the administration area, enable the OData integration.
    2. In the Inventory, create and save searches with the required fields within the Table View. OData sharing is only available for saved searches created within the Table View.
    3. In the configuration of saved searches, enable OData sharing and set the permission to Unrestricted or Write Restricted. To learn more, see Enabling OData Sharing for a Saved Search.
  2. In Power BI or Tableau:
    1. Access the OData endpoint of your workspace with an API token. For more information, see
      Authentication to OData Endpoints
      .
    2. Import saved searches into your BI tool by connecting to the OData data source.

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Note

If you disable the OData integration in the administration area, the imported data remains shared with the BI tool as long as OData sharing is enabled for individual saved searches.

Video Tutorial

In the following video tutorial, you can learn how to enable the OData integration for Power BI and Tableau.

Enabling OData Sharing for a Saved Search

You can enable sharing through the OData protocol for a saved search to export Fact Sheet data to external systems.

Note the following:

  • You can enable OData sharing only for saved searches created within the Table View. Only the columns that you selected when creating a saved search are exported through OData.
  • Avoid using the dot (.) and the @ symbol in the column names because this interferes with the annotations in OData.
  • When the saved search permission is set to Read & Write Restricted, OData sharing is disabled for this saved search.

To enable OData sharing for a saved search, follow these steps:

  1. In the Inventory, navigate to the Searches tab in the left sidebar, then click Manage Searches at the bottom of the sidebar.

    Navigating to Saved Searches from the Inventory

    Navigating to Saved Searches from the Inventory

  2. On the Manage Saved Searches page, hover over the saved search that you want to update, then click Edit.

    Navigating to the Configuration of a Saved Search

    Navigating to the Configuration of a Saved Search

  3. On the saved search configuration page, select OData sharing enabled, then click Save.

    Enabling OData Sharing for a Saved Search

    Enabling OData Sharing for a Saved Search

The link icon in the OData column on the Manage Saved Searches page indicates that OData sharing is enabled for a saved search.

Viewing the Status of "OData Sharing Enabled" Option on the "Manage Saved Searches" Page

Viewing the Status of "OData Sharing Enabled" Option on the "Manage Saved Searches" Page

Authentication to OData Endpoints

LeanIX provides REST API endpoints that allow you to import your saved searches (referred to as bookmarks within APIs) into Power BI or Tableau. OData endpoints employ the Basic authentication scheme, which is widely supported by many BI tools.

Two endpoints are available:

  • Standard endpoint that supports common attribute names, also referred to as labels (for example, "Display Name"):

    https://{SUBDOMAIN}.leanix.net/services/import-export/v1/odata/BookmarkService.svc/
    
  • Alternative endpoint that supports technical attribute names, also referred to as keys (for example, "Application_displayName"):

    https://{SUBDOMAIN}.leanix.net/services/import-export/v1/odata/BookmarkDataService.svc/
    

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Note

Single and Multi-Select values of any given field are always displayed with their internal technical key (for example, “application_category_1” as opposed to “Application Category 1”).

The following credentials are required to authenticate to these endpoints:

UsernamePassword
apitokenYour API token. You can obtain an API token by creating a Technical User. For more information, see Technical Users.

Connecting to an OData Data Source in Power BI

Power BI provides the OData Feed connector that allows you to import your saved searches into the tool. To learn more about the connector, refer to the Power BI documentation.

To connect to an OData data source in Power BI, follow these steps:

  1. In the Get Data overlay, search for the OData Feed connector, then click Connect.

    Searching for the 'OData Feed' Connector

    Searching for the 'OData Feed' Connector

  2. In the overlay that appears, select Basic, enter the URL of the OData endpoint, then click OK. To view available OData endpoints, see Authentication to OData Endpoints.

    Entering the URL of the OData Endpoint in the OData Configuration

    Entering the URL of the OData API Endpoint in the Configuration of the OData Feed Connector

  3. If this is your first time connecting to the OData Feed, you need to select an authentication method. In the sidebar, select Basic, then enter your authentication details:

    • User name: apitoken
    • Password: Your API token. You can obtain an API token by creating a Technical User. For more information, see Technical Users.
    Configuring Basic Authentication for an OData Feed

    Configuring Basic Authentication for the OData Feed Connector

The connection should be established. You should see a list of exposed saved searches.

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Note

Due to OData limitations, the names of your saved searches are normalized.

Viewing Imported Saved Searches in Power BI

Viewing Imported Saved Searches in Power BI

You can load or transform the imported data as needed.

Imported Saved Searches in Table View in Power BI

Imported Saved Searches in Table View in Power BI

Changing Authentication Credentials for an OData Feed

If you replace the API token of your Technical User or delete the Technical User, you need to update credentials in all your integrations where the token is used.

To change credentials in Power BI, follow these steps:

  1. On the menu bar, select File, then select Options and settings.

  2. Select Data source settings.

    Selecting the 'Data Source Settings' Option

    Selecting the 'Data Source Settings' Option in Power BI

  3. Select your domain, then click Edit Permissions.

    Selecting 'Edit Permissions' in the Data Source Settings

    Selecting 'Edit Permissions' in the Data Source Settings

  4. In the overlay that appears, click Edit, then click OK.

    Navigating to the Page for Editing Credentials for an OData Feed

    Navigating to the Page for Editing Credentials for an OData Feed

  5. In the overlay that appears, navigate to the Basic tab, enter your new API token, then click Save.

    Entering a New Password for Basic Authentication for an OData Feed

    Entering a New API Token in the Configuration of the OData Feed Connector

Connecting to an OData Data Source in Tableau

To import your saved searches into Tableau, connect Tableau to an OData data source. For instructions, refer to the Tableau documentation.

In Tableau, enter the following credentials for the OData endpoint:

  • Server: The URL of the OData endpoint. To view available endpoints, see Authentication to OData Endpoints.
  • Authentication: Select Username and Password.
  • Username: apitoken
  • Password: Your API token. You can obtain an API token by creating a Technical User. For more information, see Technical Users.
Entering Authentication Details for OData Connection

Entering Authentication Details for OData Connection

The connection should be established. You should see a list of your saved searches.

Viewing Imported Saved Searches in Tableau

Viewing Imported Saved Searches in Tableau

You can drag and drop the exported fields of your searches within Sheets.

Viewing Saved Searches Within Sheets in Tableau

Viewing Saved Searches Within Sheets in Tableau

Viewing External Content in Dashboards

To allow users to view content from Power BI or Tableau in their dashboards, do the following:

  1. In LeanIX, enable the Do not restrict external content option for your Workspace. Alternatively, restrict external content to specific URLs. For more information, see External Content.
  2. In Power BI or Tableau, configure appropriate permissions to publish content to external systems without making it public to everyone.

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