Dropbox Connector for SSIS : Make generic REST API request (bulk write)

Learn how to make generic REST API request (bulk write) using the Dropbox Connector for SSIS. This connector enables you to read and write Dropbox data effortlessly. Integrate, manage, and automate files and folders — almost no coding required. We'll walk you through the exact setup.

Let's dive in!

Video tutorial

Watch this quick video to see the integration in action. It walks you through the end-to-end setup, including:

• Installing the SSIS PowerPack
• Configuring a secure connection to Dropbox
• Working with Dropbox data directly inside SSIS
• Exploring advanced API Source features

Once you are done watching, simply follow the step-by-step written guide below to configure your data source.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure the following prerequisites are met:

1. SSIS designer installed. Sometimes it is referred as BIDS or SSDT (download it from Microsoft).
2. Basic knowledge of SSIS package development using Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services.
3. SSIS PowerPack is installed (if you are new to SSIS PowerPack, then get started!).

Make generic REST API request in SSIS

1. Open Visual Studio and click Create a new project.

2. Select Integration Services Project. Enter a name and location for your project, then click OK.

3. From the SSIS Toolbox, drag and drop a Data Flow Task onto the Control Flow surface, and double-click it:

   

4. Make sure you are in the Data Flow Task designer:

   

5. Read the data from the source, using any desired source component. You can even make an API call using the ZappySys JSON/XML/API Source and read data from there. In this example, we will use an OLE DB Source component to read real-time data from a SQL Server database.

6. From the SSIS Toolbox drag and drop API Destination (Predefined Templates) on the Data Flow Designer surface and connect source component with it, and double click to edit it.
   

7. Select New Connection to create a new connection:
   

   API Destination - Dropbox

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

   

8. To configure the Dropbox connector, choose one of the following methods:

   • Choose from Popular Connector List: Select a pre-installed service directly from the dropdown menu.
   • Search Online: Use this to find and download a new connector file to your computer.
   • Use Saved/Downloaded File: Once the file is downloaded, browse your local drive to load it into the configuration.

   After that, just click Continue >>:

   Dropbox

   

9. Proceed with selecting the desired Authentication Type. Then select API Base URL (in most cases default one is the right one). Finally, fill in all the required parameters and set optional parameters if needed. You may press a link Steps to Configure which will help set certain parameters. More info is available in Authentication section.

   User Account

   Dropbox authentication

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

   1. Log into your Dropbox account.
   2. Go to Dropbox My Apps.
   3. Then press Create app button to create a new app:
   4. Once a new page opens, select Scoped access option:
   5. Next, select Full Dropbox to access all files and folders or App folder to access specific folder's files and folders option.
   6. Continue by giving your app a name.
   7. Then check I agree to Dropbox API Terms and Conditions checkbox.
   8. Click Create app button.
   9. Once a new page opens, click Enable additional teams and Enable additional users buttons:
   10. Then copy App key and App secret and copy paste them into your favorite text editor (you will need them later).
   11. 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).

   12. Then click on Permissions tab and select application scopes:
   13. Select all Individual Scopes and Team Scopes if you want to manage team data.
   14. Click Submit button.
   15. 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.
   16. 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:

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

   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

   

   Find full details in the Dropbox Connector authentication reference.

10. Select Generic Table (Bulk Read / Write) table from the dropdown, then select Insert, Update as operation, and hit Preview Data:

    

    API Destination - Dropbox

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

    Dropbox

    Generic Table (Bulk Read / Write)

    Insert, Update

    Required Parameters
    Url	Fill-in the parameter...
    Request Method	Fill-in the parameter...
    Optional Parameters
    IsMultiPart
    Filter
    Request Format (Content-Type)	Default
    Body	{$rows$}
    JsonOutputFormat	Multicontent
    DoNotOutputNullProperty
    Batch Size (Default=1)	1
    Meta Detection Order	StaticDynamicVirtual
    Input Columns - For Mapping (e.g. MyCol1:string(10); MyCol2:int32 ...) - Use bool, int32, int64, datetime, decimal, double
    Output Columns (e.g. MyCol1:string(10); MyCol2:int32 ...) - Use bool, int32, int64, datetime, decimal, double
    Request Format
    Response Format	Default
    Headers	Accept: */* || Cache-Control: no-cache
    Csv - Column Delimiter	,
    Csv - Row Delimiter	{NEWLINE}
    Csv - Quote Around Value	True
    Csv - Always Quote regardless type
    Encoding
    CharacterSet
    Writer DateTime Format
    Csv - Has Header Row	True
    Xml - ElementsToTreatAsArray
    Layout Map	<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <!-- Example#1: Output all columns --> <settings> <dataset id="root" main="True" readfrominput="True" /> <map src="*" /> </settings> <!-- Example#2: Records under array <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <settings singledataset="True"> <dataset id="root" main="True" readfrominput="True" /> <map name="MyArray" dataset="root" maptype="DocArray"> <map src="OrderID" name="OrderID" /> <map src="OrderDate" name="OrderDate" /> </map> </settings> --> <!-- Example#3: Records under nested section <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <settings> <dataset id="dsRoot" main="True" readfrominput="True" /> <map name="NestedSection"> <map src="OrderID" name="OrderID_MyLabel" /> <map src="OrderDate" name="OrderDate_MyLabel" /> </map> </settings> -->

    

11. Finally, map the desired columns:

    API Destination - Dropbox

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

    

12. That's it; we successfully configured the POST API Call. In a few clicks we configured the Dropbox API call using ZappySys Dropbox Connector

    

Conclusion

And there you have it — a complete guide on how to make generic REST API request (bulk write) in SSIS without writing complex code. All of this was powered by Dropbox Connector, which handled the REST API pagination and authentication for us automatically.

Download the trial 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):

More actions supported by Dropbox Connector

Got another use case in mind? We've documented the exact setups for a variety of essential Dropbox operations directly in SSIS, so you can skip the trial and error. Find your next step-by-step guide below:

• Create folder
• Delete file or folder
• Download file
• Download folder as ZIP archive
• List files
• List files and folders
• Make connection test
• Read CSV file
• Read CSV files from folder
• Upload file
• Make Generic REST API Request

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