Mailchimp Connector for C#Read / write MailChimp Campaigns, Lists, Members, Reports and more in without coding. In this article you will learn how to quickly and efficiently integrate Mailchimp data in C#. We will use high-performance Mailchimp Connector to easily connect to Mailchimp and then access the data inside C#. Let's follow the steps below to see how we can accomplish that! Mailchimp Connector for C# 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. |
Connect to Mailchimp in other apps
|
Create ODBC Data Source (DSN) based on ZappySys API Driver
Step-by-step instructions
To get data from Mailchimp using C# we first need to create a DSN (Data Source) which will access data from Mailchimp. We will later be able to read data using C#. 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.
-
Create and use User DSN
if the client application is run under a User Account.
This is an ideal option
-
When the Configuration window appears give your data source a name if you haven't done that already, then select "Mailchimp" from the list of Popular Connectors. If "Mailchimp" 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:
MailchimpDSNMailchimp -
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 how to get and use Mailchimp credentials
To get the credentials you need in order to set up your OAuth workflow, you'll first need to register your application with Mailchimp:-
Login into your Mailchimp account, click on your Profile Icon, and hit Account & billing:
-
Navigate to the Registered Apps page in your Mailchimp account:
-
Click Register An App button:
-
Fill-in the Register An App form and click Create button:
NOTE: For Redirect URI use Redirect URI (also called "Redirect URL" or "Callback URL") given by your IT administrator or just use
https://zappysys.com/oauth
, if you don't have one. -
After successfully registering your application,
you'll see the Client ID and Client Secret,
record these values and store them securely:
-
Record your Mailchimp data center, since we will need it later.
The data center is located in your browser's address bar URL.
If the URL is
https://us21.admin.mailchimp.com/account/api
, then your data center isus21
. - Now go to SSIS package or ODBC data source OAuth authentication configuration.
- Proceed by entering the data center into the Data Center field that was recorded in the previous step.
- Then enter the Client ID value into the Client ID field that you recorded in the previous step.
- Enter the Client Secret value into the Client Secret field that was recorded in the previous step.
- Click Generate Token. If proper authentication occurs, you will see a confirmation notice. If you get an error, click Yes on the dialog box and then a large browser window will launch. Then log into your Mailchimp account and approve the use of the application.
- Finally, hit the Test Connection button at the bottom of the window to verify proper connectivity with your Mailchimp account.
- If the connection test succeeds, select OK.
- Done! Now you can use Mailchimp Connector!
Fill in all required parameters and set optional parameters if needed:
MailchimpDSNMailchimpOAuth [OAuth]https://[$DataCenter$].api.mailchimp.comRequired Parameters Data Center Fill-in the parameter... Client Id Fill-in the parameter... Client Secret Fill-in the parameter... Default List Id Fill-in the parameter... Optional Parameters RetryMode RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch RetryStatusCodeList 429 RetryCountMax 5 RetryMultiplyWaitTime True Steps how to get and use Mailchimp credentials
The simplest way to authenticate a request to the Mailchimp Marketing API is by using an API key (If you require access to Mailchimp on behalf of other Mailchimp users, you'll want to set up OAuth authentication instead)::-
Login into your Mailchimp account, click on your Profile Icon, and hit Account & billing:
-
Navigate to the API keys page in your Mailchimp account:
-
In the Your API keys section of the page, click Create A Key button:
-
Give your new key a descriptive name that will remind you which application it's used for:
-
Copy the API key immediately and store it in a secure location (you won't be able to see or copy the key once you finish generating it):
-
Record your Mailchimp data center, since we will need it later.
The data center is located in your browser's address bar URL.
If the URL is
https://us21.admin.mailchimp.com/account/api
, then your data center isus21
. - Now go to SSIS package or ODBC data source ApiKey Auth authentication configuration.
- Proceed by entering the data center into the Data Center field that was recorded in the previous step.
- Then enter the API key into the Api Key field that you copied earlier.
- Finally, click the Test Connection button at the bottom of the window to verify proper connectivity with your Mailchimp account.
- Done! Now you can use Mailchimp Connector!
Fill in all required parameters and set optional parameters if needed:
MailchimpDSNMailchimpApiKey Auth [Http]https://[$DataCenter$].api.mailchimp.comRequired Parameters Api Key Fill-in the parameter... Default List Id Fill-in the parameter... Optional Parameters Data Center RetryMode RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch RetryStatusCodeList 429 RetryCountMax 5 RetryMultiplyWaitTime True -
Login into your Mailchimp account, click on your Profile Icon, and hit Account & billing:
-
Once the data source connection has been configured, it's time to configure the SQL query. Select the Preview tab and then click Query Builder button to configure the SQL query:
ZappySys API Driver - MailchimpRead / write MailChimp Campaigns, Lists, Members, Reports and more in without coding.MailchimpDSN -
Start by selecting the Table or Endpoint you are interested in and then configure the parameters. This will generate a query that we will use in C# to retrieve data from Mailchimp. Hit OK button to use this query in the next step.
SELECT * FROM Campaigns
Some parameters configured in this window will be passed to the Mailchimp API, e.g. filtering parameters. It means that filtering will be done on the server side (instead of the client side), enabling you to get only the meaningful datamuch faster . -
Now hit Preview Data button to preview the data using the generated SQL query. If you are satisfied with the result, use this query in C#:
ZappySys API Driver - MailchimpRead / write MailChimp Campaigns, Lists, Members, Reports and more in without coding.MailchimpDSNSELECT * FROM Campaigns
You can also access data quickly from the tables dropdown by selecting <Select table>.AWHERE
clause,LIMIT
keyword will be performed on the client side, meaning that thewhole result set will be retrieved from the Mailchimp API first, and only then the filtering will be applied to the data. If possible, it is recommended to use parameters in Query Builder to filter the data on the server side (in Mailchimp servers). -
Click OK to finish creating the data source.
Video Tutorial
Read data in C#
Using ODBC DSN
-
Create a new Console project and use this code to read the data:
"MailchimpDSN"; -
Press F5 to run the code and read the data:
-
Here is the code in text format:
using System; using System.Data.Odbc; namespace ConsoleApp { class Program { static void Main() { var dsn = "MailchimpDSN"; using (var conn = new OdbcConnection(String.Format("DSN={0}", dsn))) { conn.Open(); var cmd = new OdbcCommand("SELECT * FROM Products", conn); //Increase the timeout duration from the default 30 seconds, which may be insufficient in certain scenarios cmd.CommandTimeout=600; // 600-Seconds var rdr = cmd.ExecuteReader(); while (rdr.Read()) { for (int i = 0; i < rdr.FieldCount; i++) { Console.Write("{0}\t", rdr[i]); } Console.WriteLine(); } } Console.ReadKey(); } } }
Using a full ODBC connection string
If you want to avoid being dependent on a DSN and creating multiple DSNs for each platform (x86, x64), then you can use a fully qualified connection string. Simply go to your DSN and copy the Connection String:
-
Open ODBC data source configuration and click Copy settings:
ZappySys API Driver - MailchimpRead / write MailChimp Campaigns, Lists, Members, Reports and more in without coding.MailchimpDSN
-
The window opens, telling us the connection string was successfully copied to the clipboard:
-
Then in your C# code, pass the connection string as an argument when calling the OdbcConnection object's constructor, for example:
var connectionString = @"DRIVER={ZappySys API Driver};ServiceUrl=https://[$DataCenter$].api.mailchimp.com;Provider=MailChimp;ScopeSeparator={space};"; using (var conn = new OdbcConnection(connectionString)) { // your code goes here }
Limitations of using a full connection string
Despite using a full ODBC connection string may be very convenient it comes with a limitation: it's length is limited to 1024 symbols (or sometimes more). It usually happens when API provider generates a very long Refresh Token when OAuth is at play. If you are using such a long ODBC connection string, you may get this error:
"Connection string exceeds maximum allowed length of 1024"
But there is a solution to this by storing the full connection string in a file. Follow the steps below to achieve this:
- Open your ODBC data source.
- Click Copy settings button to copy a full connection string (see the previous section on how to accomplish that).
- Then create a new file, let's say, in C:\temp\odbc-connection-string.txt.
- Continue by pasting the copied connection string into a newly created file and save it.
-
Finally, the last step! Just construct a shorter ODBC connection string using this format:
DRIVER={ZappySys API Driver};SettingsFile=C:\temp\odbc-connection-string.txt
- Our troubles are over! Now you should be able to use this connection string in C# with no problems.
Actions supported by Mailchimp Connector
Learn how to perform common Mailchimp actions directly in C# with these how-to guides:
- Add New List
- Add New List Member
- Add New List Members in Bulk
- Add or Update Upsert List Members (Bulk Subscribe or Unsubscribe)
- Delete List
- Delete List Member (Archive)
- Delete List Member (Permanent delete)
- Get a Specific Member From All Lists
- Get All Members in All Lists
- Get Campaign Details
- Get List Details
- Get List Member Details
- Get List Members
- Get List of Campaigns
- Get Lists
- Get User Details
- Update List Details
- Update List Member Details
- Generic Request
- Generic Request (Bulk Write)
Conclusion
In this article we showed you how to connect to Mailchimp in C# 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 Mailchimp, but to any Java application that supports JDBC (just use a different JDBC driver and configure it appropriately).
We encourage you to download Mailchimp Connector for C# 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.
Download Mailchimp Connector for C# Documentation
More integrations
Other connectors for C#
Other application integration scenarios for Mailchimp
How to connect Mailchimp in C#?
How to get Mailchimp data in C#?
How to read Mailchimp data in C#?
How to load Mailchimp data in C#?
How to import Mailchimp data in C#?
How to pull Mailchimp data in C#?
How to push data to Mailchimp in C#?
How to write data to Mailchimp in C#?
How to POST data to Mailchimp in C#?
Call Mailchimp API in C#
Consume Mailchimp API in C#
Mailchimp C# Automate
Mailchimp C# Integration
Integration Mailchimp in C#
Consume real-time Mailchimp data in C#
Consume real-time Mailchimp API data in C#
Mailchimp ODBC Driver | ODBC Driver for Mailchimp | ODBC Mailchimp Driver | SSIS Mailchimp Source | SSIS Mailchimp Destination
Connect Mailchimp in C#
Load Mailchimp in C#
Load Mailchimp data in C#
Read Mailchimp data in C#
Mailchimp API Call in C#