Insights for ArcGIS - Create a database connection

A database connection allows you to add data from a supported database. Available database connections are listed in the Add to page window when you click the Databases option or on the Connections tab on the home page. For more information about using database data in Insights, see Understanding data in relational databases.

Before you create a database connection, the following prerequisites must be met:

The appropriate relational data store types must be registered for your organization. For more information, see Required vendor files and Configure ArcGIS Enterprise to support Insights.
You must have appropriate privileges to the database you want to connect to. If you do not have database privileges, contact the database administrator.
You must have a username and password for the database.

Create a new database connection

Database connections are saved as relational database connection items. You can view relational database connection items from the Connections tab on the home page or in your ArcGIS Enterprise portal. Connections can be created from the home page or before you add data to your workbook.

Use the following steps to create a database connection from the home page:

Steps:

Click the Connections tab .
Click New connection and choose Database from the menu.
The New connection window opens.
Choose the database type you want to connect to. Supported databases include SAP HANA, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and PostgreSQL.
Provide the following required connection properties:
- Name
- Type
- Username
- Password
- Server Name (database host name)
- Other connection properties, such as Default Spatial Type, Database Name, Port Number and Instance Name, vary by database type.
- For SAP HANA connections, check Connect using SSL if you are connecting to a database with Secure Sockets Layer configured.
Click Add.
Insights uses the connection properties to try to connect to the database. If connecting to the database is possible, the connection is created, and datasets from the database are listed in the middle pane. You can choose datasets from your new connection to add to your workbook page.
Note:
Only database authentication is supported when creating a database connection in Insights.
If Insights can't connect to the database, an error message appears. See Troubleshoot a database connection for more information about the reasons why a connection could not be established.

Use the following steps to create a database connection from the Add to page window:

Steps:

Open the Add to page window using one of the following options:
- Create a workbook. The Add to page window opens when the workbook is created.
- Click the Add button above the data pane in an existing workbook.
- Create a page in an existing workbook. The Add to page window opens when the page is created.
In the Add to page window, choose Database.
Click New Connection.
Provide the following required connection properties:
- Name
- Type
- Username
- Password
- Server Name (database host name)
- Other connection properties, such as Default Spatial Type, Database Name, Port Number and Instance Name, vary by database type.
- For SAP HANA connections, check Connect using SSL if you are connecting to a database with Secure Sockets Layer configured.
Click Ok.

Each relational database item has a corresponding relational catalog service that resides in the Hosted folder on your portal's hosting server. The service can be updated from the Connections tab on the home page. For more information, see Update a database connection.

As the owner of the database connection in Insights in ArcGIS Enterprise, you can share the item with team members so that they can use the data from the database connection in their analysis.

Index columns

Insights will create an index on database tables for certain functions using Oracle, SQL Server, or PostgreSQL databases to improve performance. For Oracle and SQL Server databases, indexing can only take place if the user who creates the database connection has the required database privileges. Once the connection is created, indexes will be created on the database tables regardless of who is using them in Insights.

If the user who creates the database connection does not have the necessary privileges, indexing will not take place on the database tables.

The following table describes how indexing will be performed for each database type and the privileges required to create a connection where indexing takes place:


Database	Description	Index type	Required privileges
SAP HANA	Indexing is not completed in Insights for SAP HANA databases.	Not applicable	Not applicable
Oracle	Indexing occurs in the following situations: A field is calculated on the dataset. A relationship is created with the dataset. Enrich Data is used on the dataset. Location is enabled on the dataset, including through results from spatial analysis. The data is projected to a different geographic coordinate system. Data will be projected if the coordinate system of the dataset does not match the coordinate system of the basemap.	Non-unique	Connect to and browse contents with data caching. One of the following: The user is the owner of the table. The owner of the table granted the CREATE INDEX ON <table name> privilege to the user.
SQL Server	Indexing occurs in the following situations: A filter is applied to the dataset. A relationship is created with the dataset. Enrich Data is used on the dataset. Location is enabled on the dataset, including through results from spatial analysis.	Non-unique	Connect to and browse contents with data caching.
PostgreSQL	Indexing occurs in the following situations: A filter is applied to the dataset. A relationship is created with the dataset. A time series graph is created.	Non-unique	Connect to and browse contents with data caching.

Spatial types

The default spatial type is used to determine what spatial type will be used when a location field is added to a database dataset using enable location. The following table describes the default spatial types that are available for each database type:


Database	Supported default spatial types
SAP HANA	ST_Geometry
Oracle	Oracle Spatial Esri Geodatabase
SQL Server	Geometry
PostgreSQL	PostGIS Geometry Esri Geodatabase None

Note:

SDELOB spatial types are not supported.

Next steps

Now that you've created a database connection, you're ready to access data from your database connections in Insights.