Create Oracle BI Connections
Toad allows you to connect to the presentation layer of an Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) data source.
See also, About Oracle BI Enterprise Data Sources .
To create an Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise connection
- Click
on the Connections toolbar (ALT+F+N).
- Select Oracle BI Enterprise from the Group list.
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Enter the connection information in the Create New Connection dialog. Review the following for additional information:
URL Enter the URL to the Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise data source to which you want to connect.
Note: You must include the port number in the URL as in the following examples:
format—http://<server path>:<port>/analytics/saw.dll
example—http://server01.mycompany.com:80/analytics/saw.dll
Password Enter the password to use when connecting.
Tip: After connecting, you can set a master password to further secure your connection in Tools | Options| Environment | Security.
Row Limit Select a row limit to enforce for query results.
default = 500,000
Category (Optional) Select an existing category or create a new one. Note: In NoSQL and Business Intelligence connections, Toad automatically saves the password in the connections.xml file as obfuscated text, as well as in Toad. To add additional password security, use Toad's Master Password feature.
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Click Connect to connect immediately while saving the connection information. Optionally, click Save to save the connection without connecting.
- Upon creating an initial connection, Toad automatically maps the data source objects. This process runs in the background, and until it is finished, you may experience a delay when attempting to access these objects.
Important Information about Oracle BI Connections
You must incorporate the port into the OBIEE database connection URL in the following format:
http://<server name>:<port>/analytics/saw.dll
An example URL is http://server01.mycompany.com:80/analytics/saw.dll
Tips:
- Read about the considerations and limitations of working with OBIEE in Toad in About Oracle BI Enterprise Data Sources .
- Connections are stored in the connections.xml file and can be found by clicking the Application Data Directory link in Help | About.
- You can specify a proxy server to use for Business Intelligence and NoSQL connections at Tools | Options | Database | Data Services.
Create PostgreSQL ODBC Connections
Toad Data Studio allows you to easily create a connection to a PostgreSQL database using ODBC connectivity. You can connect with or without using a data source name (DSN).
Download and install the necessary ODBC driver to use for your PostgreSQL connection prior to creating the new connection in Toad.
Prerequisites
To create a successful ODBC connection, the architecture (bitness) of the driver in the specified DSN must match the architecture (bitness) of Toad.
To create a PostgreSQL ODBC connection
- Click
- Select PostgreSQL from the Group list box.
- Use data source name
- To create the connection using a data source, select this option to display data source names.
- To create the connection without using a data source, clear this check box to display driver names. Select a driver and enter a server name, port number, and a database. Or select a driver and enter a ConnectionString.
- To create a data source to use in this connection, click
in the Data Source Name field. Then click Add.
- Select a PostgreSQL ODBC driver from the list, and click Finish.
- Specify the configuration properties required for the database in the Windows driver setup dialog. Save your settings when finished.
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Specify the remaining connection properties in the Create New Connection dialog. Review the following for additional information:
Note: Specify a user that has been granted SELECT privilege in pg_catalog schema.
General Data source name
Select the driver or data source name you added in the previous steps.
User
Enter the user name to use when connecting.
Password
Enter the password to use when connecting.
Tip: After connecting, you can set a master password to further secure your connection in Tools | Options| Environment | Security.
Database
Select a database or schema. Click
to create a temporary connection and display available databases/schemas in the drop-down list.
Information
Data Source Name
Displays the selected driver or data source name.
Driver
Displays the ODBC driver associated with the data source.
Advanced Default Table Column Specify default options to use when creating a new table.
Column type—Select the default data type to use when creating a table.
Column length—For the selected column type, enter a default column length to use.
Advanced Options Block Cursor Size—Specify the number of rows to return in a single fetch of data from the result set.
Disable multi-threading—Multi-threading is disabled by default. Enable multi-threading only if supported by the driver. Multi-threading can improve performance, but can also result in unpredictable behavior if not supported by the driver.
Default: Selected
Category (Optional) Select an existing category or create a new one. -
Click Connect to connect immediately while saving the connection information. Optionally, click Save to save the connection without connecting.
Tip: Connections are stored in the connections.xml file and can be found by clicking the Application Data Directory link in Help | About.
Considerations and Limitations for PostgreSQL ODBC Connections
| Consideration/Limitation | Details |
|---|---|
| User must have pg_catalog privilege |
To use a PostgreSQL ODBC connection in Toad, the connecting user must have the SELECT privilege in the pg_catalog schema. This privilege is required as it enables viewing PostgreSQL objects in the Object Explorer, as well as other features and functionality in Toad. If you attempt to connect using a user account that does not have the SELECT privilege in the pg_catalog schema, you will encounter the following error message: "User's privileges are insufficient to connect using Toad." |
Tips for Working with ODBC Connections
| Tip | Description |
|---|---|
| Filter DSN by bitness |
To filter Data Source Names displayed in the New Connection dialog by the bitness of Toad, go to Tools | Options | Database | ODBC. |
| Cache object metadata |
To cache object metadata for ODBC connections and retain it between sessions, go to Tools | Options | Database | ODBC and select to enable disk caching. Cached object metadata is retained until manually refreshed. |
| Refresh object metadata |
To refresh object metadata for all ODBC connections, in the Object Explorer right-click an object and select Refresh All. Right-click an object and select Refresh Schema to refresh only objects in that schema. |
ODBC Features
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Bypass schema/instance selection in SQL Editor |
For ODBC connections, in the SQL Editor you can bypass selecting a schema/instance and specify this information through the script instead. This is useful if your script executes SQL against multiple schemas. To use this method, select I will set schema/instance in the script from the schema/instance drop-down list in the SQL Editor window. Then specify the schema/instance through your script. Note: When this option is selected, some code completion features, object actions, and object information tool tips are unavailable for this SQL Editor window. |
Create Salesforce Connections
Toad allows you to connect directly to Salesforce.com, one of the business intelligence data sources supported by Toad. Toad supports authentication using either a Salesforce security token or single sign-on with your corporate credentials.
See also, About Salesforce.com Data Sources.
To create a Salesforce connection
- Click
- Select Salesforce from the Group list. The Create New Connection dialog opens.
- To create a Salesforce connection using your Salesforce email login, select the Credentials tab.
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Enter the connection information. Review the following for additional information:
URL Enter the Salesforce.com URL to which you want to connect.
Note: An example is https://login.salesforce.com.
Username Enter your email login.
Note: You must have a Salesforce email login to create this type of connection to Salesforce.com from Toad.
Password Enter the password to use when connecting.
Tip: After connecting, you can set a master password to further secure your connection in Tools | Options| Environment | Security.
Security token Enter your Security Token provided by Salesforce.
Note: You must have a Salesforce security token to create this type of Salesforce.com connection from Toad. See Important Notes about Salesforce Connections for more information.
Category (Optional) Select an existing category or create a new one.
- After entering the connection information, click Connect to connect immediately while saving the connection information. Optionally, click Save to save the connection without connecting.
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To create a Salesforce connection using your corporate credentials (single sign-on), select the Corporate Credentials tab.
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Enter your company's custom Salesforce URL. An example is https://company.my.salesforce.com or http://salesforce.servername.
Note: If you authenticate and request login to Salesforce through your company's server (e.g., http://salesforce.servername), you may need to contact your IT department to obtain the full URL to enter in this step.
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If the Salesforce log-in page displays, enter your corporate credentials (user name and password) and click Log in to Salesforce.
Note: The Salesforce log-in page does not display when authenticating through your company's server.
- The Salesforce consent page displays. Click Allow to allow Toad access to your Salesforce data.
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Upon creating an initial connection, Toad automatically maps the data source objects. This process runs in the background, and until it is finished, you may experience a delay when attempting to access these objects.
Note: In NoSQL and Business Intelligence connections, Toad automatically saves the password in the connections.xml file as obfuscated text, as well as in Toad. To add additional password security, use Toad's Master Password feature.
Manual Single Sign-On
Use the manual single sign on method when you want to create a Salesforce connection using your corporate credentials but you are having problems accessing Salesforce from Toad, for example, if Toad does not have access to the Internet.
Create a Salesforce.com connection - manual single sign-on
- In the Create New Connection dialog, select the Manual Single Sign On tab.
- Log-in to your Salesforce.com account using your browser. After you log-in, copy the full URL from the browser's address bar and paste it into the text box under Step 1 in the Manual Single Sign On tab.
- A URL appears in the text box under Step 2. Copy this URL and then paste it into the address bar in your browser.
- The Salesforce consent page displays. Click Allow.
- A page displays containing the authorization code. Copy the code and paste it into the text box under Step 3. Then click Connect.
Reauthorizing a Connection (If Using Corporate Credentials)
If you encounter an error message when attempting to connect to Salesforce using your corporate credentials connection, Toad's authorization (access) to Salesforce may be lost. Use the following procedure to re-establish authorization for the connection.
To Reauthorize
- In the Navigation Manager, disconnect from the connection. You must disconnect before you can re-authorize.
- After disconnecting, right-click the connection and select Properties.
- In the Connection Properties dialog, click Reauthorize in the Corporate Credentials tab.
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If the Salesforce log-in page displays, re-enter your corporate credentials.
Note: The Salesforce log-in page does not display when authenticating through your company's server.
Important Notes about Salesforce Connections
- If you connect to Salesforce using a proxy, you must define the proxy server in Toad.
- A Security Token is required to log on to Salesforce.com from Toad, using your Salesforce email login.
- For information about how to generate a new security token, see the Salesforce documentation at https://login.salesforce.com/help/doc/en/user_security_token.htm.
- You may need to have your IP address included in your organization's list of trusted IP addresses. For more information, see the Salesforce documentation at http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/api/Content/sforce_api_concepts_security.htm.
Tips:
- For more information about working with Salesforce.com in Toad, see About Salesforce.com Data Sources.
- Connections are stored in the connections.xml file and can be found by clicking the Application Data Directory link in Help | About.
- You can specify a proxy server to use for Business Intelligence and NoSQL connections at Tools | Options | Database | Data Services.
Create Snowflake Connections
Toad allows you to create a native Snowflake connection, which provides you with a full-featured Object Explorer, Query Builder and SQL Editor.
Note: You must have a Snowflake ODBC driver 2.24.2 (or later) installed before a native connection is created.
To install the Snowflake ODBC Driver
Download and install the ODBC Driver from the Snowflake Web site.
-
Click
- Select Snowflake from the Group list box.
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Enter the connection information in the Create New Connection dialog. Review the following for additional information:
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Review the following for additional information:
General Tab Description Host
Enter the name of the server hosting the database to which you want to connect.
Authentication
There are four types of authentication that you can use to connect to Snowflake in Toad. The required Login fields will change according to the type of authentication you select. All the authenticators are located in a dropdown list:
- Snowflake – User account authentication
- SSO – Single Sign-On via external browser
- OAuth – Token-based authentication
- MFA - Multi-Factor Authentication
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Key pair - JSON Web Token (JWT)
User
Enter the username for your Snowflake account
Password
Enter the password for your Snowflake account
Token
Enter your authentication token (Only visible when connecting via OAuth)
Private key path
Enter your Private key (Only visible when connecting via Key pair)
Passphrase
Passphrase is required only if the keys are encrypted (Only visible when connecting via Key pair)
Port
The default port number for Snowflake is 443 Optional
A connection can be made without providing this information
Role
Enter the user role that you would like to connect to Warehouse
Enter the name of the Warehouse you would like to connect to
Database
Enter the name of the Database(s) you would like to connect to
Schema
Enter the name of the Schema(s) you would like to connect to
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Click Connect to save the connection and immediately connect to the database.
or
Click Save to save the connection without connecting to the database.
Authentication Notes
When using SSO or MFA, there is a way to maintain continuous and secure connectivity without needing to enter login credentials for each connection attempt to Snowflake (as well as to prevent additional browser loading whenever a new module is started in Toad Data Studio). To achieve this, check whether the correct parameters have been set in your account by executing the query below in your Snowflake cloud interface:
SHOW PARAMETERS IN ACCOUNT;
The output that will secure login credentials caching will have these values:
For SSO
allow_id_token = true;
For MFA
allow_client_mfa_caching = true;
If these values are set to false, then the following queries need to be executed:
For SSO:
ALTER ACCOUNT
SET allow_id_token = true;
For MFA:
ALTER ACCOUNT
SET allow_client_mfa_caching = true;
Note: If a Role or Warehouse isn’t chosen, the default settings from the Snowflake User account will be applied (it is considered best practice that a user sets a default Role and a default Warehouse in their Snowflake user account).
Tip: It is strongly advised to use only the Snowflake user account authentication when creating Automation scripts to avoid unnecessary workflow interruptions.
Limitations of Snowflake Native Connections
- Connecting to Snowflake through Programmatic SSO (Okta only) is not currently supported.
- Semi-structured data types can be used for storing and analyzing purposes in Snowflake connections, but are not supported in the Data Compare/Sync Wizard because Toad will not be able to generate valid sync scripts unless they are modified before execution
- At the moment, there is no support for Code Snippets in Snowflake connections
Tip: Connections are stored in the connections.xml file and can be found by clicking the Application Data Directory link in Help | About.