Python SharePoint Online Connector

In this article you will learn how to integrate SharePoint Online data to Python (live / bi-directional connection to SharePoint Online). SharePoint Connector can be used to integrate SharePoint and your defined data source, e.g. Microsoft SQL, Oracle, Excel, Power BI, etc. Get, write, delete SharePoint data in a few clicks!.

Using SharePoint Online Connector you will be able to connect, read, and write data from within Python. Follow the steps below to see how we would accomplish that.

Download  Help File  Buy 

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

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

  1. Install ZappySys ODBC PowerPack.

  2. Open ODBC Data Sources (x64):
    Open ODBC Data Source

  3. Create a User Data Source (User DSN) based on ZappySys API Driver

    ZappySys API Driver
    Create new System DSN for 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 "SharePoint Online" from the list of Popular Connectors. If "SharePoint Online" 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:

    SharePointOnlineDSN
    SharePoint Online
    ODBC DSN Template Selection

  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.

    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. [Read more..]

    Steps to get SharePoint Online 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 Accounts in this organizational directory only as supported account type to access data in your company.
    7. In Redirect URI section leave option selected at Web.
    8. In nearby textbox enter https://login.microsoftonline.com/common/oauth2/nativeclient as Redirect URI or any other valid redirect URL, e.g. https://zappysys.com/oauth
    9. Use this Redirect URI in Redirect URL grid row.
    10. Copy Application (client) ID and paste it into API Connection Manager configuration grid in Client ID row.
    11. Then click on Endpoints link and copy first URL to Authorization URL and second one to Token URL in configuration grid. Usually they look similar to these:
      • https://login.microsoftonline.com/daed1250-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-ef0a982d3d1e/oauth2/v2.0/authorize
      • https://login.microsoftonline.com/daed1250-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-ef0a982d3d1e/oauth2/v2.0/token
      • https://login.microsoftonline.com/common/oauth2/v2.0/authorize
      • https://login.microsoftonline.com/common/oauth2/v2.0/token
    12. Close "Endpoints" and create a Client Secret by clicking Certificates & secrets.
    13. Proceed by clicking New client secret and setting expiration period. Copy the client secret and paste it into configuration grid in Client Secret row.
    14. Use these scopes in Scopes field: offline_access Files.Read Files.Read.All Files.ReadWrite Files.ReadWrite.All openid profile Sites.Read.All Sites.ReadWrite.All User.Read email
    15. Click Generate Token to generate tokens.
    16. That's it!
    For more information you can read this link https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/auth-register-app-v2 Also https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/auth-register-app-v2

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

    SharePointOnlineDSN
    SharePoint Online
    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...
    SiteId (select after pressing 'Generate Token') Fill in the parameter...
    Optional Parameters
    Client Secret Fill in the parameter...
    ReturnUrl Fill in the parameter...
    Login Prompt Option 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

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

    Steps to get SharePoint Online Credentials

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

    Step-1: Create OAuth App

    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 one of Accounts in this organizational directory only as supported account type to access data in your company.
    7. In Redirect URI section leave option selected at Web.
    8. Copy Application (client) ID and paste it into API Connection Manager configuration grid in Client ID row.
    9. Then click on Endpoints link and copy second, Token, URL to Token URL field in configuration grid. Usually they look similar to these:
      https://login.microsoftonline.com/daed1250-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-ef0a982d3d1e/oauth2/v2.0/token
      https://login.microsoftonline.com/common/oauth2/v2.0/token
      
    10. Close "Endpoints" and create a Client Secret by clicking Certificates & secrets.
    11. Proceed by clicking New client secret and setting expiration period. Copy the client secret and paste it into configuration grid in Client Secret row.
    12. Go to API Permissions section and add Microsoft Graph permissions for SharePoint and Drive, e.g. Sites.Selected, Sites.Read.All, Sites.ReadWrite.All, Files.Read.All, Files.ReadWrite.All.
    13. Finally, Grant admin consent for your domain for your permissions.

    Step-2: Register OAuth App in SharePoint Admin Portal

    1. After we create OAuth App we need to add grant SharePoint access to that App using Admin Portal. Make sure you have admin permission to acces Portal. For detailed steps you may refer to this link. Here are basic steps you can follow.
    2. Log in to SharePoint Admin Portal and access below URL
      (Replace YOURCOMPANY)
      https://YOURCOMPANY-admin.sharepoint.com/_layouts/15/appprincipals.aspx?Scope=Web
    3. Enter App Id and other information
    4. Enter XML snippet which describes which permission you want to grant. Here is an example permission (App with FullControl / Read / Write)
      <AppPermissionRequests AllowAppOnlyPolicy="true">
        <AppPermissionRequest Scope="http://sharepoint/content/tenant" Right="FullControl" />
      </AppPermissionRequests>
        
    5. Click Add to grant the permission. That's it!
    NOTE: After adding App in SharePoint if you ever remove the permission then you can visit the following URL and delete the App.
    https://YOURCOMPANY-admin.sharepoint.com/_layouts/15/appprincipals.aspx?Scope=Web

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

    SharePointOnlineDSN
    SharePoint Online
    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...
    SiteId 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

  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:
    ODBC ZappySys Data Source Preview

  7. Click OK to finish creating the data source.

Read data in Python from the DSN

  1. Python code to get the data:

    SharePointOnlineDSN')
    Python code to get the data from ZappySys DSN

  2. When you run the code it will make the API call and read the data:
    Python - Extracted data from ZappySys DSN

  3. Here is Python program's code in text format:

    
    import pyodbc
    
    conn = pyodbc.connect('DSN=SharePointOnlineDSN')
    
    cursor = conn.cursor() 
    
    #execute query to fetch data from API service
    cursor.execute("SELECT * FROM value") 
    row = cursor.fetchone() 
    while row: 
    print (row[1]) 
    row = cursor.fetchone()
    

  4. If you want to avoid to be dependent on a DSN name 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 . Then in your Python code use Connection String when initializing OdbcConnection object, for example:

    conn = pyodbc.connect('DRIVER={ZappySys API Driver};ServiceUrl=https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc;Provider=OData;AuthName=Http;')
    

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

  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''')

    ZappySys Driver - Generate SQL Server Query

  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.
    ZappySys Driver - Generate SQL Server Query

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

  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''')

    ZappySys Driver - Generate SQL Server Query

  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.
    ZappySys Driver - Generate SQL Server Query

Conclusion

In this article we discussed how to connect to SharePoint Online in Python and integrate data without any coding. Click here to Download SharePoint Online Connector for Python 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 SharePoint Online Connector for Python Documentation 

Actions supported by SharePoint Online Connector

SharePoint Online 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.
 Read Main Site
 List Sites
 List Drives
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
 Read Drive
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
DriveId Specify a drive
 List Folders
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
DriveId Specify a drive
 List Files
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
DriveId Specify a drive
 List Excel Files
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
DriveId Specify a drive
 List SharePoint Lists
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
 List SharePoint System Lists
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
 Read List Fields
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
ListId Specify a list id to search items for
Expand
 Read List
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
ListId Specify a list id to search items for
 Read List Items
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
ListId Specify a list id to search items for
Filter To filter data on a field, you will first need to index it: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/add-an-index-to-a-list-or-library-column-f3f00554-b7dc-44d1-a2ed-d477eac463b0
Option Value
None
Equal Search fields/SomeColumn eq &#39;SomeValue&#39;
Substring Search substringof(fields/SomeField,&#39;abc&#39;)
Starts With startswith(fields/SomeField, &#39;abc&#39;)
 Read List Items (Dynamic Columns)
Use this endpoint if you face issue with NULl values in some columns. This endpoint scans metadata from few sample rows and decides datatypes. Use this if other endpoing showing null values for Complex datatypes (e.g. Lookup, Location, Person)
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
ListId Specify a list id to search items for
Filter To filter data on a field, you will first need to index it: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/add-an-index-to-a-list-or-library-column-f3f00554-b7dc-44d1-a2ed-d477eac463b0
Option Value
None
Equal Search fields/SomeColumn eq &#39;SomeValue&#39;
Substring Search substringof(fields/SomeField,&#39;abc&#39;)
Starts With startswith(fields/SomeField, &#39;abc&#39;)
 Read List Item (By ID)
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
ListId Specify a list id to search items for
ListItemId Specify a list item id (Record ID)
 Create List Item
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
ListId Specify a list id to search items for
 Update List Item
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
ListId Specify a list id to search items for
ListItemId Specify a list item id
 Delete List Item
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
ListId Specify a list id to search items for
ListItemId Specify a list item id
 List Excel Worksheets
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
DriveId Specify a drive Id to search items in
FileId Specify a drive Id to search items in
 Read Excel Worksheet
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
DriveId Specify a drive Id
FileId Specify a file id
SheetId Specify a sheet name
Range
 Download File as a column field
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
DriveId Specify a drive Id
FileId Specify a file id
 Download File to disk
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
DriveId Specify a drive Id
FileId Specify a file id
 Delete File from Sharepoint Site
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
DriveId Specify a drive Id
FileId Specify a file id
 Upload File
Parameter Description
SiteId Specify a site
DriveId Specify a drive Id
DiskFilePath Specify a disk file path
SharePointFilePath Specify target file path
 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 =&gt; 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 SharePoint Online

Other Connectors for Python


Download SharePoint Online Connector for Python Documentation 

  • How to connect SharePoint Online in Python?

  • How to get SharePoint Online data in Python?

  • How to read SharePoint Online data in Python?

  • How to load SharePoint Online data in Python?

  • How to import SharePoint Online data in Python?

  • How to pull SharePoint Online data in Python?

  • How to push data to SharePoint Online in Python?

  • How to write data to SharePoint Online in Python?

  • How to POST data to SharePoint Online in Python?

  • Call SharePoint Online API in Python

  • Consume SharePoint Online API in Python

  • SharePoint Online Python Automate

  • SharePoint Online Python Integration

  • Integration SharePoint Online in Python

  • Consume real-time SharePoint Online data in Python

  • Consume realtime SharePoint Online API data in Python

  • SharePoint Online ODBC Driver | ODBC Driver for SharePoint Online | ODBC SharePoint Online Driver | SSIS SharePoint Online Source | SSIS SharePoint Online Destination

  • Connect SharePoint Online in Python

  • Load SharePoint Online in Python

  • Load SharePoint Online data in Python

  • Read SharePoint Online data in Python

  • SharePoint Online API Call in Python