Presented @ PASSMN on July 17, 2012

1. O, There’s My Data
The Open Data Protocol (OData)
Steve Hughes
Principal Consultant, Magenic
7/17/2012
Minnesota SQL Server User Group Meeting

2. I called you all here …
» Mark Souza
» Why use OData?
» Is it really necessary for Data Pros?

3. Introducing the Open Data Protocol
» Commonly known as OData
» Built on established protocols
» REST
» Atom
» HTTP
» Open specification from Microsoft
» Designed to expose data from a variety of sources

4. OData Feeds
» Data structure support
» Tables
» Foreign keys
» Stored procedures
» Data type support
» Originally designed to support SQL 2008 and Entity Framework
» Designed to be flexible
» For example, Oracle EF implementation can be supported

5. Entity Data Model
» This is the structure of the feed
» Entity Type
» Individual entity in the feed, similar to a row
» Entity Key
» One or more entity properties making each entity type unique in the feed
» Entity Set
» Collection of entities, essentially a table
» Service Operation
» Function or stored procedures that can be used in the feed

6. Building a Model
Using Visual Studio to build a model

7. Windows Communication Foundation
» “WCF is a unified programming model for building service-oriented
applications.” – MSDN (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/dd936243.aspx)
» WCF supports multiple network protocols including HTTP and TCP
» WCF supports multiple message formats such as SOAP and REST
» We will use a WCF project to expose an OData feed based on our entity
model

8. Building a WCF Service
Using Visual Studio to create the WCF Data Service

9. Native OData Support
» Consumers (read feeds)
» PowerPivot & SSAS Tabular
» Reporting Services
» Distributors (expose feeds)
» Windows Azure Table Storage
» Windows Azure Marketplace
» SharePoint
» Stack Overflow

10. PowerPivot Demo
Consuming our OData feed with PowerPivot for Excel

11. Painful OData Support a.k.a. SSIS
» SSIS does not natively support OData feeds
» My goal – use OData as an SSIS Source
» Technology tried along the way
» LINQ
» Able to connect to the feed but not the right tool for SSIS
» ATOM & XML
» Works – creates files on the server, not the best option, but it works
» DataServiceQuery
» Works – allows us to create SSIS Source task which returns rows

12. OData Feed in SSIS
Showing how to retrieve data from OData feeds in SSIS

13. References
» Connecting to Windows Azure SQL Database Through WCF:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/ee621789.aspx
» Loading Data from an ATOM Data Feed into SQL Server:
http://channel9.msdn.com/Learn/Courses/SQL2008R2TrainingKit/SQL10R2UPD01/S
QL10R2UPD01_HOL_03/Exercise-1-Loading-Data-from-an-ATOM-Data-Feed-into-
SQL-Server
» SSIS – Using a Script Component as a Source
http://www.ssistalk.com/2007/04/04/ssis-using-a-script-component-as-a-source/
» DataServiceContext Class: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/system.data.services.client.dataservicecontext.aspx
» Chris Woodruff – 31 Days of OData Blog Series:
http://chriswoodruff.com/2011/11/19/announcing-the-31-days-of-odata-blog-
series/

14. Wrap Up
» Creating an OData feed requires .NET coding
» Consuming an OData feed – Native vs Custom
»Q&A

15. Steve Hughes
» Principal Consultant with Magenic
» Over 15 years with SQL Server
» Chair of Minnesota SQL Server User Group (PASSMN)
» PASS Regional Mentor for US-NorthEast Region
» Contact Info
» Blog: http://www.dataonwheels.com
» Twitter: @DataOnWheels
» Email: steveh@magenic.com