Data Sources are containers of connectivity and metadata information that is used to facilitate the application/dashboard development process.  A Data Source contains the following:  

1. Connectivity information such as the server address, table name, login credentials, etc.  A Data Source maintains a connection for a single table, view, OLAP cube or an ElastiCube.
2. A dimensional representation of the data, in terms of Dimensions and Measures
3. User-created resources such as custom filters or easures, Widgets or Questions

Live Data Sources and Imported Data Sources

There are two types of Data Sources:

1. Live Data Sources:  SQL or MDX queries are executed directly over the database table or OLAP cube.  When an application/dashboard is refreshed, queries will be sent to the server again.
2. Imported Data Sources: Data is imported into the dashboard and calculated internally.  To refresh an application/dashboard the data must be imported again.

Documents built using Live Data Sources are usually smaller because the document relies on the database server or OLAP cube to perform calculations.  Documents built using Imported Data Sources must contain the raw data inside therefore they tend to be larger in size.  

Supported Connections

Live Data Sources are supported for: ElastiCubes, SQL Server 2000-2008, Oracle 9i+, MySQL 5.0+ and Analysis Services 2000-2008.

Imported Data Sources are supported for:  Microsoft Excel 2003-2007, Microsoft Access 2003-2007, CSV/Text files, Google spreadsheets and Amazon S3 logs.

See Also