Overview
This is an overview of all supported providers. You can connect to all of these to connect to data and automate your tests.
All providers except for Dax@1, PowerBI@1 and Excel@2 can also be used as sources of test definitions. (Excel@2 will be addressed later).
All providers work when you use CAT on MS Windows platform. Those marked with Y were tested also on Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble) with no issues found. Y 1 means they were not tested yet, but it is highly likely they work on Linux without problems, because they have no dependencies. “Later” means we’ll provide support for Linux if users will require that.
| Provider | What you can query | Driver needed | Linux | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Csv@1 | CSV files | no | Y 1 | Only very limited SQL constructs |
| CsvOleDB@1 | CSV files | yes | N | Advanced SQL, but driver needed |
| Csv@2 | CSV files | no | Y | Preview. Advanced SQL, no driver needed |
| Dax@1 | Tabular models (Power BI, SSAS) | yes | later | Requires queries in DAX, not SQL |
| Excel@1 | MS Excel xlsx files | no | Y 1 | Only very limited SQL constructs |
| Excel@2 | MS Excel xlsx files | no | Y | Preview. Advanced SQL, no driver needed |
| ExcelOleDB@1 | MS Excel xlsx files | yes | N | Advanced SQL, driver needed |
| MySql@1 | data from any MySQL compatible DB | no | Y 1 | |
| Odbc@1 | data from an ODBC source | no | later | |
| Oracle@1 | data in ORACLE database | no | Y 1 | |
| Postgres@1 | data in PostgreSQL database | no | Y | |
| PowerBI@1 | Open Power BI desktop file | yes | N | |
| Snowflake@1 | data in Snowflake | no | Y 1 | |
| SqlServer@1 | data in MS SQL Server database | no | Y 1 | |
| SqlServer@2 | data in MS SQL Server database | no | Y | Newer driver, supports e.g., service principals |
| Yaml@1 | data in YAML files | no | Y |
There are also some technologies that leverage existing providers to connect to them.
| Technology | Provider you can use | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dataverse | SqlServer@2 | |
| Databricks | Odbc@1 | Simba driver needed, ODBC entry needed |
| MS Fabric | SqlServer@2 | Both Data Warehouse and Data Lakehouse supported |
| Azure Synapse | SqlServer@2 |