Can Spotfire connect to my particular data source?

Product:Spotfire
Versions:All Versions

Summary:
A common question asked about Spotfire is "Can Spotfire connection to data source XYZ?" This article highlights the documentation references that will help answer the question if Spotfire can connect to a particular data source.

Details:
A common question asked about Spotfire is "Can Spotfire connection to data source XYZ?" There are several options for accessing data, with many out of box native connections and other more general connectivity options. This article highlights the documentation references that will help answer the question if Spotfire can connect to a particular data source.

Resolution:
Check out the following references which outline the various data access methods in Spotfire:

• Spotfire Data Access
• Loading Data Overview
• Drivers and data sources in Spotfire® - Specific information about each connector offered in Spotfire, what drivers or third-party dependencies they might have, and what data sources you can connect to with each one

To summarize:
 

1.  Native Data Connectors

See Drivers and data sources in Spotfire®. Check if there is a native connector to the data source. You can view the current list under the section "TIBCO Spotfire self-service access data sources" here:

• Spotfire Data Access

For more details, you can see the list of the Data Connectors enabled in Spotfire by version, along with the requirements needed to use them:

• System requirements for Spotfire Connectors

If you do not see the data source, continue:
 

2.  Information Designer - Server-side JDBC connectivity

Check if there is a JDBC-based data source included with TIBCO Spotfire Server:

• Included drivers and data source templates for Information Services (for latest product version documentation see Spotfire Server - Installation and Administration Manual here)

If you do not see the data source, it still may be possible to connect via JDBC with a custom data source. Check with the data source vendor to see if there is a JDBC driver for the data source. If so, it is possible to create a custom data source template in Spotfire to work with the JDBC driver for the desired database. For an overview of this process and custom templates for a number of data sources, see:

• TIBCO Spotfire® JDBC Data Access Connectivity Details

Please note that while TIBCO supports Spotfire's general JDBC interface, the creation, configuration, and troubleshooting of custom JDBC data sources (not listed in the Included drivers and data source templates reference mentioned above) is not explicitly supported by TIBCO Support, and is supported on a "best effort" basis only.

Disclaimer:  Information Links are only available in an on-premise Spotfire installation with Spotfire Server, or Spotfire Cloud Enterprise.  This is not an option for TIBCO Cloud Spotfire or Spotfire Desktop.

If you do not see the data source in the references above or the database does not have a JDBC driver interface, continue:
 

3.  Load Data with ODBC, OLE DB, or ADO.NET data provider

For other databases the direct "Load Data with ODBC, OLE DB, or ADO.NET data provider" command may be an option. Check with the data source vendor to see if there is a data provider that can be used. Spotfire users can connect to their database using the following local data providers such as:

• ODBC Data Provider
• OleDb Data Provider
• OracleClient Data Provider
• SqlClient Data Provider

See Open from Database Overview for more details. You will need to provide the connection string, server name, or DSN file for these connections. If you the data source you are connecting to does not have a data provider like mentioned above, continue:
 

4.  Connections using other TIBCO products

TIBCO Spotfire has native data connections to other TIBCO products which provide many other connection options beyond those listed above. This allows tight integration and data access for Spotfire to an even larger number of data sources. See the following TIBCO products, which Spotfire can access via the Spotfire data connectors, and check if your data source is natively supported in those other products:

• TIBCO Data Virtualization: Documentation
• Spotfire Data Streams: Documentation
• TIBCO ComputeDB: Documentation