Cosmos DB Connector for MS Excel

Connect to your Azure Cosmos DB databases to read, query, create, update, and delete documents and more!

In this article you will learn how to quickly and efficiently integrate Cosmos DB data in MS Excel without coding. We will use high-performance Cosmos DB Connector to easily connect to Cosmos DB and then access the data inside MS Excel.

Let's follow the steps below to see how we can accomplish that!

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Create ODBC Data Source (DSN) based on ZappySys API Driver

Step-by-step instructions

To get data from Cosmos DB using MS Excel we first need to create a DSN (Data Source) which will access data from Cosmos DB. We will later be able to read data using MS Excel. Perform these steps:

  1. Download and install ODBC PowerPack.

  2. Open ODBC Data Sources (x64):

    Open ODBC Data Source
  3. Create a User data source (User DSN) based on ZappySys API Driver

    ZappySys API Driver
    Create new User DSN for ZappySys API Driver
    • Create and use User DSN if the client application is run under a User Account. This is an ideal option in design-time, when developing a solution, e.g. in Visual Studio 2019. Use it for both type of applications - 64-bit and 32-bit.
    • Create and use System DSN if the client application is launched under a System Account, e.g. as a Windows Service. Usually, this is an ideal option to use in a production environment. Use ODBC Data Source Administrator (32-bit), instead of 64-bit version, if Windows Service is a 32-bit application.
  4. When the Configuration window appears give your data source a name if you haven't done that already, then select "Cosmos DB" from the list of Popular Connectors. If "Cosmos DB" is not present in the list, then click "Search Online" and download it. Then set the path to the location where you downloaded it. Finally, click Continue >> to proceed with configuring the DSN:

    CosmosDbDSN
    Cosmos DB
    ODBC DSN Template Selection
  5. Now it's time to configure the Connection Manager. Select Authentication Type, e.g. Token Authentication. Then select API Base URL (in most cases, the default one is the right one). More info is available in the Authentication section.

    Steps how to get and use Cosmos DB credentials : API Key [Http]
    Connecting to your Azure Cosmos DB data requires you to authenticate your REST API access. Follow the instructions below:
    1. Go to your Azure portal homepage: https://portal.azure.com/.
    2. In the search bar at the top of the homepage, enter Azure Cosmos DB. In the dropdown that appears, select Azure Cosmos DB.
    3. Click on the name of the database account you want to connect to (also copy and paste the name of the database account for later use).
    4. On the next page where you can see all of the database account information, look along the left side and select Keys: Use API key to get Cosmos DB data via REST API in Azure
    5. On the Keys page, you will have two tabs: Read-write Keys and Read-only Keys. If you are going to write data to your database, you need to remain on the Read-write Keys tab. If you are only going to read data from your database, you should select the Read-only Keys tab.
    6. On the Keys page, copy the PRIMARY KEY value and paste it somewhere for later use (the SECONDARY KEY value may also be copied and used).
    7. Now go to SSIS package or ODBC data source and use this PRIMARY KEY in API Key authentication configuration.
    8. Enter the primary or secondary key you recorded in step 6 into the Primary or Secondary Key field.
    9. Then enter the database account you recorded in step 3 into the Database Account field.
    10. Next, enter or select the default database you want to connect to using the Defualt Database field.
    11. Continue by entering or selecting the default table (i.e. container/collection) you want to connect to using the Default Table (Container/Collection) field.
    12. Select the Test Connection button at the bottom of the window to verify proper connectivity with your Azure Devops account.
    13. If the connection test succeeds, select OK.
    14. Done! Now you are ready to use Asana Connector!

    Fill in all required parameters and set optional parameters if needed:

    CosmosDbDSN
    Cosmos DB
    API Key [Http]
    https://[$Account$].documents.azure.com
    Required Parameters
    Primary or Secondary Key Fill-in the parameter...
    Account Name (Case-Sensitive) Fill-in the parameter...
    Database Name (keep blank to use default) Case-Sensitive Fill-in the parameter...
    API Version Fill-in the parameter...
    Optional Parameters
    Default Table (needed to invoke #DirectSQL)
    ODBC DSN HTTP Connection Configuration

  6. Once the data source connection has been configured, it's time to configure the SQL query. Select the Preview tab and then click Query Builder button to configure the SQL query:

    ZappySys API Driver - Cosmos DB
    Connect to your Azure Cosmos DB databases to read, query, create, update, and delete documents and more!
    CosmosDbDSN
    Open Query Builder in API ODBC Driver to read and write data to REST API
  7. Start by selecting the Table or Endpoint you are interested in and then configure the parameters. This will generate a query that we will use in MS Excel to retrieve data from Cosmos DB. Hit OK button to use this query in the next step.

    #DirectSQL SELECT * FROM root where root.id !=null order by root._ts desc
    Configure table/endpoint parameters in ODBC data source based on API Driver
    Some parameters configured in this window will be passed to the Cosmos DB API, e.g. filtering parameters. It means that filtering will be done on the server side (instead of the client side), enabling you to get only the meaningful data much faster.
  8. Now hit Preview Data button to preview the data using the generated SQL query. If you are satisfied with the result, use this query in MS Excel:

    ZappySys API Driver - Cosmos DB
    Connect to your Azure Cosmos DB databases to read, query, create, update, and delete documents and more!
    CosmosDbDSN
    #DirectSQL SELECT * FROM root where root.id !=null order by root._ts desc
    API ODBC Driver-based data source data preview
    You can also access data quickly from the tables dropdown by selecting <Select table>.
    A WHERE clause, LIMIT keyword will be performed on the client side, meaning that the whole result set will be retrieved from the Cosmos DB API first, and only then the filtering will be applied to the data. If possible, it is recommended to use parameters in Query Builder to filter the data on the server side (in Cosmos DB servers).
  9. Click OK to finish creating the data source.

Video Tutorial

Read data in Excel from the DSN

  1. In Excel click Data, then select Get Data, proceed with From Other Sources and choose From ODBC item. This will get data from ODBC data source we created:

    Create ODBC data source in Excel
  2. A small window opens, then simply select the data source you created in previous steps:

    CosmosDbDSN
    Select DSN data source in Excel
  3. Most likely, you will be asked to authenticate to a newly created DSN. Just select Windows authentication option together with Use my current credentials option:

    CosmosDbDSN
    Excel DSN Authentication
  4. Finally, you will be asked to select a table or view to get data from. Select one and load the data!

    Excel DSN Authentication
  5. Finally, finally, use data extracted from Cosmos DB API in an Excel worksheet:

    Excel Select DSN Table

Actions supported by Cosmos DB Connector

Learn how to perform common Cosmos DB actions directly in MS Excel with these how-to guides:

Conclusion

In this article we showed you how to connect to Cosmos DB in MS Excel and integrate data without any coding, saving you time and effort. It's worth noting that ZappySys API Driver allows you to connect not only to Cosmos DB, but to any Java application that supports JDBC (just use a different JDBC driver and configure it appropriately).

We encourage you to download Cosmos DB Connector for MS Excel and see how easy it is to use it for yourself or your team.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact ZappySys support team. You can also open a live chat immediately by clicking on the chat icon below.

Download Cosmos DB Connector for MS Excel Documentation

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