Outlook Mail (Office 365) Connector for Informatica

Introduction

JSON / REST API is becoming more and more popular each day as everyone embrace cloud-centric services. This article is primarily focused on Informatica users who want to access Outlook Mail (Office 365) data or may be other API Integration in Informatica. However many tips and techniques described in this article will help you to understand how to integrate Outlook Mail (Office 365) / XML SOAP / JSON / REST API in other ETL / Reporting apps such as Tableau, Power BI, SSRS, Talend, Excel and many more.

After going through this article you will learn how to Read Outlook Mail (Office 365) / JSON / REST API data in Informatica and understand the concept of JSON / REST API. We will go through many screenshots and step-by-step examples to demonstrate  Outlook Mail (Office 365) or REST API integration in Informatica PowerCenter.

XML / JSON can come from a local file or REST API service (internal or public) so we will include both examples in this article (i.e. Read JSON files in Informatica,  Import REST API in Informatica). So let’s get started. Next article will focus on how to write data to API in Informatica (POST / PUT data)

Requirements

This article assumes that you have full filled following basic requirements.

1. Download Install ZappySys ODBC PowerPack (API Driver for Outlook Mail (Office 365) included)
2. Install Informatica PowerCenter Client Tools (e.g. Workflow and Mapping Designers)
3. Access to a Relational database such as SQL Server (or use any of your choice e.g. Oracle, MySQL, DB2 ). If nothing available then you can use flat file target.

High level Steps for Import Outlook Mail (Office 365) data using Informatica (Read Outlook Mail (Office 365) API data)

Before we dive deep to learn how to load Outlook Mail (Office 365) data in Informatica (i.e. Outlook Mail (Office 365) to SQL Table), Here the summary of high-level steps you need to perform to import Outlook Mail (Office 365) in Informatica (same steps for Import JSON / XML / REST API).

1. Download and Install ZappySys API Driver (for connecting to Outlook Mail (Office 365))
2. Create ODBC DSN using ZappySys API driver and choose Outlook Mail (Office 365) Connector during Wizard
3. Create Relational > ODBC Connection in Informatica Workflow designer (Point to DSN we created in the previous step)
4. Import Outlook Mail (Office 365) Source Definition in the Informatica Mapping Designer > Sources Tab
5. Import Target Table Definition in the Informatica Mapping Designer > Targets Tab
6. Create source to target mapping in Mappings tab
7. Save mapping (name m_API_to_SQL_Load )
8. Create Session using the mapping we created in the previous step
9. Save Workflow and execute to load Outlook Mail (Office 365) data into SQL Table. Verify your data and log.
   

   Loading Outlook Mail (Office 365) data to SQL Table in Informatica (Import REST API or JSON Files)

Video Tutorial – Read any API / JSON data in Informatica (Load Outlook Mail (Office 365) to SQL Table)

Getting Started – Import Outlook Mail (Office 365) to SQL Server in Informatica

Now let’s get started. For example purpose, we will read data from Outlook Mail (Office 365) and load data into SQL Server Table using Informatica Workflow.

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

Step-by-step instructions

To get data from Outlook Mail (Office 365) using Informatica we first need to create a DSN (Data Source) which will access data from Outlook Mail (Office 365). We will later be able to read data using Informatica. 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 "Outlook Mail (Office 365)" from the list of Popular Connectors. If "Outlook Mail (Office 365)" 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:

   OutlookMail(Office365)DSN

   Outlook Mail (Office 365)

   

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 Credentials [OAuth]

   OAuth App must be created in Microsoft Azure AD. These settings typically found here https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/auth-register-app-v2. [API Help..]

   Steps to get Outlook Mail (Office 365) Credentials
   

   Firstly, login into Azure Portal and there create an OAuth application:

   1. Go to Azure Portal and login there.
   2. Then go to Azure Active Directory.
   3. On the left side click menu item App registrations
   4. Then proceed with clicking New registration.
   5. Enter a name for your application.
   6. Select the account types to support with the Supported account types option.
   7. In Redirect URI, select Web.
   8. In the textbox enter https://zappysys.com/oauth as the Redirect URI or another valid redirect URL.
   9. Use this same Redirect URI in the Redirect URL - Must Match App Redirect URL grid row.
   10. Copy Client ID and paste it into the API Connection Manager configuration grid in the Client ID row.
   11. Click on the Endpoints link and copy the OAuth 2.0 authorization endpoint (v2) URL to the Authorization URL grid row. Usually it looks similar to this:
       • https://login.microsoftonline.com/daed1250-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-ef0a982d3d1e/oauth2/v2.0/authorize
   12. Copy the OAuth 2.0 token endpoint (v2) URL to the Token URL grid row. Usually it looks similar to this:
       • https://login.microsoftonline.com/daed1250-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-ef0a982d3d1e/oauth2/v2.0/token
   13. Close "Endpoints" popup and create a Client Secret in the Certificates & secrets tab.
   14. Proceed by clicking New client secret and setting expiration period. Copy the client secret and paste it into configuration grid in Client Secret row.
   15. Now lets setup permissions for the app. Click on API Permissions and on the page click Plus Sign Add Permission
   16. Click on Microsoft Graph API and then choose Delegated Permissions
   17. on Permission list page search or choose permissions as needed. We need to enable following Permissions from 3 Sections (i.e. OpenId Permissions, Mail Permissions and Users Permissions).
   18. Make sure you have checked below permissions (If you do not need Write feature then you can skip Write scopes)

       offline_access
       email
       openid
       profile 
       Mail.Read
       Mail.Read.Shared
       Mail.ReadBasic
       Mail.ReadBasic.Shared
       Mail.ReadWrite
       Mail.ReadWrite.Shared
       Mail.Send
       Mail.Send.Shared
       User.Read
       User.ReadBasic.All
         

   19. Click Generate Token to generate tokens.
       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.
   20. That's it!

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

   OutlookMail(Office365)DSN

   Outlook Mail (Office 365)

   User Credentials [OAuth]

   https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0

   Required Parameters
   Authorization URL	Fill in the parameter...
   Token URL	Fill in the parameter...
   Client ID	Fill in the parameter...
   Scope	Fill in the parameter...
   Optional Parameters
   Client Secret	Fill in the parameter...
   Refresh Token File Path	Fill in the parameter...
   ReturnUrl - Must Match App Redirect URL	Fill in the parameter...
   RetryMode	Fill in the parameter...
   RetryStatusCodeList	Fill in the parameter...
   RetryCountMax	Fill in the parameter...
   RetryMultiplyWaitTime	Fill in the parameter...
   Login Prompt Option	Fill in the parameter...

   

    Application Credentials [OAuth]

   OAuth App must be created in Microsoft Azure AD. These settings typically found here https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/auth-v2-service [API Help..]

   Please refer to below API Reference (External Site) link for Application Credentials [OAuth]

   https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/auth-v2-service

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

   OutlookMail(Office365)DSN

   Outlook Mail (Office 365)

   Application Credentials [OAuth]

   https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0

   Required Parameters
   Token URL	Fill in the parameter...
   Client ID	Fill in the parameter...
   Client Secret	Fill in the parameter...
   Scope	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...

   

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.

Video instructions

Create Connection in Informatica Workflow Designer

Once you create DSN using API Driver our next step is to define a connection for Outlook Mail (Office 365) source in Informatica PowerCenter Workflow designer.

1. Open Workflow designer [W] icon
2. Goto Connections > Relational
   

   Create a new connection for Outlook Mail (Office 365) in Informatica

3. Click New and select ODBC
   

   Select ODBC connection type in Informatica (Using ZappySys API ODBC DSN)

4. Now on the ODBC connection setup enter connection name, some fake userid / password (this is a required field but its ignored by JSON Driver)
5. In the Connection String field enter the exact same name of DSN (Open ODBC Data Sources UI to confirm)
   

   Configure Outlook Mail (Office 365) connection in Informatica for REST API – Using ZappySys API Driver

6. Click OK to close the connection properties.

That’s it. Now we ready to move to next step (define source and target in Mapping Designer).

Import Outlook Mail (Office 365) Source Definition in Informatica Mapping Designer

Now let’s look at steps to import Outlook Mail (Office 365) table definition.

1. Open Informatica Mapping Designer (Click [D] icon)
2. Click on Source Icon to switch to Sources designer
3. From the top menu > Click on Sources > Import from Database …
   

   Import Outlook Mail (Office 365) Source definition in Informatica Mapping Designer (JSON file or REST API)

4. Select ODBC data source from the dropdown (Find out DSN we created earlier to use as JSON Source)
5. Click Connect button to get a list of tables. Any array node is listed as a table. Also, you will see array node with parent columns (e.g. value_with_parent). You may get some warning like below but they are harmless so just ignore by clicking OK.
   
   DLL name entry missing from C:\Informatica\PowerCenter8.6.1\client\bin\powrmart.ini Section = ODBCDLL Entry = ZappySys JSON Driver
   —————————————————-
   Using EXTODBC.DLL to support ZappySys JSON Driver. For native support of ZappySys JSON Driver make an entry in the .ini file.
   

   Select Outlook Mail (Office 365) Source Table in Informatica Mapping Designer (JSON file or REST API)

6. Select Table you wish to get (You can filter rows by custom SQL query. We will see later in this article how to do)
7. Optionally once table structure is imported you can rename it
   

   Rename imported table definition in Informatica Source Designer

8. That’s it, we are now ready to perform similar steps to import Target table structure in the next section.

Import SQL Server Target Definition in Informatica Mapping Designer

Now let’s look at steps to import Target table definition (very similar to the previous section, the only difference is this time we will select DSN which points to SQL Server or any other Target Server).