SQL Server Google Calendar Connector

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

Using Google Calendar Connector you will be able to connect, read, and write data from within SQL Server. Follow the steps below to see how we would accomplish that.

Download  Help File  Buy 

Video Tutorial - Integrate Google Calendar data in SQL Server

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 Google Calendar integration in SQL Server
  • How to configure connection for Google Calendar
  • Features about API Driver (Authentication / Query Language / Examples / Driver UI)
  • Using Google Calendar Connection in SQL Server

Create Data Source in ZappySys Data Gateway based on ZappySys API Driver

  1. Download and install ZappySys ODBC PowerPack.

  2. Search for gateway in start menu and Open ZappySys Data Gateway:
    Open ZappySys Data Gateway

  3. Go to Users Tab to add our first Gateway user. Click Add; we will give it a name tdsuser and enter password you like to give. Check Admin option and click OK to save. We will use these details later when we create linked server:
    ZappySys Data Gateway - Add User

  4. Now we are ready to add a data source. Click Add, give data source a name (Copy this name somewhere, we will need it later) and then select Native - ZappySys API Driver. Finally, click OK.

    GoogleCalendarDSN

    ZappySys Data Gateway - Add Data Source

  5. When the Configuration window appears give your data source a name if you haven't done that already, then select "Google Calendar" from the list of Popular Connectors. If "Google Calendar" 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:

    GoogleCalendarDSN
    Google Calendar
    ODBC DSN Template Selection

  6. 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 Google Calendar Credentials

    To make this work you will have to create an OAuth application. To register an App, perform the following steps (Detailed steps found in the help link at the end):

    1. Go to Google API Console
    2. From the Project Dropdown (usually found at the top bar) click Select Project
    3. On Project Propup click CREATE PROJECT
    4. Once project is created you can click Select Project to switch the context (You can click on Notification link or Choose from Top Dropdown)
    5. Click ENABLE APIS AND SERVICES
    6. Now we need to enable Google Drive API.
    7. Search Google Drive API. Select and click ENABLE
    8. Go to back to main screen of Google API Console
    9. Click OAuth Concent Screen Tab. Enter necessary details and Save.
    10. Click Credentials Tab
    11. Click CREATE CREDENTIALS (some where in topbar) and select OAuth Client ID option.
    12. When prompted Select Application Type as Desktop App and click Create to receive your ClientID and Secret. You can use this information now to configure Connection with UseCustomApp=true.

    Fill in all required parameters and set optional parameters if needed:

    GoogleCalendarDSN
    Google Calendar
    User Account [OAuth]
    https://www.googleapis.com/calendar/v3/
    Required Parameters
    UseCustomApp 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...
    ODBC DSN Oauth Connection Configuration
    Steps to get Google Calendar Credentials
    Use these steps to authenticate as service account rather than Google / GSuite User. Learn more about service account here

    Basically to call Google API as Service account we need to perform following steps listed in 3 sections (Detailed steps found in the help link at the end)

    Create Project

    First thing is create a Project so we can call Google API. Skip this section if you already have Project (Go to next section)
    1. Go to Google API Console
    2. From the Project Dropdown (usually found at the top bar) click Select Project
    3. On Project Propup click CREATE PROJECT
    4. Once project is created you can click Select Project to switch the context (You can click on Notification link or Choose from Top Dropdown)
    5. Click ENABLE APIS AND SERVICES
    6. Now we need to enable API - Google Calendar API
    7. Search Drive. Select and click ENABLE

    Create Service Account

    Once Project is created and APIs are enabled we can now create a service account under that project. Service account has its ID which looks like some email ID (not to confuse with Google /Gmail email ID)
    1. Go to Create Service Account
    2. From the Project Dropdown (usually found at the top bar) click Select Project
    3. Enter Service account name and Service account description
    4. For Role, do not select anything for now and Click Continue and then click Done. Next we will create Key.

    Create Key

    Once service account is created we need to create key file (i.e. credentials).
    1. In the Cloud Console, click the email address for the service account that you created.
    2. Click Keys.
    3. Click Add key, then click Create new key.
    4. Click Create and select P12 format. A P12 key file is downloaded to your computer. We will use this file in our API connection.
    5. Click Close.
    6. Now you may use downloaded *.p12 key file as secret file and Service Account Email as Client ID (e.g. some-service-account-name@your-project-id.iam.gserviceaccount.com ).

    Add Permission

    Now last thing is give read/write permission to Service Account for Calendar you like to access using API.
    1. Copy the email address of your service account we created in previous step (its usually like this some-service-account-name@your-project-id.iam.gserviceaccount.com).
    2. Login to https://calendar.google.com/calendar and make sure you see the calendar you like to access via API
    3. On the left, find the "My calendars" section. To expand it, click the Down arrow Down arrow.
    4. Hover over the calendar you want to share, and click 3 dots next to it. Click "Settings and sharing".
    5. Find "Share with specific people", Click Add people button and enter the service account email id we obtained in the previous section.
    6. Select correct permission you like to give for sharing. Click Send button to share. Thats it now we can read / write Calendar Events using Service account approach.
    7. For more information check this link https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/37082?hl=en

    Fill in all required parameters and set optional parameters if needed:

    GoogleCalendarDSN
    Google Calendar
    Service Account (Using Private Key File) [OAuth]
    https://www.googleapis.com/calendar/v3/
    Required Parameters
    Service Account Email Fill in the parameter...
    Service Account Private Key Path (i.e. *.p12) Fill in the parameter...
    Optional Parameters
    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...
    ODBC DSN Oauth Connection Configuration

  7. 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:
    ODBC ZappySys Data Source Preview

  8. Click OK to finish creating the data source.

Read data in SQL Server from the ZappySys Data Gateway data source

  1. To read the data in SQL Server the first thing you have to do is create a Linked Server. Go to SQL Server Management Studio and configure it in a similar way: SSMS SQL Server Configure Linked Server

  2. Then click on Security option and configure username we created in ZappySys Data Gateway in one of the previous steps: SSMS SQL Server Configure Linked Server User Name

  3. Finally, open a new query and execute a query we saved in one of the previous steps:

    SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY([MY_LINKED_SERVER_NAME], 'SELECT * FROM Products');

    SSMS SQL Server Query Data Results

Firewall settings

So far we have assumed that Gateway is running on the same machine as SQL Server. However there will be a case when ZappySys ODBC PowerPack is installed on a different machine than SQL Server. In such case you may have to perform additional Firewall configurations. On most computers firewall settings wont allow outside traffic to ZappySys Data Gateway. In such case perform following steps to allow other machines to connect to Gateway.

Method-1 (Preferred)

If you are using newer version of ZappySys Data Gateway then adding firewall rule is just a single click.

  1. Search for gateway in start menu and open ZappySys Data Gateway.
  2. Go to Firewall Tab and click Add Firewall Rule button like below. This will create Firewall rule to all Inbound Traffic on Port 5000 (Unless you changed it). Allow Inbound Traffic - Add Firewall Rule for ZappySys Data Gateway

Method-2 Here is another way to add / edit Inbound Traffic rule in windows firewall. Use below method if you choose to customize your rule (for advanced users).
  1. Search for Windows Firewall Advanced Security in start menu.
  2. Under Inbound Rules > Right click and click [New Rule] >> Click Next
  3. Select Port on Rule Type >> Click Next
  4. Click on TCP and enter port number under specified local port as 5000 (use different one if you changed Default port) >> Click Next
  5. Select Profile (i.e. Private, Public) >> Click Next
  6. Enter Rule name [i.e. ZappySys Data Gateway – Allow Inbound ] >> Click Next
  7. Click OK to save the rule
SQL Server Firewall Allow Inbound Data Gateway

OPENQUERY vs EXEC (handling larger SQL text)

So far we have seen examples of using OPENQUERY. It allows us to send pass-through query at remote server. The biggest limitation of OPENQUERY is it doesn't allow you to use variables inside SQL so often we have to use unpleasant looking dynamic SQL (Lots of tick, tick …. and escape hell). Well there is good news. With SQL 2005 and later you can use EXEC(your_sql) AT your_linked_server syntax . Disadvantage of EXEC AT is you cannot do SELECT INTO like OPENQUERY. Also you cannot perform JOIN like below in EXEC AT


    SELECT a.* FROM OPENQUERY(ls_json,'select * from value') a
    JOIN OPENQUERY(ls_json,'select * from value') b ON a.id=b.id;

However you can always do INSERT INTO MyTable EXEC(…) AT LINKEDSRV. So table must exists when you do that way. Here is how to use it. To use EXEC AT you must turn on RPC OUT option. Notice how we used variable in SQL to make it dynamic. This is much cleaner than previous approach we saw.

USE [master]
GO

EXEC master.dbo.sp_addlinkedserver @server = N'ls_Json', @srvproduct=N'', @provider=N'SQLNCLI', @datasrc=N'localhost,5000', @provstr=N'Network Library=DBMSSOCN;', @catalog=N'JsonApi';
EXEC master.dbo.sp_addlinkedsrvlogin @rmtsrvname=N'ls_Json',@useself=N'False',@locallogin=NULL,@rmtuser=N'tdsuser',@rmtpassword='########';
GO

EXEC sp_serveroption 'ls_Json', 'rpc out', true;
go

declare @tbl varchar(100)='$';
EXEC('select * from ' + @tbl ) AT ls_Json;

Here is the difference between OPENQUERY vs EXEC approaches: OPENQUERY vs EXEC

Create Custom Store 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 Store Procedure in ZappySys Driver. You can insert Placeholders anywhere inside Procedure Body. Read more about placeholders here

  1. Go to Custom Objects Tab and Click on Add button and Select Add Procedure:
    ZappySys Driver - Add Store Procedure

  2. Enter the desired Procedure name and click on OK:
    ZappySys Driver - Add Store Procedure Name

  3. Select the created Store Procedure and write the your desired store procedure and Save it and it will create the custom store 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>';
    

    ZappySys Driver - Create Custom Store Procedure

  4. That's it now go to Preview Tab and Execute your Store 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';

    ZappySys Driver - Execute Custom Store Procedure

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.

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.

  1. Go to Custom Objects Tab and Click on Add button and Select Add Table:
    ZappySys Driver - Add Table

  2. Enter the desired Table name and click on OK:
    ZappySys Driver - Add Table Name

  3. And it will open the New Query Window Click on Cancel to close that window and go to Custom Objects Tab.

  4. 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'

    ZappySys Driver - Create Custom Table

  5. 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"

    ZappySys Driver - Execute Custom Virtual Table Query

Conclusion

In this article we discussed how to connect to Google Calendar in SQL Server and integrate data without any coding. Click here to Download Google Calendar Connector for SQL Server 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 Google Calendar Connector for SQL Server Documentation 

Actions supported by Google Calendar Connector

Google Calendar 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.
 List calendars
Lists calendars
 List events
Lists events
Parameter Description
CalendarId
 Get event
Gets event
Parameter Description
CalendarId
EventId
 Create event
Creates event
Parameter Description
CalendarId
 Delete event
Deletes event
Parameter Description
CalendarId
EventId
 Move event to another calendar
Moves event from one calendar to another
Parameter Description
SourceCalendarId
TargetCalendarId
EventId
 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.
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 Check 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. 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

Other App Integration scenarios for Google Calendar

Other Connectors for SQL Server


Download Google Calendar Connector for SQL Server Documentation 

  • How to connect Google Calendar in SQL Server?

  • How to get Google Calendar data in SQL Server?

  • How to read Google Calendar data in SQL Server?

  • How to load Google Calendar data in SQL Server?

  • How to import Google Calendar data in SQL Server?

  • How to pull Google Calendar data in SQL Server?

  • How to push data to Google Calendar in SQL Server?

  • How to write data to Google Calendar in SQL Server?

  • How to POST data to Google Calendar in SQL Server?

  • Call Google Calendar API in SQL Server

  • Consume Google Calendar API in SQL Server

  • Google Calendar SQL Server Automate

  • Google Calendar SQL Server Integration

  • Integration Google Calendar in SQL Server

  • Consume real-time Google Calendar data in SQL Server

  • Consume realtime Google Calendar API data in SQL Server

  • Google Calendar ODBC Driver | ODBC Driver for Google Calendar | ODBC Google Calendar Driver | SSIS Google Calendar Source | SSIS Google Calendar Destination

  • Connect Google Calendar in SQL Server

  • Load Google Calendar in SQL Server

  • Load Google Calendar data in SQL Server

  • Read Google Calendar data in SQL Server

  • Google Calendar API Call in SQL Server