DropBox Connector for Power BI

In this article you will learn how to integrate DropBox data in Power BI without coding in just a few clicks (live / bi-directional connection to DropBox). Read / write DropBox data inside your app; perform many DropBox operations without coding, just use easy to use high performance API Connector for DropBox.

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.

Download Documentation

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

Connect to DropBox in SSIS

Connect to DropBox in SQL Server

Connect to DropBox in SSRS

Connect to DropBox in Informatica

Connect to DropBox in MS Access

Connect to DropBox in MS Excel

Connect to DropBox in SSAS

Connect to DropBox in C#

Connect to DropBox in Python

Connect to DropBox in JAVA

Connect to DropBox in Tableau

Connect to DropBox in SAP Crystal Reports

Connect to DropBox in Azure Data Factory (Pipeline)

Connect to DropBox in Azure Data Factory (SSIS)

Connect to DropBox in Talend Studio

Connect to DropBox in UiPath

Connect to DropBox in PowerShell

Connect to DropBox in ODBC

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

Watch this video on YouTube

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:

Install ZappySys ODBC PowerPack.
Open ODBC Data Sources (x64):
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:

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 [OAuth]

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:

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	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:
Click OK to finish creating the data source.

Video instructions

Watch this video on YouTube

Read DropBox data in Power BI using ODBC

Once you open Power BI Desktop click Get Data to get data from ODBC:
A window opens, and then search for "odbc" to get data from ODBC data source:
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!
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.

Import DropBox data into Power BI using SQL Query (ODBC Data source)

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)

In the real world, many values of your REST / SOAP API call may be coming from Parameters. If that's the case for you can try to edit script manually as below. In below example its calling SQL Query with POST method and passing some parameters. Notice below where paraAPIKey is Power BI Parameter (string type). You can use parameters anywhere in your script just like the normal variable.

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.

Edit Power BI Data Source SQL after SOAP Web Service Import

Edit Power BI Data Source SQL after REST / SOAP Web Service Import

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
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')
```
Select * from OPENQUERY(
[DROPBOX_LINKED_SERVER],
'SELECT * FROM Customers'
)

DirectQuery option for Power BI (Read DropBox Data Example using SQL Server Linked Server and ZappySys Data Gateway)
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.

Sign in Power BI
Select the Workspace and select Datasets

Go to workspace and dataset
Right-click the report and select Settings.

Specify settings for the report
The system will ask for a Gateway. Stay here.

Add Power BI Gateway

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

Gateway installer
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.

Choose Power BI option
The installer will show a warning message.

Warning message during installation
Select the path to install and check the I accept the terms.

Accept terms
Specify the email address to use the gateway.

Register email address
After entering the email, write the gateway name and a recovery key. Make sure to confirm the recovery key.

Enter 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

Power BI - Manage Gateway Setting
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

Connection properties
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.

ZappySys connection properties in Power BI
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.

Schedule gateway

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

Go to Custom Objects Tab and Click on Add button and Select Add Procedure:
Enter the desired Procedure name and click on OK:
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>';
```
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';
```
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''')
```
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.

Go to Custom Objects Tab and Click on Add button and Select Add Table:
Enter the desired Table name and click on OK:
And it will open the New Query Window Click on Cancel to close that window and go to Custom Objects Tab.
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'
```
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"
```
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''')
```
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.

Make connection test

Makes a connection test [Read more...]

List folder

Lists folder [Read more...]

Parameter

Description

Path

Recursive

Option	Value
true	true
false	false

Download a file

Downloads a file [Read more...]

Parameter	Description
SourceFilePath

Download a folder and folders/files within as ZIP archive

Downloads a folder with all the files and folders it contains as ZIP file [Read more...]

Parameter	Description
SourcePath

Upload a file

Upload a file [Read more...]

Parameter	Description
TargetFilePath	Specify a file path in DropBox to save file to
SourceFilePath	Specify a disk file path to upload

Create folder

Creates folder [Read more...]

Parameter	Description
Path

Delete

Deletes file or folder [Read more...]

Parameter	Description
Path

Generic Request

This is generic endpoint. Use this endpoint when some actions are not implemented by connector. Just enter partial URL (Required), Body, Method, Header etc. Most parameters are optional except URL. [Read more...]

Parameter	Description
Url	API URL goes here. You can enter full URL or Partial URL relative to Base URL. If it is full URL then domain name must be part of ServiceURL or part of TrustedDomains
Body	Request Body content goes here
IsMultiPart	Set this option if you want to upload file(s) (i.e. POST RAW file data) or send data using Multi-Part encoding method (i.e. Content-Type: multipart/form-data). Multi-Part request allows you to mix key/value and upload files in same request. On the other hand raw upload allows only single file upload (without any key/value) ==== Raw Upload (Content-Type: application/octet-stream) ===== To upload single file in raw mode check this option and specify full file path starting with @ sign in the Body (e.g. @c:\data\myfile.zip ) ==== Form-Data / Multipart Upload (Content-Type: multipart/form-data) ===== To treat your Request data as multi part fields you must specify key/value pairs separated by new lines into RequestData field (i.e. Body). Each key value pair is entered on new-line and key/value are separated using equal sign (=). Preceding and trailing spaces are ignored also blank lines are ignored. If field value has some any special character(s) then use escape sequence (e.g. For NewLine: \r\n, For Tab: \t, For at (@): \@). When value of any field starts with at sign (@) its automatically treated as File you want to upload. By default file content type is determined based on extension however you can supply content type manually for any field using this way [ YourFileFieldName.Content-Type=some-content-type ]. By default File Upload Field always includes Content-Type in the request (non file fields do not have content-type by default unless you supply manually). For some reason if you dont want to use Content-Type header in your request then supply blank Content-Type to exclude this header altogather [e.g. SomeFieldName.Content-Type= ]. In below example we have supplied Content-Type for file2 and SomeField1, all other fields are using default content-type. See below Example of uploading multiple files along with additional fields. If some API requires you to pass Content-Type: multipart/form-data rather than multipart/form-data then manually set Request Header => Content-Type: multipart/mixed (it must starts with multipart/ else will be ignored). file1=@c:\data\Myfile1.txt file2=@c:\data\Myfile2.json file2.Content-Type=application/json SomeField1=aaaaaaa SomeField1.Content-Type=text/plain SomeField2=12345 SomeFieldWithNewLineAndTab=This is line1\r\nThis is line2\r\nThis is \ttab \ttab \ttab SomeFieldStartingWithAtSign=\@MyTwitterHandle
Filter	Enter filter to extract array from response. Example: $.rows[] --OR-- $.customers[].orders[*]. Check your response document and find out hierarchy you like to extract
Headers	Headers for Request. To enter multiple headers use double pipe or new line after each {header-name}:{value} pair

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

More integrations

Other application integration scenarios for DropBox

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SQL Server

SSRS

Informatica

MS Access

MS Excel

SSAS

Python

JAVA

Tableau

SAP Crystal Reports

Azure Data Factory (Pipeline)

Azure Data Factory (SSIS)

Talend Studio

UiPath

PowerShell

ODBC

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YouTube

Zendesk

Zoho CRM

Zoho SalesIQ

Zoom

REST API

JSON

JSON File

XML

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XML File

JDBC-ODBC Bridge

Salesforce

CSV

Amazon S3 JSON File

Amazon S3 XML File

Amazon S3 CSV File

Azure Blob JSON File

Azure Blob XML File

Azure Blob CSV File

FTP/SFTP JSON File

FTP/SFTP XML File

FTP/SFTP CSV File

Build your own Custom API Connector

Download DropBox Connector for Power BI Documentation

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