Is it possible to connect SAS to Tableau using a ODBC connection

[dennis_oz]

@MithunChindan  , 

Can anyone advice if it is possible to use to connect a SAS Dataset to Tableau using a ODBC connection . There are many  queries on the internet with no definite answer . 

Hence, thought to post the question here  ?

[Kurt_Bremser]

ODBC is generic; if Tableau supplies a driver for it, ODBC-capable applications like SAS can use the connection.

[Ksharp]

Yes. I think so. Once you config a ODBC connection successfully in Data Source Component at Control Center of Windows OS . You could could import its tables.

[AhmedAl_Attar]

Hi @dennis_oz 

If you are interested in utilizing SAS Datasets in your Tableau Reports, then you'll need to have

• SAS/SHARE licensed (if it's not)
• SAS Drivers for ODBC installed on the Tableau Windows machine/server 
• Have a SAS/SHARE server instance running
• Define your SAS Data sources
• Use Tableau's ODBC data source as input to your Report(s)

Hope this helps,

Ahmed

[ballardw]

Maybe you should describe which way you need the flow to go.

Do you want SAS to use Tableau data/ results?

Or do you want Tableau to use SAS data sets? Tableau supports SAS data sets as a data source directly the last time I looked.

[AhmedAl_Attar · Accepted solution]

@ballardw 

"Tableau supports SAS data sets as a data source directly the last time I looked", You are correct, only in the case where the *.sastbdat files exists on the same machine (Windows) as Tableau Desktop/Public. But if the SAS data is on a different platform/machine then SAS/SHARE & ODBC/JDBC (Tableau Server runs on Linux now) is the only way to access/open it within Tableau.

Hope this clarifies things,

Ahmed   

[avinashginjupal]

Hi Ahmed,

we are trying to connect to SAS Server from Tableau Desktop.

SAS Server is installed on LINUX X64 Machine and Tableau Desktop is on Windows X64 machine.

We have SAS/Share running on SAS Server and we have installed SAS ODBC Drivers locally and created connection to SAS Share server in ODBC using SAS ODBC Drivers, and tried calling the driver from Tableau Desktop to make connection to SAS Server.

But it throwed us below error:

Trying to connect to SAS from Tableau Desktop using the Other Databases (ODBC) connector, the following error occurs:

Unable to connect to the server. Check that the server is running and that you have access privileges to the requested database.
[Microsoft][ODBC Driver Manager] Driver's SQLSetConnectAttr failed
Generic ODBC requires additional configuration. The driver and DSN (data source name) must be installed and configured to match the connection.
Unable to connect to the server "SAS". Check that the server is running and that you have access privileges to the requested database.

if you have successful connection, please help me with steps and also version info of SAS and Tableau on your end.

[SASKiwi]

@avinashginjupal  - I think your best bet would be to work with SAS Tech Support on this. My suspicion is that the ODBC data source needs to be defined on the SAS server. That will involve configuring the linux odbc.ini file. Calling @JBailey .

[ChrisNZ]

@avinashginjupal is your sas/share server running?

[AhmedAl_Attar]

Hi @avinashginjupal 

Here is your check list

• SAS ODBC Driver installed on the Windows machine (Desktop / Server) where Tableau is installed
• SAS/SHARE Server up and running on a Server (Linux/Windows)
• Ensure your SAS/SHARE server has the required SAS Libraries pre-assigned 
• A valid user credentials to sign-in to the SAS/SHARE Server --> You need a Linux User Credentials (user/pw) to login to the Linux box via ssh/telnet
• Ensure this user credential has the required permissions to access the data sets, and it's holding directories 
• Follow the instructions in the link below to create ODBC Data Source definition/configuration pointing to the SAS/SHARE server, and tables/libraries
  https://documentation.sas.com/?docsetId=odbcdref&docsetTarget=p0cpyxc20b5ybin1o5sretxxv6au.htm&docse...
• Test the functionality using Excel, Data Tab --> New Query --> From Other Sources --> From ODBC --> Select the ODBC DNS you just setup for SAS

This should get you going

Good luck

[JBailey]

Hi @avinashginjupal 

I think you need to create a new post for this one. It doesn't make sense to piggy-back on a solved post.

Include my user id in the post so that I see it.

Best wishes,

Jeff

[dennis_oz]

the flow is SAS datasets to Tableau and I want to connect through the ODBC option.

I am aware about the process of connecting through a Stastical file option in Tableau .... I am curious to know if the ODBC option is possible .

Thanks

[ChrisNZ]

Well, you have your answer, comprehensively described by @AhmedAl_Attar .

You want to connect to a SAS server, so you need to set up that server and to have the appropriate licences in place.