DropBox Connector for ODBC
In this article you will learn how to integrate Using DropBox Connector you will be able to connect, read, and write data from within ODBC. Follow the steps below to see how we would accomplish that. The driver mentioned above is part of ODBC PowerPack which is a collection of high-performance Drivers for various API data source (i.e. REST API, JSON, XML, CSV, Amazon S3 and many more). Using familiar SQL query language you can make live connections and read/write data from API sources or JSON / XML / CSV Files inside SQL Server (T-SQL) or your favorite Reporting (i.e. Power BI, Tableau, Qlik, SSRS, MicroStrategy, Excel, MS Access), ETL Tools (i.e. Informatica, Talend, Pentaho, SSIS). You can also call our drivers from programming languages such as JAVA, C#, Python, PowerShell etc. If you are new to ODBC and ZappySys ODBC PowerPack then check the following links to get started. |
Connect to DropBox in other apps
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Create ODBC Data Source (DSN) based on ZappySys API Driver
Step-by-step instructions
To get data from DropBox using ODBC we first need to create a DSN (Data Source) which will access data from DropBox. We will later be able to read data using ODBC. Perform these steps:
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Install ZappySys ODBC PowerPack.
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Open ODBC Data Sources (x64):
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Create a User Data Source (User DSN) based on ZappySys API Driver
ZappySys API Driver
You should create a System DSN (instead of a User DSN) if the client application is launched under a Windows System Account, e.g. as a Windows Service. If the client application is 32-bit (x86) running with a System DSN, use ODBC Data Sources (32-bit) instead of the 64-bit version. -
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:
DropBoxDSNDropBox
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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 to get DropBox Credentials : User Account [OAuth]
To use OAuth authentication, firstly, you need to create OAuth application:
- Log into your DropBox account.
- Go to https://www.dropbox.com/developers/apps.
- 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
- Give your app a name
- Click create app
- Once a new page opens, click Scoped App in Permission type line to select application scopes.
- Select all Individual Scopes and Team Scopes if you want to manage team data. Click Submit button.
- Select Settings tab, scroll down to App key and App secret and copy paste them into Notepad.
- Then in OAuth 2 section add a URL as Redirect URI. If you don't have a working Redirect URI, you may add https://zappysys.com/oauth as Redirect URI
Use App key and App secret and Redirect URI for use in Connection String when connecting or in UI.
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.Fill in all required parameters and set optional parameters if needed:
DropBoxDSNDropBoxUser Account [OAuth]https://api.dropboxapi.com/2/Required Parameters UseCustomApp Fill in the parameter... ReturnUrl Fill in the parameter... Optional Parameters ClientId Fill in the parameter... ClientSecret Fill in the parameter... Scope Fill in the parameter... RetryMode Fill in the parameter... RetryStatusCodeList Fill in the parameter... RetryCountMax Fill in the parameter... RetryMultiplyWaitTime Fill in the parameter... 
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Once the data source has been configured, you can preview data. Select the Preview tab and use settings similar to the following to preview data:
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Click OK to finish creating the data source.
Video instructions
Advanced topics
Create Custom Stored Procedure in ZappySys Driver
You can create procedures to encapsulate custom logic and then only pass handful parameters rather than long SQL to execute your API call.
Steps to create Custom Stored Procedure in ZappySys Driver. You can insert Placeholders anywhere inside Procedure Body. Read more about placeholders here
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Go to Custom Objects Tab and Click on Add button and Select Add Procedure:
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Enter the desired Procedure name and click on OK:
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Select the created Stored Procedure and write the your desired stored procedure and Save it and it will create the custom stored procedure in the ZappySys Driver:
Here is an example stored procedure for ZappySys Driver. You can insert Placeholders anywhere inside Procedure Body. Read more about placeholders here
CREATE PROCEDURE [usp_get_orders] @fromdate = '<<yyyy-MM-dd,FUN_TODAY>>' AS SELECT * FROM Orders where OrderDate >= '<@fromdate>';
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That's it now go to Preview Tab and Execute your Stored Procedure using Exec Command. In this example it will extract the orders from the date 1996-01-01:
Exec usp_get_orders '1996-01-01';
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Let's generate the SQL Server Query Code to make the API call using stored procedure. Go to Code Generator Tab, select language as SQL Server and click on Generate button the generate the code.
As we already created the linked server for this Data Source, in that you just need to copy the Select Query and need to use the linked server name which we have apply on the place of [MY_API_SERVICE] placeholder.
SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY([MY_API_SERVICE], 'EXEC usp_get_orders @fromdate=''1996-07-30''')
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Now go to SQL served and execute that query and it will make the API call using stored procedure and provide you the response.
Create Custom Virtual Table in ZappySys Driver
ZappySys API Drivers support flexible Query language so you can override Default Properties you configured on Data Source such as URL, Body. This way you don't have to create multiple Data Sources if you like to read data from multiple EndPoints. However not every application support supplying custom SQL to driver so you can only select Table from list returned from driver.
If you're dealing with Microsoft Access and need to import data from an SQL query, it's important to note that Access doesn't allow direct import of SQL queries. Instead, you can create custom objects (Virtual Tables) to handle the import process.
Many applications like MS Access, Informatica Designer wont give you option to specify custom SQL when you import Objects. In such case Virtual Table is very useful. You can create many Virtual Tables on the same Data Source (e.g. If you have 50 URLs with slight variations you can create virtual tables with just URL as Parameter setting.
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Go to Custom Objects Tab and Click on Add button and Select Add Table:
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Enter the desired Table name and click on OK:
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And it will open the New Query Window Click on Cancel to close that window and go to Custom Objects Tab.
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Select the created table, Select Text Type AS SQL and write the your desired SQL Query and Save it and it will create the custom table in the ZappySys Driver:
Here is an example SQL query for ZappySys Driver. You can insert Placeholders also. Read more about placeholders here
SELECT "ShipCountry", "OrderID", "CustomerID", "EmployeeID", "OrderDate", "RequiredDate", "ShippedDate", "ShipVia", "Freight", "ShipName", "ShipAddress", "ShipCity", "ShipRegion", "ShipPostalCode" FROM "Orders" Where "ShipCountry"='USA'
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That's it now go to Preview Tab and Execute your custom virtual table query. In this example it will extract the orders for the USA Shipping Country only:
SELECT * FROM "vt__usa_orders_only"
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Let's generate the SQL Server Query Code to make the API call using stored procedure. Go to Code Generator Tab, select language as SQL Server and click on Generate button the generate the code.
As we already created the linked server for this Data Source, in that you just need to copy the Select Query and need to use the linked server name which we have apply on the place of [MY_API_SERVICE] placeholder.
SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY([MY_API_SERVICE], 'EXEC [usp_get_orders] ''1996-01-01''')
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Now go to SQL served and execute that query and it will make the API call using stored procedure and provide you the response.
Actions supported by DropBox Connector
DropBox Connector support following actions for REST API integration. If some actions are not listed below then you can easily edit Connector file and enhance out of the box functionality.| Parameter | Description | ||||||
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| Path |
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| Recursive |
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| Parameter | Description |
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| SourceFilePath |
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| Parameter | Description |
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| SourcePath |
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| Parameter | Description |
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| TargetFilePath |
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| SourceFilePath |
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| Parameter | Description |
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| Path |
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| Parameter | Description |
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| Path |
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| Parameter | Description |
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| Url |
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| Body |
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| IsMultiPart |
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| Filter |
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| Headers |
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DropBox Connector Examples for ODBC Connection
This page offers a collection of SQL examples designed for seamless integration with the ZappySys API ODBC Driver under ODBC Data Source (36/64) or ZappySys Data Gateway, enhancing your ability to connect and interact with Prebuilt Connectors effectively.
Test connection [Read more...]
Tests connection
SELECT *
FROM make_testList folder #1 [Read more...]
Lists all files and folders within a folder
SELECT *
FROM list_folderList folder #2 [Read more...]
Lists all files and folders within a folder
SELECT *
FROM list_folder
WITH (Path='/MySubfolder'
,Recursive='true')Download file [Read more...]
Downloads a file
SELECT *
FROM download_file
WITH (SourceFilePath='/file-I-want-to-download.dat'
,ResponseDataFile='C:\path\I\want\to\save\my\file\to.dat'
)Download folder as ZIP file [Read more...]
Downloads a folder with all files and folders within it as ZIP file
SELECT *
FROM download_folder
WITH (SourcePath='/folder-I-want-to-download'
,ResponseDataFile='C:\path\I\want\to\save\my\folder\to.zip'
)Upload a file [Read more...]
Uploads a file
SELECT *
FROM upload_file
WITH (TargetFilePath='/MySubfolder/file-I-want-to-upload-to-dropbox.dat'
,DiskFilePath='C:\file\I\want\to\upload.dat'
)Delete a file or a folder [Read more...]
Deletes a file or a folder
SELECT *
FROM delete
WITH (Path='/path/to/file/in/dropbox/I/want/to/delete.dat')Create a folder [Read more...]
Creates a folder
SELECT *
FROM create_folder
WITH (Path='/folder/in/dropbox/I/want/to/create')Conclusion
In this article we discussed how to connect to DropBox in ODBC and integrate data without any coding. Click here to Download DropBox Connector for ODBC and try yourself see how easy it is. If you still have any question(s) then ask here or simply click on live chat icon below and ask our expert (see bottom-right corner of this page).
Download DropBox Connector for ODBC
Documentation
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Documentation
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DropBox ODBC Driver | ODBC Driver for DropBox | ODBC DropBox Driver | SSIS DropBox Source | SSIS DropBox Destination
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