How to integrate Dropbox using Informatica PowerCenter

Integrate Informatica PowerCenter and Dropbox

Learn how to quickly and efficiently connect Dropbox with Informatica PowerCenter for smooth data access.

Read and write Dropbox data effortlessly. Integrate, manage, and automate files and folders — almost no coding required. You can do it all using the high-performance Dropbox ODBC Driver for Informatica PowerCenter (often referred to as the Dropbox Connector). We'll walk you through the entire setup.

Ready to dive in? Download the product to jump right in, or follow the step-by-step guide below to see how it works.

Dropbox ODBC Driver Powering this integration

High performance
Bidirectional
Low-code / No-code
Easy to use

Built on the ZappySys API Driver, the Dropbox ODBC Driver is a high-performance, low-code / no-code solution. It enables you to connect to Dropbox data without any coding right in your SQL Server, or any ODBC/JDBC application. Part of the ODBC PowerPack.

Documentation

Introduction

JSON / REST API is becoming more and more popular each day as everyone embrace cloud-centric services. This article is primarily focused on Informatica users who want to access Dropbox data or may be other API Integration in Informatica. However many tips and techniques described in this article will help you to understand how to integrate Dropbox / XML SOAP / JSON / REST API in other ETL / Reporting apps such as Tableau, Power BI, SSRS, Talend, Excel and many more.

After going through this article you will learn how to Read Dropbox / JSON / REST API data in Informatica and understand the concept of JSON / REST API. We will go through many screenshots and step-by-step examples to demonstrate Dropbox or REST API integration in Informatica PowerCenter.

XML / JSON can come from a local file or REST API service (internal or public) so we will include both examples in this article (i.e. Read JSON files in Informatica, Import REST API in Informatica). So let’s get started. Next article will focus on how to write data to API in Informatica (POST / PUT data)

If you need to consume API which is not listed on connector library page then please refer to the below article links. It talks about how to read / write pretty much any API and not just Dropbox API. It explains various API tips / tricks using our other Universal Drivers not mentioned in this article (i.e. ZappySys JSON / XML and CSV Drivers).

Requirements

This article assumes that you have full filled following basic requirements.

Download Install ZappySys ODBC PowerPack (API Driver for Dropbox included)
Install Informatica PowerCenter Client Tools (e.g. Workflow and Mapping Designers)
Access to a Relational database such as SQL Server (or use any of your choice e.g. Oracle, MySQL, DB2 ). If nothing available then you can use flat file target.

High level Steps for Import Dropbox data using Informatica (Read Dropbox API data)

Before we dive deep to learn how to load Dropbox data in Informatica (i.e. Dropbox to SQL Table), Here the summary of high-level steps you need to perform to import Dropbox in Informatica (same steps for Import JSON / XML / REST API).

Download and Install ZappySys API Driver (for connecting to Dropbox)
Create ODBC DSN using ZappySys API driver and choose Dropbox Connector during Wizard
Create Relational > ODBC Connection in Informatica Workflow designer (Point to DSN we created in the previous step)
Import Dropbox Source Definition in the Informatica Mapping Designer > Sources Tab
Import Target Table Definition in the Informatica Mapping Designer > Targets Tab
Create source to target mapping in Mappings tab
Save mapping (name m_API_to_SQL_Load )
Create Session using the mapping we created in the previous step
Save Workflow and execute to load Dropbox data into SQL Table. Verify your data and log.

Loading Dropbox data to SQL Table in Informatica (Import REST API or JSON Files)

Video Tutorial – Read any API / JSON data in Informatica (Load Dropbox to SQL Table)

Below video is not about Dropbox API but its showing API access in general (for any API). By watching following ~5 min video can learn steps listed in this article to load JSON API data into SQL Server Table using ZappySys JSON Driver. You can go though full article to learn many useful details not covered in this video.

Getting Started – Import Dropbox to SQL Server in Informatica

Now let’s get started. For example purpose, we will read data from Dropbox and load data into SQL Server Table using Informatica Workflow.

Create data source using Dropbox ODBC Driver

Step-by-step instructions

To get data from Dropbox using Informatica PowerCenter, we first need to create an ODBC data source. We will later read this data in Informatica PowerCenter. Perform these steps:

Download and install ODBC PowerPack (if you haven't already).
Search for odbc and open the ODBC Data Sources (64-bit):
Create a User data source (User DSN) based on the ZappySys API Driver driver:

ZappySys API Driver
- Create and use a User DSN if the client application runs under a User Account. This is the ideal option at design time (e.g., when developing in Visual Studio). Use it for both types of applications (64-bit and 32-bit).
- Create and use a System DSN if the client application runs under a System Account (e.g., as a Windows Service). This is usually the required option in a production environment. If your Windows Service is a 32-bit application, you must use the 32-bit ODBC Data Source Administrator to configure this
When the Configuration window appears give your data source a name if you haven't done that already, then select "Dropbox" from the list of Popular Connectors. If "Dropbox" 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:

DropboxDSN

Dropbox

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.

User Account

Dropbox authentication

To use OAuth authentication, firstly, you need to create OAuth application:

Log into your Dropbox account.
Go to Dropbox My Apps.
Then press Create app button to create a new app:
Once a new page opens, select Scoped access option:
Next, select Full Dropbox to access all files and folders or App folder to access specific folder's files and folders option.
Continue by giving your app a name.
Then check I agree to Dropbox API Terms and Conditions checkbox.
Click Create app button.
Once a new page opens, click Enable additional teams and Enable additional users buttons:
Then copy App key and App secret and copy paste them into your favorite text editor (you will need them later).
Proceed by setting a Redirect URI and clicking Add button.
NOTE: If you don't have a working Redirect URI, you can use https://zappysys.com/oauth (it's safe).
Then click on Permissions tab and select application scopes:
Select all Individual Scopes and Team Scopes if you want to manage team data.
Click Submit button.
Now go to SSIS package or ODBC data source and in User Account authentication set these parameters:
1. For ClientId field use App key value.
2. For ClientSecret field use App secret value.
3. For ReturnUrl field use Redirect URI value.
Done! Now you are ready to use Dropbox Connector!

NOTE: If you are planning to use your current data connection/token for automated processes, we recommend that you use a generic account for token generation when the login box appears (e.g. sales_automation@mycompany.com instead of bob_smith@mycompany.com). When you use a personal account which is tied to a specific employee profile and that employee leaves the company, the token may become invalid and any automated processes using that token will fail. Another potentially unwanted effect of using a personal token is incorrect logging; the API calls (e.g. Read, Edit, Delete, Upload) made with that token will record the specific user as performing the calls instead of an automated process.

API Connection Manager configuration

Just perform these simple steps to finish authentication configuration:

Set Authentication Type to User Account [OAuth]
Optional step. Modify API Base URL if needed (in most cases default will work).
Fill in all the required parameters and set optional parameters if needed.
Press Generate Token button to generate the tokens.
Finally, hit OK button:

DropboxDSN

Dropbox

User Account [OAuth]

https://api.dropboxapi.com/2/

Required Parameters
UseCustomApp	Fill-in the parameter...
ReturnUrl	Fill-in the parameter...
Optional Parameters
ClientId
ClientSecret
Scope
RetryMode	RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
RetryStatusCodeList	429
RetryCountMax	5
RetryMultiplyWaitTime	True

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 - Dropbox

Read and write Dropbox data effortlessly. Integrate, manage, and automate files and folders — almost no coding required.

DropboxDSN
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 Informatica PowerCenter to retrieve data from Dropbox. Hit OK button to use this query in the next step.
```
SELECT *
FROM list_folder
```
Some parameters configured in this window will be passed to the Dropbox 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.
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 Informatica PowerCenter:
ZappySys API Driver - Dropbox

Read and write Dropbox data effortlessly. Integrate, manage, and automate files and folders — almost no coding required.

DropboxDSN
```
SELECT *
FROM list_folder
```
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 Dropbox 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 Dropbox servers).
Click OK to finish creating the data source.

Video Tutorial

Create Connection in Informatica Workflow Designer

Once you create DSN using API Driver our next step is to define a connection for Dropbox source in Informatica PowerCenter Workflow designer.

Open Workflow designer [W] icon
Goto Connections > Relational

Create a new connection for Dropbox in Informatica
Click New and select ODBC

Select ODBC connection type in Informatica (Using ZappySys API ODBC DSN)
Now on the ODBC connection setup enter connection name, some fake userid / password (this is a required field but its ignored by JSON Driver)
In the Connection String field enter the exact same name of DSN (Open ODBC Data Sources UI to confirm)

Configure Dropbox connection in Informatica for REST API – Using ZappySys API Driver
Click OK to close the connection properties.

That’s it. Now we ready to move to next step (define source and target in Mapping Designer).

Import Dropbox Source Definition in Informatica Mapping Designer

Now let’s look at steps to import Dropbox table definition.

Open Informatica Mapping Designer (Click [D] icon)
Click on Source Icon to switch to Sources designer
From the top menu > Click on Sources > Import from Database …

Import Dropbox Source definition in Informatica Mapping Designer (JSON file or REST API)
Select ODBC data source from the dropdown (Find out DSN we created earlier to use as JSON Source)
Click Connect button to get a list of tables. Any array node is listed as a table. Also, you will see array node with parent columns (e.g. value_with_parent). You may get some warning like below but they are harmless so just ignore by clicking OK.

DLL name entry missing from C:\Informatica\PowerCenter8.6.1\client\bin\powrmart.ini Section = ODBCDLL Entry = ZappySys JSON Driver
—————————————————-
Using EXTODBC.DLL to support ZappySys JSON Driver. For native support of ZappySys JSON Driver make an entry in the .ini file.

Select Dropbox Source Table in Informatica Mapping Designer (JSON file or REST API)
Select Table you wish to get (You can filter rows by custom SQL query. We will see later in this article how to do)
Optionally once table structure is imported you can rename it

Rename imported table definition in Informatica Source Designer
That’s it, we are now ready to perform similar steps to import Target table structure in the next section.

Import SQL Server Target Definition in Informatica Mapping Designer

Now let’s look at steps to import Target table definition (very similar to the previous section, the only difference is this time we will select DSN which points to SQL Server or any other Target Server).

Now lets look at steps to import target table definition in Informatica mapping designer.

In the Mapping Designer, Click on Target Icon to switch to Target designer
From the top menu > Click on Targets > Import from Database …
Select DSN for your Target server (if DSN doesn’t exist then create one by opening ODBC Sources just like we created one for JSON API source (see the previous section about creating DSN).

Import target Table Definition in informatica
Enter your userid , password and Schema name and click Connect to see tables
Select Table name to and click OK import definition.

Import Target SQL Table Definition in Informatica – Select table from the list

Create Source to Target Mapping in Informatica (Import JSON to SQL Server)

Once you have imported source and target table definition, we can create mapping and transformation to load data from JSON to SQL Table.

First open Mapping Designer (Click [D] icon)
Drag JSON Source from sources folder
Drag SQL Table from Targets folder
Map desired columns from Source to target

Define Source to Target mapping for Dropbox to SQL Table load in Informatica
For certain columns you may have to do datatype conversion. For example to convert OrderDate form nstring to DataTime you have to use Expression Transform like below and map it to target. In below example, our JSON has date format (e.g. 2018-01-31 12:00:00 AM ). To import this to DateTime field in SQL server we need to convert it using TO_DATE function. Use double quotes around T to make this format working.
```
TO_DATE(OrderDate,'YYYY-MM-DD H12:MI:SS AM')

 --For ISO use below way
        TO_DATE(OrderDate,'YYYY-MM-DD"T"HH24:MI:SS')
```
Informatica Dropbox to SQL Table Mapping – Datatype conversion (nstring to datetime)
Once you done with mapping save your mapping and name it (i.e. m_Api_To_SQL)
Now lets move to next section to create workflow.

Create Workflow and Session in Informatica

Now the final step is to create a new workflow. Perform following steps to create workflow which with a session task to import JSON data into SQL table.

Open workflow designer by click [W] icon.
Launch new workflow creation wizard by click Workflow top menu > Wizard
name your workflow (e.g. wf_Api_Tp_Sql_Table_Import)

Creating Informatica Workflow – Wizard UI (Import Dropbox data to SQL Table)
Finish the wizard and double-click the Session to edit some default properties.
First change Error settings so we fail session on error (By default its always green)

Fail Informatica Session on error (Dropbox data to SQL Load)
Select JSON connection for Source

Select Dropbox Source Connection in Informatica – Load Dropbox data to SQL Table
Change default Source query if needed. You can pass parameters to this query to make it dynamic.

Modify Dropbox Source SQL query – Pass parameters, change URL, set filter etc
Select Target connection of SQL Target Table

Select SQL Target Connection in Informatica – Load Dropbox data to SQL Table
Save workflow
That’s it. We ready to run our first workflow to load JSON data to SQL.

Execute Workflow and Validate Log in Informatica

Now once you are done with your workflow, execute it to see the log.

Loading JSON data to SQL Table in Informatica (Import REST API or JSON Files)

Loading Dropbox data to SQL Table in Informatica (Import REST API or JSON Files)

POST data to Dropbox in Informatica

There will be a time when you like to send Source data to REST API or SOAP Web Service. You can use below Query for example. For detailed explanation on how to POST data in Informatica check this article .

Video Tutorial – How to POST data to REST API in Informatica

Here is detailed step by step video on REST API POST in informatica PowerCenter

Keywords

Optional: Centralized data access via ZappySys Data Gateway

In some situations, you may need to provide Dropbox data access to multiple users or services. Configuring the data source on a Data Gateway creates a single, centralized connection point for this purpose.

This configuration provides two primary advantages:

Centralized data access
The data source is configured once on the gateway, eliminating the need to set it up individually on each user's machine or application. This significantly simplifies the management process.
Centralized access control
Since all connections route through the gateway, access can be governed or revoked from a single location for all users.

	Data Gateway	Local ODBC data source
Simple configuration
Installation	Single machine	Per machine
Connectivity	Local and remote	Local only
Connections limit	Limited by License	Unlimited
Central data access
Central access control
More flexible cost

To achieve this, you must first create a data source in the Data Gateway (server-side) and then create an ODBC data source in Informatica PowerCenter (client-side) to connect to it.

Let's not wait and get going!

Create Dropbox data source in the gateway

In this section we will create a data source for Dropbox in the Data Gateway. Let's follow these steps to accomplish that:

Search for gateway in the Windows Start Menu and open ZappySys Data Gateway Configuration:
Go to the Users tab and follow these steps to add a Data Gateway user:
- Click the Add button
- In the Login field enter a username, e.g., john
- Then enter a Password
- Check the Is Administrator checkbox
- Click OK to save
Now we are ready to add a data source:
- Click the Add button
- Give the Data source a name (have it handy for later)
- Then select Native - ZappySys API Driver
- Finally, click OK
DropboxDSN

ZappySys API Driver
When the ZappySys API Driver configuration window opens, go back to ODBC Data Source Administrator where you already have the Dropbox ODBC data source created and configured, and follow these steps on how to Import data source configuration into the Gateway:
- Open ODBC data source configuration and click Copy settings:
  
  ZappySys API Driver - Configuration [Version: 2.0.1.10418]
  
  ZappySys API Driver - Dropbox
  
  Read and write Dropbox data effortlessly. Integrate, manage, and automate files and folders — almost no coding required.
  
  DropboxDSN
- The window opens, telling us the connection string was successfully copied to the clipboard:
- Then go to Data Gateway configuration and in data source configuration window click Load settings:
  
  DropboxDSN
  
  ZappySys API Driver - Configuration [Version: 2.0.1.10418]
  
  ZappySys API Driver - Dropbox
  
  Read and write Dropbox data effortlessly. Integrate, manage, and automate files and folders — almost no coding required.
  
  DropboxDSN
- Once a window opens, just paste the settings by pressing CTRL+V or by clicking right mouse button and then Paste option.
Once done, go to the Network Settings tab and Add a firewall rule for inbound traffic:
- This will initially allow all inbound traffic.
- Click Edit IP filters to restrict access to specific IP addresses or ranges.
Crucial Step: After creating or modifying the data source, you must:
- Click the Save button to persist your changes.
- Hit Yes when prompted to restart the Data Gateway service.
This ensures all changes are properly applied:

Skipping this step may cause the new settings to fail, preventing you from connecting to the data source.

Create ODBC data source to connect to the gateway

In this part we will create an ODBC data source to connect to the ZappySys Data Gateway from Informatica PowerCenter. To achieve that, let's perform these steps:

Search for odbc and open the ODBC Data Sources (64-bit):
Create a User data source (User DSN) based on the ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server driver:

ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server

If you don't see the ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server driver in the list, choose a similar version.
Then set a Name for the data source (e.g. Gateway) and the address of the Data Gateway:

ZappySysGatewayDSN

localhost,5000

Make sure you separate the hostname and port with a comma, e.g. localhost,5000.
Proceed with the authentication part:
- Select SQL Server authentication
- In the Login ID field enter the user name you created in the Data Gateway, e.g., john
- Set Password to the one you configured in the Data Gateway
Then set the default database property to DropboxDSN (the one we used in the Data Gateway):

DropboxDSN

DropboxDSN

Make sure to type the data source name manually or copy/paste it directly into the field. Using the dropdown might fail because the Trust server certificate option is not enabled yet (next step).
Continue by checking the Trust server certificate option:
Once you do that, test the connection:
If the connection is successful, everything is good:
Done!

We are ready to move to the final step. Let's do it!

Access data in Informatica PowerCenter via the gateway

Finally, we are ready to read data from Dropbox in Informatica PowerCenter via the Data Gateway. Follow these final steps:

Go back to Informatica PowerCenter.
Open Informatica Mapping Designer (Click [D] icon)
Click on Source Icon to switch to Sources designer
From the top menu > Click on Sources > Import from Database …

Import Dropbox Source definition in Informatica Mapping Designer (JSON file or REST API)
Select ODBC data source from the dropdown (Find out DSN we created earlier to use as JSON Source)
Click Connect button to get a list of tables. Any array node is listed as a table. Also, you will see array node with parent columns (e.g. value_with_parent). You may get some warning like below but they are harmless so just ignore by clicking OK.

DLL name entry missing from C:\Informatica\PowerCenter8.6.1\client\bin\powrmart.ini Section = ODBCDLL Entry = ZappySys JSON Driver
—————————————————-
Using EXTODBC.DLL to support ZappySys JSON Driver. For native support of ZappySys JSON Driver make an entry in the .ini file.

Select Dropbox Source Table in Informatica Mapping Designer (JSON file or REST API)
Read the data the same way we discussed at the beginning of this article.
That's it!

Now you can connect to Dropbox data in Informatica PowerCenter via the Data Gateway.

If you are asked for authentication details, use Database authentication, SQL authentication or Basic authentication option and enter the credentials you used when configuring the Data Gateway, e.g. john and your password.

Supported Dropbox Connector actions

Got a specific use case in mind? We've mapped out exactly how to perform a variety of essential Dropbox operations directly in Informatica PowerCenter, so you don't have to figure out the setup from scratch. Check out the step-by-step guides below:

Conclusion

In this article we showed you how to connect to Dropbox in Informatica PowerCenter and integrate data without writing complex code — all of this was powered by Dropbox ODBC Driver.

Download ODBC PowerPack now or ping us via chat if you have any questions or are looking for a specific feature (you can also reach out to us by submitting a ticket):

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