YouTube Connector for C# Read / write YouTube data inside your app, perform many Youtube operations without coding using easy to use high performance API Connector for YouTube In this article you will learn how to quickly and efficiently integrate YouTube data in C#. We will use high-performance YouTube Connector to easily connect to YouTube and then access the data inside C#. Let's follow the steps below to see how we can accomplish that! Download Documentation YouTube 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 YouTube in other apps Connect to YouTube in SSIS Connect to YouTube in SQL Server Connect to YouTube in Power BI Connect to YouTube in SSRS Connect to YouTube in Informatica Connect to YouTube in MS Access Connect to YouTube in MS Excel Connect to YouTube in SSAS Connect to YouTube in Python Connect to YouTube in JAVA Connect to YouTube in Tableau Connect to YouTube in SAP Crystal Reports Connect to YouTube in Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) Connect to YouTube in Azure Data Factory (SSIS) Connect to YouTube in Talend Studio Connect to YouTube in UiPath Connect to YouTube in PowerShell Connect to YouTube in ODBC

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

Step-by-step instructions

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

1. Download and install ODBC PowerPack.

2. Open ODBC Data Sources (x64):

   

3. 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.

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

   YoutubeDSN

   YouTube

   

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.

    API Key [Http]

   Steps how to get and use YouTube credentials
   This walkthrough will help you create an API Key which you will be able to use in all requests and authenticate accordingly.

   1. Go to Google API Console
   2. From the Project Dropdown (usually found at the top bar) click Select Project
   3. On Project Popup 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 three APIs one by one (YouTube Data API, YouTube Analytics API, YouTube Reporting API).
   7. Search YouTube Data API. Select and click ENABLE
   8. Search YouTube Analytics API. Select and click ENABLE
   9. Search YouTube Reporting API. Select and click ENABLE
   10. Go to back to main screen of Google API Console
   11. Click OAuth Consent Screen Tab. Enter necessary details and Save.
   12. Click Credentials Tab
   13. Click CREATE CREDENTIALS (some where in topbar) and select API key option.
   14. In the popup, copy API Key from the field "Your API key", close this window, and use it in the UI configuration, "key" field

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

   YoutubeDSN

   YouTube

   API Key [Http]

   https://youtube.googleapis.com/youtube/v3

   Required Parameters
   key	Fill-in the parameter...
   Optional Parameters
   RetryMode	RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
   RetryStatusCodeList	403|429
   RetryCountMax	5
   RetryMultiplyWaitTime	True

   

    User Account [OAuth]

   Steps how to get and use YouTube credentials
   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 Project Popup 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 three APIs one by one (YouTube Data API, YouTube Analytics API, YouTube Reporting API).
   7. Search YouTube Data API. Select and click ENABLE
   8. Search YouTube Analytics API. Select and click ENABLE
   9. Search YouTube Reporting API. Select and click ENABLE
   10. Go to back to main screen of Google API Console
   11. Click OAuth Consent Screen Tab. Enter necessary details and Save.
   12. Click Credentials Tab
   13. Click CREATE CREDENTIALS (some where in topbar) and select OAuth Client ID option.
   14. When prompted Select Application Type as Desktop App and click Create to receive your ClientID and Secret. Later on you can use this information now to configure Connection.
   15. Go to OAuth Consent Screen tab. Under Publishing Status click PUBLISH APP to ensure your refresh token doesnt expire often. If you planning to use App for Private use then do not have to worry about Verification Status after Publish.

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

   YoutubeDSN

   YouTube

   User Account [OAuth]

   https://youtube.googleapis.com/youtube/v3

   Optional Parameters
   ClientId
   ClientSecret
   Scope	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.readonly https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtubepartner https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.force-ssl https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.upload https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtubepartner-channel-audit https://www.googleapis.com/auth/yt-analytics-monetary.readonly https://www.googleapis.com/auth/yt-analytics.readonly
   RetryMode	RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
   RetryStatusCodeList	403|429
   RetryCountMax	5
   RetryMultiplyWaitTime	True
   Redirect URL (Only for Web App)

   

    Service Account (Using Private Key File) [OAuth]

   Steps how to get and use YouTube 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 Popup 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 three APIs one by one (YouTube Data API, YouTube Analytics API, YouTube Reporting API)
   7. Search YouTube Data API. Select and click ENABLE
   8. Search YouTube Analytics API. Select and click ENABLE
   9. Search YouTube Reporting API. 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:

   YoutubeDSN

   YouTube

   Service Account (Using Private Key File) [OAuth]

   https://youtube.googleapis.com/youtube/v3

   Required Parameters
   Service Account Email	Fill-in the parameter...
   Service Account Private Key Path (i.e. *.p12)	Fill-in the parameter...
   Optional Parameters
   Scope	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.readonly https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtubepartner https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.force-ssl https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.upload https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtubepartner-channel-audit https://www.googleapis.com/auth/yt-analytics-monetary.readonly https://www.googleapis.com/auth/yt-analytics.readonly
   RetryMode	RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
   RetryStatusCodeList	403|429
   RetryCountMax	5
   RetryMultiplyWaitTime	True

   

6. 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 - YouTube

   Read / write YouTube data inside your app, perform many Youtube operations without coding using easy to use high performance API Connector for YouTube

   YoutubeDSN

   

7. 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 YouTube. Hit OK button to use this query in the next step.

   SELECT * FROM MyVideos

   
   Some parameters configured in this window will be passed to the YouTube 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 data much faster.

8. 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 - YouTube

   Read / write YouTube data inside your app, perform many Youtube operations without coding using easy to use high performance API Connector for YouTube

   YoutubeDSN

   SELECT * FROM MyVideos

   
   You can also access data quickly from the tables dropdown by selecting <Select table>.
   A WHERE clause, LIMIT keyword will be performed on the client side, meaning that the whole result set will be retrieved from the YouTube 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 YouTube servers).

9. Click OK to finish creating the data source.

Video Tutorial

Read data in C#

Using ODBC DSN

1. Create a new Console project and use this code to read the data:
   

   "YoutubeDSN";

   

2. Press F5 to run the code and read the data:
   

3. Here is the code in text format:

   using System;
   using System.Data.Odbc;
   
   namespace ConsoleApp {
       class Program {
           static void Main() {
               var dsn = "YoutubeDSN";
               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:

1. Open ODBC data source configuration and click Copy settings:
   

   ZappySys API Driver - Configuration [Version: 2.0.1.10418]

   ZappySys API Driver - YouTube

   Read / write YouTube data inside your app, perform many Youtube operations without coding using easy to use high performance API Connector for YouTube

   YoutubeDSN

   
2. The window opens, telling us the connection string was successfully copied to the clipboard:

3. 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://youtube.googleapis.com/youtube/v3;";
   
   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:

1. Open your ODBC data source.
2. Click Copy settings button to copy a full connection string (see the previous section on how to accomplish that).
3. Then create a new file, let's say, in C:\temp\odbc-connection-string.txt.
4. Continue by pasting the copied connection string into a newly created file and save it.
5. 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

6. Our troubles are over! Now you should be able to use this connection string in C# with no problems.

Actions supported by YouTube Connector

Learn how to perform common YouTube actions directly in C# with these how-to guides:

• Get channels
• Get comments
• Get playlist items
• Get playlists
• Get report
• Get video details
• Get videos
• Get videos rating
• Search
• Generic Request
• Generic Request (Bulk Write)

Conclusion

In this article we showed you how to connect to YouTube 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 YouTube, but to any Java application that supports JDBC (just use a different JDBC driver and configure it appropriately).

We encourage you to download YouTube 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 YouTube Connector for C# Documentation

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