DropBox Connector for SAP Crystal Reports

Read / write DropBox data inside your app; perform many DropBox operations without coding, just use easy to use high performance API Connector for DropBox

In this article you will learn how to quickly and efficiently integrate DropBox data in SAP Crystal Reports without coding. We will use high-performance DropBox Connector to easily connect to DropBox and then access the data inside SAP Crystal Reports.

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

Download Documentation

DropBox Connector for SAP Crystal Reports is based on ZappySys API Driver which is part of ODBC PowerPack. It is a collection of high-performance ODBC drivers that enable you to integrate data in SQL Server, SSIS, a programming language, or any other ODBC-compatible application. ODBC PowerPack supports various file formats, sources and destinations, including REST/SOAP API, SFTP/FTP, storage services, and plain files, to mention a few.

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Connect to DropBox in ODBC

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

Step-by-step instructions

To get data from DropBox using SAP Crystal Reports we first need to create a DSN (Data Source) which will access data from DropBox. We will later be able to read data using SAP Crystal Reports. Perform these steps:

Download and install ODBC PowerPack.
Open ODBC Data Sources (x64):
Create a User data source (User DSN) based on ZappySys API Driver

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.
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 how to get and use DropBox credentials : User Account [OAuth]

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:

For ClientId field use App key value.

For ClientSecret field use App secret value.

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.

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
ClientSecret
Scope
RetryMode	RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
RetryStatusCodeList	429
RetryCountMax	5
RetryMultiplyWaitTime	True

Read data in SAP Crystal Reports from the ODBC data source

First of all, open SAP Crystal Reports and create the new Crystal Report.

And it will open the new data source selection window. Under ODBC(RDO) double click on the Make New Connection and Select the desired ODBC DSN, in our case we need to select DropboxDSN which we created in upper section. And Click on Next.

DropboxDSN

Expand the Connection and under the data select the desired table(s) or view(s) and click Add > button and click on Next.

DropboxDSN

Add the desired Fields to Display in the Reports. Here we are adding all fields and click on Finish.

That's it and you will be able to load the data in the Report.

Using ZappySys Driver Custom Views and Stored Procedure in SAP Crystal Report

this article

Using Custom Views in the SAP Crystal Report

DropboxDSN

Using Custom Stored Procedure in the SAP Crystal Report

First of all, create the custom stored procedure in the ZappySys Driver. Please refer to this article to create the custom stored procedure.

After establishing the connection with DropboxDSN Data Source you can use the custom Stored Procedure in SQL Crystal Report. Same way you can write custom queries also in the query box.

DropboxDSN

Actions supported by DropBox Connector

Learn how to perform common DropBox actions directly in SAP Crystal Reports with these how-to guides:

Conclusion

In this article we showed you how to connect to DropBox in SAP Crystal Reports 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 DropBox, but to any Java application that supports JDBC (just use a different JDBC driver and configure it appropriately).

We encourage you to download DropBox Connector for SAP Crystal Reports 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.