SQL Server OData Connector

In this article you will learn how to integrate OData data to SQL Server without coding in just a few clicks (live / bi-directional connection to OData). OData Connector can be used to integrated any REST API which supports OData Standard. You can view tables, read data from tables using this connector. It also comes with some example OData Services to get started..

Using OData 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.

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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.

Video Tutorial - Integrate OData 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 OData integration in SQL Server
How to configure connection for OData
Features about API Driver (Authentication / Query Language / Examples / Driver UI)
Using OData Connection in SQL Server

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

Download and install ZappySys ODBC PowerPack.
Search for gateway in start menu and Open ZappySys Data Gateway:
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:
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. And it will create the Data Set for it and open the ZS driver UI.

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

ODataDSN

OData

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.

No Authentication [Http]

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

ODataDSN

OData

No Authentication [Http]

https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc

Required Parameters
Optional Parameters

Windows Authentication [Http]

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

ODataDSN

OData

Windows Authentication [Http]

https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc

Required Parameters
Optional Parameters

Basic Authentication [Http]

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

ODataDSN

OData

Basic Authentication [Http]

https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc

Required Parameters
UserName	Fill in the parameter...
Password	Fill in the parameter...
Optional Parameters
RetryMode	Fill in the parameter...
RetryStatusCodeList	Fill in the parameter...
RetryCountMax	Fill in the parameter...
RetryMultiplyWaitTime	Fill in the parameter...

NTLM Authentication [Http]

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

ODataDSN

OData

NTLM Authentication [Http]

https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc

Required Parameters
UserName (i.e. Domain\UserName)	Fill in the parameter...
Password	Fill in the parameter...
Optional Parameters
RetryMode	Fill in the parameter...
RetryStatusCodeList	Fill in the parameter...
RetryCountMax	Fill in the parameter...
RetryMultiplyWaitTime	Fill in the parameter...

Token Authentication [Http]

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

ODataDSN

OData

Token Authentication [Http]

https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc

Required Parameters
Token	Fill in the parameter...
Optional Parameters
AuthScheme	Fill in the parameter...
AuthHeader	Fill in the parameter...
RetryMode	Fill in the parameter...
RetryStatusCodeList	Fill in the parameter...
RetryCountMax	Fill in the parameter...
RetryMultiplyWaitTime	Fill in the parameter...

OAuth Connection for OData API [OAuth]

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

ODataDSN

OData

OAuth Connection for OData API [OAuth]

https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc

Required Parameters
Optional Parameters
GrantType	Fill in the parameter...
OAuthVersion	Fill in the parameter...
ClientId	Fill in the parameter...
ClientSecret	Fill in the parameter...
UserName	Fill in the parameter...
Password	Fill in the parameter...
Scope	Fill in the parameter...
AuthUrl	Fill in the parameter...
TokenUrl	Fill in the parameter...
ReturnUrl	Fill in the parameter...
ExtraAttributesForTokenRequest	Fill in the parameter...
ExtraAttributesForAuthRequest	Fill in the parameter...
RetryMode	Fill in the parameter...
RetryStatusCodeList	Fill in the parameter...
RetryCountMax	Fill in the parameter...
RetryMultiplyWaitTime	Fill in the parameter...

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:
Click OK to finish creating the data source.

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

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:
Then click on Security option and configure username we created in ZappySys Data Gateway in one of the previous steps:
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');
```

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.

Search for gateway in start menu and open ZappySys Data Gateway.
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).

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).

Search for Windows Firewall Advanced Security in start menu.
Under Inbound Rules > Right click and click [New Rule] >> Click Next
Select Port on Rule Type >> Click Next
Click on TCP and enter port number under specified local port as 5000 (use different one if you changed Default port) >> Click Next
Select Profile (i.e. Private, Public) >> Click Next
Enter Rule name [i.e. ZappySys Data Gateway – Allow Inbound ] >> Click Next
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:

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

Go to Custom Objects Tab and Click on Add button and Select Add Procedure:
Enter the desired Procedure name and click on OK:
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>';
```
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';
```
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''')
```
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.

Go to Custom Objects Tab and Click on Add button and Select Add Table:
Enter the desired Table name and click on OK:
And it will open the New Query Window Click on Cancel to close that window and go to Custom Objects Tab.
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'
```
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"
```
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''')
```
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 OData in SQL Server and integrate data without any coding. Click here to Download OData 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 OData Connector for SQL Server Documentation

Actions supported by OData Connector

OData 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 Tables (JSON API)

List Tables (XML API)

Generic Read Data (JSON API)

Parameter	Description
TableName	Read data from specified module (Json Format API)

Generic Read Data (XML API)

Parameter	Description
TableName	Read data from specified module (Xml Format API)

Read [$parent.name$]

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. If some API requires you to pass Content-Type: multipart/form-data rather than multipart/form-data then manually set Request Header => Content-Type: multipart/mixed (it must starts with multipart/ else will be ignored). 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 OData

SSIS

Power BI

SSRS

Informatica

MS Access

MS Excel

SSAS

Python

JAVA

Tableau

SAP Crystal Reports

Azure Data Factory (ADF)

ODBC

Other Connectors for SQL Server

Zendesk

Azure DevOps

ManagedEngine ServiceDesk Plus (Zoho)

Zoho CRM

Hubspot

Google Sheets

Stripe

YouTube

Google BigQuery

OneDrive

OData

Amazon Ads

Mailchimp

Jira

Outlook Mail (Office 365)

Zoom

Cosmos DB

Shopify

Nativo

Google Drive

SharePoint Online

Amazon MWS

ServiceNow

ElasticSearch

Google Calendar

DropBox

REST API

JSON

JSON File

XML

SOAP

XML File

JDBC-ODBC Bridge

Salesforce

CSV

Amazon S3 JSON File

Amazon S3 XML File

Amazon S3 CSV File

Azure Blob JSON File

Azure Blob XML File

Azure Blob CSV File

FTP/SFTP JSON File

FTP/SFTP XML File

FTP/SFTP CSV File

Download OData Connector for SQL Server Documentation

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Video Tutorial - Integrate OData data in SQL Server

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

No Authentication [Http]

Windows Authentication [Http]

Basic Authentication [Http]

NTLM Authentication [Http]

Token Authentication [Http]

OAuth Connection for OData API [OAuth]

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

Firewall settings

OPENQUERY vs EXEC (handling larger SQL text)

Create Custom Store Procedure in ZappySys Driver

Create Custom Virtual Table in ZappySys Driver

Conclusion

Actions supported by OData Connector

Other App Integration scenarios for OData

Other Connectors for SQL Server

How to connect OData in SQL Server?

How to get OData data in SQL Server?

How to read OData data in SQL Server?

How to load OData data in SQL Server?

How to import OData data in SQL Server?

How to pull OData data in SQL Server?

How to push data to OData in SQL Server?

How to write data to OData in SQL Server?

How to POST data to OData in SQL Server?

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Consume OData API in SQL Server

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Connect OData in SQL Server

Load OData in SQL Server

Load OData data in SQL Server

Read OData data in SQL Server

OData API Call in SQL Server