Text/Excel Directory

This page explains how to create a persistent connection to a specified file (text or Excel) or file location. If you instead want to create a data set from a one-time data import, see Upload Data in Prepare Your Data.

Follow the steps below to create a connection:

Watch Video: Connecting to a Database

This video might show an earlier version of the feature or operation that differs in minor ways from the current version.

  1. In the User Portal, press the top ‘Create’ button Create in the Portal, and select ‘Data Source’ Data Source.

    Data Source button

    This opens the data source listing. To locate a data source, select the data source category in the left panel, or enter the data source name in the search field.

    data source listing

    If you see the ‘Create Visualization’ dialog box instead of the User Portal, press Connect to Data Source to display the data source listing.

    Press Connect to Data Source link

  2. Select the ‘Text/Excel Directory’ data source, and press Create. This opens the root folder definition screen.

  3. In the ‘Name’ field, enter a label for this server file connection.

  4. Select the ‘Root Folder’ location. The root folder is the server folder containing the server file (or files) to which you want to connect.

    Text/Excel Directory data source definition screen

  5. If the driver for the database has not yet been installed, press the Create Driver button to open the ‘Create Driver’ dialog box.

    Read more about how to create a driver…​

    To upload a database driver to the server, you will package it as a plugin, either from local storage or from a Maven repository. Follow the steps below:

    Local Storage

    To upload drivers from local storage, follow the steps below:

    1. Select the ‘Upload’ option.

      select Upload option

    2. Press the Add button select the desired JAR files, as well as any other files required by the database.

    3. Press Next, and choose the desired driver file or files to package into a plugin.

      press Next and choose driver files

    4. Press Next, and enter the desired ‘Plugin ID’, ‘Plugin Name’, and ‘Plugin Version’. The ID must be unique, and should typically be a namespaced value, such as com.mycompany.jdbc.dbtype. The Version should conform to semantic versioning standards.

      press Next and enter Plugin ID and name

    5. Press Finish to create the plugin Zip file.

    Maven Repository

    To create a plugin from assets in a Maven repository, follow the steps below:

    1. Select the ‘Maven’ option.

    2. Enter the ‘Maven Coordinates’: groupId:artifactId:packaging:version.

      enter Maven Coordinates

    3. Press Next, and choose the desired driver file or files to package into a plugin.

      press Next and choose driver files

    4. Press Next, and enter the desired ‘Plugin ID’, ‘Plugin Name’, and ‘Plugin Version’. The ID must be unique, and should typically be a namespaced value, such as com.mycompany.jdbc.dbtype. The Version should conform to semantic versioning standards.

    5. Press Finish to create the plugin Zip file.

    This feature is not enabled in all installations. If you do not see the Create Driver button, consult an administrator.

  6. Optional: Press Test Connection to check that the database is accessible.

  7. Optional: To refresh meta-data for the data source (which may be necessary if a schema change has been made to a database, for example), press the Refresh Metadata button.

  8. Optional: For a multi-tenant environment, assign any desired additional connections. See Add an Additional Connection for more information.

  9. Press OK.

    You may see the ‘Create Visualization’ dialog box at this step.

    Create Visualization dialog box

    Press the ‘Close’ button Close to continue with the steps below (recommended), or choose one of the following options:

    Create a Query

    Define a query based on the selected data source. See New Data Worksheet Dialog Box in Create a Data Worksheet for further instructions.

    Start from Scratch

    Open a blank Data Worksheet to build data blocks from fields of the selected data source. See Create Data Blocks in Create a Data Worksheet for further instructions.

  10. Verify that the data source you added is shown with a ‘check’ icon check, indicating that the connection was successful.

    connection successful icon

    If the database is shown with an ‘Error’ icon Error, this means that the connection was not successful.

    connection error icon

    In this case, check the settings to make sure they are correct for your database. See Edit a Connection for information on how to change connection settings.

After you have created a connection to the database, you can proceed to define a data set. See Text/Excel Directory Query.