DropBox Connector for Power BI
In this article you will learn how to integrate Using DropBox Connector you will be able to connect, read, and write data from within Power BI. 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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Video Tutorial - Integrate DropBox data in Power BI
This video covers following and more so watch carefully. After watching this video follow the steps described in this article.
- How to download / install required driver for
DropBox integration in Power BI - How to configure connection for
DropBox - Features about
API Driver (Authentication / Query Language / Examples / Driver UI) - Using
DropBox Connection in Power BI
Create ODBC Data Source (DSN) based on ZappySys API Driver
Step-by-step instructions
To get data from DropBox using Power BI we first need to create a DSN (Data Source) which will access data from DropBox. We will later be able to read data using Power BI. 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 DriverYou 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 -
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... -
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
Read DropBox data in Power BI using ODBC
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Once you open Power BI Desktop click Get Data to get data from ODBC:
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A window opens, and then search for "odbc" to get data from ODBC data source:
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Another window opens and asks to select a Data Source we already created. Choose DropBoxDSN and continue:
DropBoxDSN -
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:
DropBoxDSN -
Finally, you will be asked to select a table or view to get data from. Select one and load the data!
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Finally, finally, use extracted data from DropBox in a Power BI report:
Import DropBox data into Power BI from SQL Query
If you wish to import DropBox data from SQL query rather than selecting table name then you can use advanced options during import steps (as below). After selecting DSN you can click on advanced options to see SQL Query editor.
If you type invalid SQL, Power BI may revert to table mode rather than import from Query. Make sure you do not use "$"
it as a table name in SELECT...FROM $
. You can use "_root_"
instead (e.g., SELECT .. FROM _root_). Consider using Custom Object to wrap custom SQL in a Virtual Table. This way, you can see a virtual table in Table mode where you can import multiple objects using the same connection rather than creating a new connection for each custom SQL.
Edit Query / Using Parameters in Power BI (Dynamic Query)
let
vKey=paraAPIKey,
Source = Odbc.Query(
"dsn=ZS-OData Customers",
"SELECT * FROM value WITH (SRC='http://httpbin.org/post',"
& "METHOD='POST',"
& "HEADER='Content-Type:application/json',"
& "BODY=@'{""CallerId"":1111, ""ApiKey"":""" & vKey & """}')")
in
Source
Edit Query Settings after Import
There will be a time you need to change initial Query after dataset import in Power BI. Not to worry, just follow these steps to edit your SQL.
Using DirectQuery Option rather than Import
So far we have seen how to Import DropBox data into Power BI but what if you have too much data and you dont want to import but link it. Power BI Offers very useful feature for this scenario. Its called DirectQuery Option. In this section we will explore how to use DirectQuery along with ZappySys Drivers. Out of the box ZappySys Drivers wont work in ODBC Connection Mode so you have to use SQL Server Connection rather than ODBC if you wish to use Live data using DirectQuery option. See below step by step instructions to enable DirectQuery mode in Power BI for DropBox data. Basically we will use ZappySys Data Gateway its part of ODBC PowerPack. We will then use Linked Server in SQL Server to Link API Service and then we will issue OPENROWSET queries from Power BI to SQL Server and it will then call DropBox via ZappySys Data Gateway.Step-By-Step - How to query DropBox API in SQL Server
- First read this article carefully, How to query DropBox API in SQL Server.
- Once linked server is configured we are ready to issue API query in Power BI.
- Click Get Data in Power BI, select SQL Server Database
- Enter your server name and any database name
- Select Mode as DirectQuery
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Click on Advanced and enter query like below (we are assuming you have created DropBox Data Source in Data Gateway and defined linked server (Change name below).
Select * from OPENQUERY([DROPBOX_LINKED_SERVER],'SELECT * FROM Customers')
- Click OK and Load data ... That's it. Now your DropBox API data is linked rather than imported.
Working with Gateways in Power BI (Schedule Import)
If the data needs to be updated, it is necessary to create a gateway on-premises. In this new section, we will install a Power BI Gateway and in the next section schedule it to update the DropBox information.- In the last section, we Published the report. Power BI may ask you to SIGN IN.
- Select the Workspace and select Datasets
- Right-click the report and select Settings.
- The system will ask for a Gateway. Stay here.
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Use the following link to install a Data Gateway:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/service-gateway-onprem
- Run the installer and press Next
- Select the option On-premises data gateway (recommended). This option allows access to multiple users and can be used by more applications than Power BI.
- The installer will show a warning message.
- Select the path to install and check the I accept the terms.
- Specify the email address to use the gateway.
- After entering the email, write the gateway name and a recovery key. Make sure to confirm the recovery key.
Manage gateways and configure the schedule
Once that the gateway is installed we will configure it and add the connection strings.- The next step is to go to manage gateway
- In order to get the connection string, we will need the connection string of the ZappySys API Driver. In the first section of this post, we explained how to configure it. Press Copy Connection String
- Once that the data is copied, add a New data Source. In Data Source Name, enter the Data Source Name of the ZappySys API Driver in step 13 and in Data Source Type, select ODBC. In connection string copy and paste from the clipboard of the step 13 and press Add.
- Once added the gateway. You can see the schedule refresh to On and Add another time to add the time where you want to refresh the data.
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 Power BI 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_test
List folder #1 [Read more...]
Lists all files and folders within a folder
SELECT *
FROM list_folder
List 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 Power BI and integrate data without any coding. Click here to Download DropBox Connector for Power BI 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 Power BI
Documentation
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