SAP Crystal Reports Google Sheets Connector In this article you will learn how to integrate Google Sheets data to SAP Crystal Reports without coding in just a few clicks (live / bi-directional connection to Google Sheets). Read / write Google Sheets data inside your app, perform many Google Sheets operations without coding using easy to use high performance API Connector for Google Sheets. Using Google Sheets Connector you will be able to connect, read, and write data from within SAP Crystal Reports. Follow the steps below to see how we would accomplish that. Download  Help File  Buy  Driver mentioned in this article 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. ODBC PowerPack - System Requirements and Installation Getting Started - Using ODBC PowerPack ODBC API Driver Help File

See also Connect Google Sheets in SSIS Connect Google Sheets in SQL Server Connect Google Sheets in Power BI Connect Google Sheets in SSRS Connect Google Sheets in Informatica Connect Google Sheets in MS Access Connect Google Sheets in MS Excel Connect Google Sheets in SSAS Connect Google Sheets in C# Connect Google Sheets in Python Connect Google Sheets in JAVA Connect Google Sheets in Tableau Connect Google Sheets in Azure Data Factory (ADF) Connect Google Sheets in ODBC

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

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

1. Install ZappySys ODBC PowerPack.

2. Open ODBC Data Sources (x64):
   

3. 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.

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

   GoogleSheetsDSN

   Google Sheets

   

5. 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 Google Sheets Credentials
   This connection can be configured in two ways. Use Default App (Created by ZappySys) OR Use Custom App created by you.
   To use minimum settings you can start with the ZappySys created App. Just change UseCustomApp=false on the properties grid so you dont need ClientID / Secret. When you click Generate Token you might see a warning about App is not trusted (Simply Click Advanced Link to expand hidden section and then click Go to App link to Proceed).

   To register a custom 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 the Project Popup click CREATE PROJECT.
   4. Once the 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 two APIs one by one (Sheets API and Drive API).
   7. Search Sheets. Select and click ENABLE.
   8. Search Drive. Select and click ENABLE.
   9. Go back to the main screen of the Google API Console
   10. Click the OAuth Consent Screen tab. Enter necessary details and Save.
   11. Click the Credentials tab.
   12. Click CREATE CREDENTIALS (some where in topbar) and select OAuth Client ID option.
   13. 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:

   GoogleSheetsDSN

   Google Sheets

   User Account [OAuth]

   https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets

   Required Parameters
   UseCustomApp	Fill in the parameter...
   Optional Parameters
   ClientId	Fill in the parameter...
   ClientSecret	Fill in the parameter...
   Scope	Fill in the parameter...
   Default SpreadSheetId	Fill in the parameter...
   Default Tab Name (i.e. Sheet1)	Fill in the parameter...
   RetryMode	Fill in the parameter...
   RetryStatusCodeList	Fill in the parameter...
   RetryCountMax	Fill in the parameter...

   

    Service Account (Using Private Key File) [OAuth]

   Steps to get Google Sheets 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 two APIs one by one (Sheets API and Drive API).
   7. Search Sheets. Select and click ENABLE
   8. 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. Basically you can create or open Google Sheet and add the Service Account as an editor to it as below.

   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. Create or select an existing Google Sheet.
   3. Navigate to Sheet for which you like to give read/write access to Service Account.
   4. Click on the Share button in the top right, and add the email address of the service account as an editor. Here is how to share file(s) with specific people. Juse share with Service Account (use Service Account Email found on previous section)

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

   GoogleSheetsDSN

   Google Sheets

   Service Account (Using Private Key File) [OAuth]

   https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets

   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...
   Default SpreadSheetId	Fill in the parameter...
   Default Tab Name (i.e. Sheet1)	Fill in the parameter...
   RetryMode	Fill in the parameter...
   RetryStatusCodeList	Fill in the parameter...
   RetryCountMax	Fill in the parameter...

   

6. 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:
   

7. Click OK to finish creating the data source.

Read data in SAP Crystal Reports from the ODBC data source

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

2. 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 GoogleSheetsDSN which we created in upper section. And Click on Next.
   

   GoogleSheetsDSN

   

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

   GoogleSheetsDSN

   GoogleSheetsDSN

   

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

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

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

You can create parameterized Stored Procedure and Virtual Tables on the same Data Source (ODBC DSN or Data Gateway Data Source). Please refer to this article for the same. You can create procedures to encapsulate custom logic and then only pass handful parameters rather than long SQL to execute your API call.

Using Custom Views in the SAP Crystal Report

After establishing the connection with GoogleSheetsDSN Data Source you can use the custom view in SQL Crystal Report.

Using Custom Store Procedure in the SAP Crystal Report

1. First of all, create the custom store procedure in the ZappySys Driver. Please refer to this article to create the custom store procedure.
   
2. After establishing the connection with GoogleSheetsDSN Data Source you can use the custom Store Procedure in SQL Crystal Report. Same way you can write custom queries also in the query box.
   GoogleSheetsDSN

   

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:
   

2. Enter the desired Procedure name and click on OK:
   

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>';
   

   
   

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';

   
   

5. Let's generate the SQL Server Query Code to make the API call using store 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''')

   
   

6. Now go to SQL served and execute that query and it will make the API call using store 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.

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:
   

2. Enter the desired Table name and click on OK:
   

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'

   
   

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"

   
   

6. Let's generate the SQL Server Query Code to make the API call using store 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''')

   
   

7. Now go to SQL served and execute that query and it will make the API call using store procedure and provide you the response.
   

Conclusion

In this article we discussed how to connect to Google Sheets in SAP Crystal Reports and integrate data without any coding. Click here to Download Google Sheets Connector for SAP Crystal Reports 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 Sheets Connector for SAP Crystal Reports Documentation 

Actions supported by Google Sheets Connector

Google Sheets 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.

Other App Integration scenarios for Google Sheets

Other Connectors for SAP Crystal Reports

Download Google Sheets Connector for SAP Crystal Reports Documentation 

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