In our previous few articles we saw various use cases of Data Gateway.  Now let’s look at one more interesting use case of Data Gateway. We will look at how to Import REST API in Google Sheet (JSON / XML API or File) by calling Google AppScript (i.e. Macro Code like in Excel but Google use JavaScript Language).

With some simple JavaScript AppScript code in Google Sheet you can load virtually any REST API / SOAP API or read data from JSON / XML / CSV File saved on your local environment. You can also populate data in Google Sheet using SSIS but that requires you to lean SSIS. Approach listed in this article requires minimum investment and very little learning. If you are SSIS developer and you want to use ETL approach then please check the article.

Requirements

1. Make sure you have a valid Google account and access to Google Sheet Service
2. Download and Install ZappySys ODBC PowerPack

How does it work?

So you must be wondering how google AppScript can load data from REST API (or Local files ) ? Here are high level steps.

1. first of all, install ZappySys ODBC PowerPack and make sure ZappySys Data Gateway is running (By default it should be).
2. Configure the Firewall to allow Port 5000 (or some other if you change default port) so Google SpreadSheet can connect to machine where ZappySys Data Gateway is running
3. Google Server (i.e. AppScript) sends SQL query (for REST API Service / Files) using MSSQL JDBC Driver to ZappySys Data Gateway (TDS Protocol used by JDBC Driver and ZappySys Data Gateway).
4. ZappySys Data Gateway Parses SQL Query request and translates to REST API call or File Read request
5. JSON / XML / CSV data is parsed into Rows and Columns and Sent back to Google Sheet Service
6. Your REST API / File data is rendered in rows / columns in Google Sheet

Step-By-Step : Import REST API in Google Sheet

Now let’s get started. In next few sections we will call sample JSON REST API (Example OData Service) and load it into Google Sheet.

Configure ZappySys Data Gateway

Open Firewall Port

Next step is to make sure your server where you installed ODBC PowerPack is exposed to internet and you allow Port 5000 for inbound traffic. If you changed default port for Gateway then use that accordingly in firewall configuration.

Call AppScript to load REST API data into Google Sheet

Once you done with Data Gateway configuration you can move forward to creating Google Sheet.

1. Create a new Google Sheet. Let’s call it Gateway Data
2. From the tools menu click Script Editor
   
3. Write Following Code and Click Save
   

   function ApiToGoogleSpreadSheet(sqlQuery) {
     if(sqlQuery==null){
       //Default Query
       sqlQuery="select * from $ WITH( \
   Filter='$.value[*]', \
   SRC='https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc/Customers?$format=json' \
   ) ";
     }
       var address = 'MyGatewayServerIpOrFullDomainName:5000'; // ZappySys Data Gateway Server Name / IP
       var user = 'tdsuser'; // ZappySys Data Gateway User Name
       var userPwd = 'MyTdsP@ssword123';  //Password of ZappySys Data Gateway User
       var db = 'odata_native';
       var msSqlUrlSyntax ='jdbc:sqlserver://'
       var dbUrl = msSqlUrlSyntax + address + ';databaseName=' + db;
       var conn = Jdbc.getConnection(dbUrl, user, userPwd);
       var start = new Date();
       var stmt = conn.createStatement();
       //stmt.setMaxRows(10);
       var results = stmt.executeQuery(sqlQuery);
       var rsMeta = results.getMetaData();
       var numCols = rsMeta.getColumnCount();
       //var numRows = results.getFetchSize()
       //Logger.log(numRows)
       var dataArray = [];
       //get column names
       var headers = new Array(new Array(numCols));
       for (var col = 0; col < numCols; col++){
         headers[0][col] = rsMeta.getColumnName(col+1);
       }
     
       //resultSheet.getRange(1, 1, headers.length, headers[0].length).setValues(headers);
       //rowString.push(results.getString(col + 1))
      
       dataArray[dataArray.length]=headers[0];
       
       while (results.next()) {
           var rowString = [];   
           rowString = [];
   
           for (var col = 0; col < numCols; col++)     
           {
               rowString.push(results.getString(col + 1));
           }
   
           dataArray[dataArray.length]=rowString;
       }
   
       results.close();
       stmt.close();
   
       var end = new Date();
       Logger.log('Time elapsed: %sms', end - start);
   
        //Logger.log("dataArray =" + dataArray)
       return dataArray
    
   }

4. Change following lines in the code based on your configuration. See below screenshot to get some idea where to get it.
   

   var address = 'MyGatewayServerIpOrFullDomainName:5000'; // ZappySys Data Gateway Server Name / IP
   var user = 'tdsuser'; // ZappySys Data Gateway User Name
   var userPwd = 'MyTdsP@ssword123';  //Password of ZappySys Data Gateway User
   var db = 'odata_native';

   

   Write AppScript (JavaScript Macros) to Import REST API in Google Sheet. Call JSON / XML /CSV / SOAP API. Read from JSON/ XML files.

5. Now Click anywhere in the Sheet1. Type below formula in the formula bar and hit Enter.
   

   =ApiToGoogleSpreadSheet("select * from $")

   –OR–
   

   =ApiToGoogleSpreadSheet("select * from $ WITH( Filter='$.value[*]', SRC='https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc/Customers?$format=json' ) ")

6. That’s it. You should data populated like below in your Google Sheet.
   

   Loading REST API data in Google Sheet. Read JSON / XML using AppScript Function.

REST API / XML SOAP Pagination Settings for Google Sheet AppScript Code

SELECT * FROM $
WITH(
SRC=@'https://zappysys.com/downloads/files/test/pagination_nextlink_inarray_1.json'
,NextUrlAttributeOrExpr = '$.nextlink'  --keep reading until this attribute is missing. If attribute name contains dot then use brackets like this $.['my.attr.name']
)

SELECT * FROM $
WITH (
SRC=@'https://zappysys.com/downloads/files/test/page-xml.aspx?page=1&mode=DetectBasedOnResponseStatusCode'
,PagingMode='ByUrlParameter'
,PagingByUrlAttributeName='page'
,PagingByUrlEndStrategy='DetectBasedOnResponseStatusCode'
,PagingByUrlCheckResponseStatusCode=401
,IncrementBy=1
)

SELECT * FROM $
WITH (
SRC=@'https://zappysys.com/downloads/files/test/cust-<%page%>.xml'
,PagingMode='ByUrlPath'
,PagingByUrlAttributeName='<%page%>'
,PagingByUrlEndStrategy='DetectBasedOnRecordCount'
,IncrementBy=1
)

SELECT * FROM $
LIMIT 25
WITH(
	 Src='https://wordpress.org/news/wp-json/wp/v2/categories?per_page=10'
	,PagingMode='ByResponseHeaderRfc5988'
	,WaitTimeMs='200' --//wait 200 ms after each request
)

REST API / SOAP Web Service Connection Settings for Google Sheet AppScript Code

If you need to authenticate or authorize your user to access a web resource, you will need to use one of the Connections:

• HTTP
• OAuth

HTTP Connection

Use HTTP Connection for simple Windows, Basic, NTLM or Kerberos authentication. Just fill in a username and a password and you are good to go!

You can also use HTTP Connection for more sophisticated authentication like:

• SOAP WSS (when accessing a SOAP WebService)
• Static Token / API Key (when need to pass an API key in HTTP header)
• Dynamic Token (same as Static Token method except that each time you need to log in and retrieve a fresh API key)
• JWT Token (As per RFC 7519)

OAuth

If you are trying to access REST API resource, it is a huge chance, you will need to use OAuth Connection. Read this article to understand how OAuth authentication and authorization works and how to use it (article originally was written for SSIS PowerPack, but the concepts and UI stay the same): 
https://zappysys.com/blog/rest-api-authentication-with-oauth-2-0-using-ssis/

Other settings for REST API / SOAP XML Call in Google Sheet AppScript Code

REST API / XML SOAP Performance Tips for Google Sheet AppScript Code

SELECT * FROM value
WITH(
	 Src='https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc/Customers?$format=json&$filter=Country eq ''USA'''
	,DataFormat='Odata'
)

-- Slow query - Client-side filtering
SELECT * FROM value
WHERE Country ='USA'
WITH(
	 Src='https://services.odata.org/V3/Northwind/Northwind.svc/Customers?$format=json'
	,DataFormat='Odata'
)

SELECT * FROM $
WITH 
(  SRC='https://myhost.com/some-api'
  ,CachingMode='All'  --cache metadata and data rows both
  ,CacheStorage='File' --or Memory
  ,CacheFileLocation='c:\temp\myquery.cache'
  ,CacheEntryTtl=300 --cache for 300 seconds
)

SELECT * FROM $ 
LIMIT 10 --//add this just to test how fast you can get 10 rows
WITH(
  Filter='$.LargeArray[*]--FAST' --//Adding --FAST option turn on STREAM mode (large files)
 ,SRC='https://zappysys.com/downloads/files/test/large_file_100k_largearray_prop.json.gz'
 --,SRC='c:\data\large_file.json.gz'
 ,IncludeParentColumns='False'  --//This Must be OFF for STREAM mode (read very large files)
 ,FileCompressionType='GZip' --Zip or None (Zip format only available for Local files)
)

Calling SOAP Web Service in Google Sheet AppScript Code

To call SOAP API you need to know Request XML Body Structure. If you are not sure how to create SOAP Request body then no worries. Check this article to learn how to generate SOAP Request body using the Free tool SoapUI. Basically, you have to use SoapUI to generate Request XML and after that, you can replace parameters as needed in the generated body.

What is SOAP Web Service?

If you are new to SOAP Web Service sometimes referred as XML Web Service then please read some concept about SOAP Web service standard from this link There are two important aspects in SOAP Web service.

1. Getting WSDL file or URL
2. Knowing exact Web Service URL

What is WSDL

In very simple term WSDL (often pronounced as whiz-dull) is nothing but a document which describes Service metadata (e.g. Functions you can call, Request parameters, response structure etc). Some service simply give you WSDL as xml file you can download on local machine and then analyze or sometimes you may get direct URL (e.g. http://api.mycompany.com/hr-soap-service/?wsdl )

Example SQL Query for SOAP API call using ZappySys XML Driver

Here is an example SQL query you can write to call SOAP API. If you not sure about many details then check next few sections on how to use XML Driver User Interface to build desired SQL query to POST data to XML SOAP Web Service without any coding.

SELECT * FROM $
WITH(
	 Src='http://www.holidaywebservice.com/HolidayService_v2/HolidayService2.asmx'
	,DataConnectionType='HTTP'
	,CredentialType='Basic' --OR SoapWss
	,SoapWssPasswordType='PasswordText'
	,UserName='myuser'
	,Password='pass$$w123'
	,Filter='$.soap:Envelope.soap:Body.GetHolidaysAvailableResponse.GetHolidaysAvailableResult.HolidayCode[*]'
	,ElementsToTreatAsArray='HolidayCode'	
	,RequestMethod='POST'	
	,Header='Content-Type: text/xml;charset=UTF-8 || SOAPAction: "http://www.holidaywebservice.com/HolidayService_v2/GetHolidaysAvailable"'
	,RequestData='
<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:hol="http://www.holidaywebservice.com/HolidayService_v2/">
   <soapenv:Header/>
   <soapenv:Body>
      <hol:GetHolidaysAvailable>
         <!--type: Country - enumeration: [Canada,GreatBritain,IrelandNorthern,IrelandRepublicOf,Scotland,UnitedStates]-->
         <hol:countryCode>UnitedStates</hol:countryCode>
      </hol:GetHolidaysAvailable>
   </soapenv:Body>
</soapenv:Envelope>'
)

Now let's look at steps to create SQL query to call SOAP API. Later we will see how to generate code for your desired programming language (e.g. C# or SQL Server)

Video Tutorial - Introduction to SOAP Web Service and SoapUI tool

Before we dive into details about calling SOAP API using ZappySys XML Driver, lets first understand what is SOAP API and how to create SOAP requests using SoapUI tool. You will learn more about this process in the later section. The video contains some fragment about using SOAP API in SSIS but just ignore that part because we will be calling Soap API using ZappySys ODBC Driver rather than SSIS Components.  

Using SoapUI to test SOAP API call / Create Request Body XML

Assuming you have downloaded and installed SoapUI from here, now we are ready to use WSDL for your SOAP Web Service Calls. If you do not have WSDL file or URL handy then contact your API provider (sometimes you just have to add ?wsdl at the end of your Service URL to get WSDL so try that. Example: http://mycompany/myservice?wsdl ). If you don't know what is WSDL then in short, WSDL is Web service Description Language (i.e. XML file which describes your SOAP Service). WSDL helps to craft SOAP API request Body for ZappySys XML Driver. So Let's get started.

1. Open SoapUI and click SOAP button to create new SOAP Project
2. Enter WSDL URL or File Path of WSDLFor example WSDL for our sample service can be accessed via this URL

   http://www.dneonline.com/calculator.asmx?wsdl

   
   Create new SOAP API Project in SoapUI tool for SOAP API Testing
3. Once WSDL is loaded you will see possible operations you can call for your SOAP Web Service.
4. If your web service requires credentials then you have to configure it. There are two common credential types for public services (SOAP WSS or BASIC )
   1. To use SOAP WSS Credentials select request node and enter UserId, Password, and WSS-PasswordType (PasswordText or PasswordHash)
      
      Configure SOAP WSS Credentials for SoapUI (SOAP API Testing Tool)
   2. To use BASIC Auth Credentials select request node and double-click it. At the bottom click on Auth (Basic) and From Authorization dropdown click Add New and Select Basic.
      Configure Basic Authorization for SoapUI (SOAP API Testing Tool)
5. Now you can test your request first Double-click on the request node to open request editor.
6. Change necessary parameters, remove optional or unwanted parameters. If you want to regenerate request you can click on Recreate default request toolbar icon.
   Create SOAP Request XML (With Optional Parameters)
7. Once your SOAP Request XML is ready, Click the Play button in the toolbar to execute SOAP API Request and Response will appear in Right side panel. Test SOAP API using SoapUI Tool (Change Default XML Body / Parameters, Execute and See Response)

Create DSN using ZappySys XML Driver to call SOAP API

Once you have tested your SOAP API in SoapUI tool, we are ready to use ZappySys XML driver to call SOAP API in your preferred BI tool or Programming language.

1. First open ODBC Data Sources (search ODBC in your start menu or go under ZappySys > ODBC PowerPack > ODBC 64 bit)
2. Goto System DSN Tab (or User DSN which is not used by Service account)
3. Click Add and Select ZappySys XML Driver ZappySys ODBC Driver for XML / SOAP API
4. Configure API URL, Request Method and Request Body as below ZappySys XML Driver - Calling SOAP API - Configure URL, Method, Body
5. (This step is Optional) If your SOAP API requires credentials then Select Connection Type to HTTP and configure as below.
   ZappySys XML Driver - Configure SOAP WSS Credentials or Basic Authorization (Userid, Password)
6. Configure-Request Headers as below (You can get it from Request > Raw tab from SoapUI after you test the request by clicking the Play button) Configure SOAP API Request Headers - ZappySys XML Driver
7. Once credentials entered you can select Filter to extract data from the desired node. Make sure to select array node (see special icon) or select the node which contains all necessary columns if you don't have array node. Select Filter - Extract data from nested XML / SOAP API Response (Denormalize Hierarchy)
8. If prompted select yes to treat selected node as Array (This is helpful when you expect one or more record for selected node) Treat selected node as XML Array Option for SOAP API Response XML

Preview SOAP API Response / Generate SQL Code for SOAP API Call

Once you configure settings for XML Driver now you can preview data or generate example code for desired language (e.g. C#, Python, Java, SQL Server). Go to Preview tab and you will see default query generated based on settings you entered in previous sections. Attributes listed in WITH clause are optional. If you omit attribute in WITH clause it will use it from Properties tab.

Preview Data

Preview SOAP API Response in ZappySys XML Driver

Generate Code Option

Generate Example Code for ZappySys Driver

Conclusion

In this article, we explored ideas about to loading data from virtually any REST / SOAP API into Google Sheet. We also discussed how to read from JSON file into Google Sheet. Using ODBC PowerPack you can integrate RESTful / JSON / XML /CSV data into your Google Sheet in minimum time. Download FREE trial and explore many other options not discussed in this article.

The post Import REST API in Google Sheet AppScript – JSON / SOAP XML / CSV appeared first on ZappySys Blog.

In this tutorial we will use REST API Task to call some ad-hoc API (e.g. get File List from Google Drive) and save output into Variable or File. We will use OAuth connection along with ZappySys JSON Source connector to read data from Google SpreadSheet (Use Drive API) and load into SQL Server (Export Google SpreadSheet to CSV).

Create Google API Project

First step to access any Google API is create an API Project in Google Console. If you don’t want to go through this then Skip this Step-1 and in the next section select Default OAuth App option on OAth Connection Manager (This is the most easiest option for now unless you want to use your own OAuth App).

Check this article for step-by-step instructions. When you follow these instructions make sure you enable Google Drive API (In the article it shows how to enable YouTube API as an example but you will need to enable Drive API for this article).

Create OAuth Connection Manager in SSIS

Once you create Google API project and obtained Client ID and Client Secret your next step is to create OAuth Connection Manager in SSIS. ZappySys OAuth connection manager comes with many predefined OAuth Providers (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Google etc) but you can also define custom OAuth settings for any OAuth enabled API.

To create SSIS OAuth 2.0 Connection for Google API perform following steps.

1. Download and Install SSIS PowerPack
2. Create new SSIS Package
3. Right click in Connection Manager Area and Click “New Connection”
4. When prompted select ZS-OAUTH connection type
5. On the OAuth Connection Manager Select Provider=Google Sheets + Drive.
6. You can keep “Use Default App” selected or choose Custom App. Click here to learn – how to register Custom Google App
7. If you choose the Custom App option then enter the below scopes (or click Select Scopes). If you choose the default app then it’s not required.

   This will allow read / write access to Drive Files or Sheet (E.g. Reading file content / Export file to CSV). You can use Scope browser to see many other available permissions.

   https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive
   https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file
   https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly
   https://www.googleapis.com/auth/spreadsheets
   https://www.googleapis.com/auth/spreadsheets.readonly

   Click Generate Token button.

   

   SSIS OAuth Connection Manager – Access Google Drive API using OAuth 2.0

8. You will see UI as below… Click Accept (You may have to scroll to see that button sometimes)
9. Click Test to see connection is working.

NOTE: If you don’t want to use Default OAuth App provided by ZappySys then select “Use Custom OAuth App” option (App created in previous section) specify your ClientID, ClientSecret.

Find Google Sheet ID for API call

Before we can read or write Sheet data in SSIS we need to know Google Driver File ID. We will use this ID in next few sections.

Easiest way to find File ID is look at the URL like below. If you need to know ID at runtime dynamically then refer last section.

Get Google Drive File ID for API call (Sheet ID)

Reading Google SpreadSheet Data in SSIS

Basically there are two ways you can export / read Google SpreadSheet data.

• Method-1 : Read Google SpreadSheet using SSIS JSON / REST API Source
  • In this approach we directly pull data from SpreadSheet using Core Google SpreadSheet.Values API to read particular Tab from Sheet and you can also specify Range. This is most effective way to read. Make sure you have v2.5.0.10807 or higher version (released after Aug 03 2017). New version added 2D array transformation options to parse multi-dimensional arrays found in SpreadSheet API JSON response.
• Method-2 : Read Google SpreadSheet using Flat File Source (as CSV)
  • Another approach is export SpreadSheet as CSV format. Then use Flat File Source to read that data and load into Target (E.g. SQL Server)

Method-1 : Read Google SpreadSheet using SSIS JSON / REST API Source

Now lets look at real steps to read Google SpreadSheet. To get values from specific tab and specific cell-row range you have to use Google SpreadSheet.Values API

In this example we will load below Google Spreadsheet into SQL Server

Step-By-Step : Loading Google SpreadSheet into SQL Server using SSIS

1. Drag and drop data flow on the control flow designer surface
2. Double click data flow and you will see SSIS Toolbox refreshed with new components
3. Drag ZS JSON Source from SSIS Toolbox onto Data flow designer surface
4. Double click JSON SOurce and configure below setting
   1. Enter your Spreadsheet URL in the following format
      

      https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/{your-file-id}/values/{cell-range}

      For example purpose we will use this public SpreadSheet provided by Google. If spreadsheet fileid is 1BxiMVs0XRA5nFMdKvBdBZjgmUUqptlbs74OgvE2upms (see previous section how to get fileid) and your tab name is Class Data and you like to extract data from A to F columns starting from 2nd row then your Cell range in the URL can be ‘Class Data’!A2:F
      Here is the actual URL we will use for demo
      

      https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/1BxiMVs0XRA5nFMdKvBdBZjgmUUqptlbs74OgvE2upms/values/'Class Data'!A2:F

      — OR —
      You can also enter like below (If you omit Tab name then first table is used)
      

      https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/1BxiMVs0XRA5nFMdKvBdBZjgmUUqptlbs74OgvE2upms/values/A1:F
      
      --OR-- Use below URL for to supply Column names manually (Start from A2)
      
      https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/1BxiMVs0XRA5nFMdKvBdBZjgmUUqptlbs74OgvE2upms/values/A2:F

      You can also enter like below, specify first row and last row
      

      https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/1BxiMVs0XRA5nFMdKvBdBZjgmUUqptlbs74OgvE2upms/values/A1:F101

   2. Check Use credentials and select OAuth connection we created in previous section
   3. Click on Select Filter and select values node and click OK  or you can directly enter following filter.
      

      $.values[*]

      

      Configure SSIS JSON/REST API Source – Read data from Google SpreadSheet API

   4. Now click on array Transformation tab. Now we will show you two different ways to configure column names.
   5. Method-1: Auto Detect Column Names (added in version 3.1.2)
      In recent version we added column less array transformation where we have option to detect first record as column name.
      1. Select Transform Type as Column less array
      2. Check option First line has column names like below example (Ignore direct Sample JSON – We provided for demo only. In your case it will be URL)
         

         JSON With 2D Array Pattern – Column names in First Row (Google Sheets API Pattern)

   6. Method-2: Manually Enter Column Names (For old version)
      1. Select Transform simple 2D array option from dropdown
      2. Check Specify columns list manually
      3. Enter column names (Must match the order and count based on range you selected)
         

         Student Name,Gender,Class Level,Home State,Major,Extracurricular Activity

         

         Configure SSIS JSON/REST API Source 2D Array Transformation for Google SpreadSheet API

   7. Now click Preview to see the data
      

      Configure SSIS JSON/REST API Source –
      Preview Google SpreadSheet Data

   8. Click OK to save UI
   9. Attach your JSON Source to target (e.g. OLEDB Destination for SQL Server Table).
   10. Configure Destination
       

       Configure SQL Server destination for Google SpreadSheet to SQL Data load

   11. Execute SSIS Package to load Google SpreadSheet data int SQL Server
       

       SSIS Example -Loading data from Google SpreadSheet into SQL Server Table

Method-2 : Read Google SpreadSheet using Flat File Source (as CSV)

Once we have Google Drive fileId we can perform following actions to export data into CSV file format. After that you can easily read CSV using SSIS FlatFile Source and load into SQL Server or other target.

Export Google SpreadSheet as CSV file using SSIS REST API Task

Here are the steps to export Google Drive SpreadSheet to CSV file

1. Just like previous section configure REST API Task
2. Enter following URL (See we used FileId from SSIS variable. You can hardcode too.
   

   https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/{{User::varFileId}}/export?mimeType=text/csv

3. Goto response tab. Check Save response and select “Save to file option”.
4. Enter file path.
5. Response character set select utf-8 (This will allow Unicode characters in response)
6. Click Test to see preview
   

   Export Google SpreadSheet to CSV file format using SSIS – Call Google Drive API to Export

7. Click OK to save

Load Google SpreadSheet data into SQL Server using SSIS (REST API Call)

Once you export SpreadSheet to CSV file you can easily consume it to load into SQL Server or any Target (e.g. Oracle, MySQL) using Native SSIS FlatFile Source and OLEDB/ADO.net Destination.

Write data to Google Spread Sheet

Now lets look at how to write to Google SpreadSheet. To write multiple rows in a single request you may use batchUpdate API. Also check this link to learn more.

Below is sample request to write data to columns and some data to rows (set majorDimension = COLUMNS to write vertical and use ROWS to write horizontally. You can mix multiple ways just like below example)

POST 
https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/1lkMEgu0zm2Q-cnPeoNZp4hqeIuASxXSpsrxtDDV89tg/values:batchUpdate
Authorization: Bearer ya29.Gl3WBFb3xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Content-Type: application/json
Accept: */*

{
  "valueInputOption": "USER_ENTERED",
  "data": [
    {
      "range": "Sheet2!A1:A4",
      "majorDimension": "COLUMNS",
      "values": [
        ["Item", "Wheel", "Door", "Engine"]
      ]
    },
    {
      "range": "Sheet2!B1:D2",
      "majorDimension": "ROWS",
      "values": [
        ["Cost", "Stocked", "Ship Date"],
        ["$20.50", "4", "3/1/2016"]
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Write data to Google SpreadSheet using REST API Task (OAuth 2.0 Connection)

Update Google Sheet Cells – Single Range (Set Values for multiple cells)

Now let’s look at the below example of updating multiple cells in google Sheet. For more information, you can see the example here. For parameter detail review this API documentation.

You can use SSIS REST API Task or Web API Destination to achieve Spread Sheet Update scenario. For simple example lets use REST API Task.

1. Drag and Drop ZS REST API Task on the control flow designer
2. Edit Task and select URL from Connection Method
3. Select OAuth Connection from the dropdown (Same connection we created in the previous section)
4. Enter the URL as below. Change Sheet ID, Range designator and API URL Parameters as per your need.
   https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/[Sheet-ID-Here]/values/[Range-Here]?[Parameters-Here] Example URL (some part masked with xxxxxxxx):  
   

   https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/1tuGO3_-2JlSmyiHwX6xxxxxxxxCHrORJc/values/Sheet1!A2:B4?valueInputOption=USER_ENTERED

5. Change Request Method to PUT
6. Change Request Content type to application/json
7. Enter Request Body as below (Assuming we need to update 4 cells)
   

   {
   "majorDimension": "ROWS",
     "values": [
      ["row1_cellA","row1_cellB"],
      ["row2_cellA","row2_cellB"],
     ]
   }

8. Click Test Request see it works.
   

   Calling Google Sheet API to Update Multiple Cell Values

Update Google Sheet Cells – Multiple Ranges

If you like to update values which needs to define multiple ranges then you need to use batchUpdate API. Import changes are you can’t include Range in the URL like previous example of Single Range Update. Also you have to use POST method and body with multiple ranges.

Example of sheet update with multiple range

POST https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/1tuGO3_-2JlSmyiHxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxc/values:batchUpdate?valueInputOption=USER_ENTERED
Content-Type: application/json

>>>> BODY <<<<<

{
  "data": [
    {
      "range": "Sheet1!A2:B3",
      "majorDimension": "ROWS",
      "values": [
        [
          "row1_cellA",
          "row1_cellB"
        ],
        [
          "row2_cellA",
          "row2_cellB"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "range": "Sheet1!D2:E3",
      "majorDimension": "ROWS",
      "values": [
        [
          "row1_cellD",
          "row1_cellE"
        ],
        [
          "row2_cellD",
          "row2_cellE"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Write SQL Server data to Google Sheet

Now let’s look at real world example. How to write data from SQL Server table or other source and send to Google Sheet.

1. Drag and Drop SSIS Data Flow Task from SSIS Toolbox
   
2. Drag source (e.g. OLEDB Source) and configure it to read from source like SQL Server Table
   

   OLE DB Source – Drag and Drop

3. Drag ZS JSON Generator.
   1. Connect Source to JSON Generator (blue arrow)
   2. Double click it to configure
   3. Select Output Mode as Single Dataset Array option for Mode. Enter Some Batch value (e.g. 500) this will make sure we send 500 rows at a time to Google API call. This way if we have many rows its not rejected by API call.
   4. Click Add element (Select Static Element) . Name: majorDimension and Value: ROWS
   5. Now click Add Document Array icon, name as values
   6. check Treat as 2D array option and click OK to save
   7. Now under values node click Add elements > Select Multiple Columns and Add columns you like to add.
   8. Click OK to save JSON GeneratorBelow is just an example How you can use Batch Settings to create JSON with N rows in each JSON document.
      
4. Now drag ZS Web API destination
   1. Connect JSON Generator to Web API destination (blue arrow)
   2. Double click it to configure
   3. Select same OAuth connection manager created in earlier section (Assuming you had all scopes with write permission)
   4. Now select Input column for Body (JSON Generator Output)
   5. Enter API call URL as below (Replace ID with your own id)
      

      https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/{your-file-id}/values/Sheet1!A2?valueInputOption=USER_ENTERED

   6. Select Request Method as PUT
   7. Select content type as application/json
   8. You can enter sample Body As below.
      

      {
      "majorDimension": "ROWS",
        "values": [
         ["Bob","bob@mycompany.com",55],
         ["Sam","sam@mycompany.com",57]
        ]
      }

   9. Click Test Request / Response button. Check your Sheet in browser after it see it updates?
   10. If you see 200 OK response means we are good to go.
   11. Run package and see your real data updated in Sheet.

Format Cells using Google Sheet API

Now let’s look at an example to format cell using Google Sheet API (e.g. Change Font, Color, Border, Background). For more information review this API documentation.

To format Sheet you first need to get SheetID  (keep in mind this is not same as spreadsheetId which you used in URL). SheetId is basically numeric ID of your Tab in WorkSheet.

Get SheetID

Request

GET https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/1tuGO3_-2JlSmyiHtxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Response

{
  "spreadsheetId": "1tuGO3_-2JlSmyiHwX6bRFUWqqrXlt4BRoX8rCHrORJc",
  "properties": {
    "title": "Test.xlsx",
    "locale": "en",
    "autoRecalc": "ON_CHANGE",
    "timeZone": "America/Los_Angeles",
    "defaultFormat": {
      "backgroundColor": {
        "red": 1,
        "green": 1,
        "blue": 1
      },
      "padding": {
        "right": 3,
        "left": 3
      },
      "verticalAlignment": "BOTTOM",
      "wrapStrategy": "OVERFLOW_CELL",
      "textFormat": {
        "foregroundColor": {},
        "fontFamily": "Calibri",
        "fontSize": 11,
        "bold": false,
        "italic": false,
        "strikethrough": false,
        "underline": false
      }
    }
  },
  "sheets": [
    {
      "properties": {
        "sheetId": 1896331083,
        "title": "Sheet1",
        "index": 0,
        "sheetType": "GRID",
        "gridProperties": {
          "rowCount": 1000,
          "columnCount": 26,
          "rowGroupControlAfter": true,
          "columnGroupControlAfter": true
        }
      }
    }
  ],
  "spreadsheetUrl": "https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tuGO3_-2JlSmyiHwX6bRFUWqqrXlt4BRoX8rCHrORJc/edit"
}

Notice that in above response we see “sheetId”: 1896331083. This ID we will use in the Update API to format Cells.

Update Borders Example

Here is the example of Google Sheet Formatting API updateBorders Request

POST https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/1tuGO3_-2JlSxxxxlt4BRoX8rCHrORJc:batchUpdate
Content-Type: application/json

>>>> BODY <<<<<

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "updateBorders": {
        "range": {
          "sheetId": 1896331083,
          "startRowIndex": 0,
          "endRowIndex": 10,
          "startColumnIndex": 0,
          "endColumnIndex": 6
        },
        "top": {
          "style": "DASHED",
          "width": 1,
          "color": {
            "blue": 1.0
          },
        },
        "bottom": {
          "style": "DASHED",
          "width": 1,
          "color": {
            "blue": 1.0
          },
        },
        "innerHorizontal": {
          "style": "DASHED",
          "width": 1,
          "color": {
            "blue": 1.0
          },
        },
      }
    }
  ]
}

Response

{
  "spreadsheetId": "1tuGO3_-2JlSmyiHwX6bRFUWqqrXlt4BRoX8rCHrORJc",
  "replies": [
    {}
  ]
}

Update Cell Font Style (Bold, Style, Color, Background)

Now let’s look at how to use repeateCellRequest to apply certain type of formatting to multiple cells. This may be color, font style, background color.

POST https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/1tuGO3xxxxxx4BRoX8rCHrORJc:batchUpdate
Content-Type: application/json

>>>> BODY <<<<<

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "repeatCell": {
        "range": {
          "sheetId": 1896331083,
          "startRowIndex": 0,
          "endRowIndex": 1
        },
        "cell": {
          "userEnteredFormat": {
            "backgroundColor": {
              "red": 0,
              "green": 0.5,
              "blue": 0.7,
              "alpha": 1.3
            },
            "textFormat": {
              "foregroundColor": {
                "red": 1
              },
              "bold": true,
              "italic": true,
              "strikethrough": true,
              "underline": true
            }
          }
        },
        "fields": "userEnteredFormat"
      }
    }
  ]
}

In above example we have applied textFormat and backgroundColor but you can use any of below sections.

Set Currency Formatting

Here is an example request to set currency formatting

POST https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/1tuGO3_-2JlSmyiHwX6bRFUWqqrXlt4BRoX8rCHrORJc:batchUpdate
Content-Type: application/json

>>>> BODY <<<<<

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "repeatCell": {
        "range": {
          "sheetId": 1896331083,
          "startRowIndex": 1,
          "startColumnIndex": 4,
          "endColumnIndex": 5
        },
        "cell": {
          "userEnteredFormat": {
            "numberFormat": {
              "type": "CURRENCY",
              "pattern": "$#,##0.00"
            }
          }
        },
        "fields": "userEnteredFormat.numberFormat"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Set Cell Validation

You can also set cell validation by calling following API call. This will restrict user’s ability to enter wrong data in certain cells.

POST https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/1tuGO3_-2JlSmyiHwX6bRFUWqqrXlt4BRoX8rCHrORJc:batchUpdate
Content-Type: application/json

>>>> BODY <<<<<

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "setDataValidation": {
        "range": {
          "sheetId": 1896331083,
          "startRowIndex": 1,
          "startColumnIndex": 0,
          "endColumnIndex": 6
        },
        "rule": {
          "condition": {
            "type": "ONE_OF_LIST",
            "values": [
              {
                "userEnteredValue": "Red"
              },
              {
                "userEnteredValue": "Green"
              },
              {
                "userEnteredValue": "Yellow"
              }
            ]
          },
          "inputMessage": "Color must be Red, Yellow or Green",
          "strict": true,
          "showCustomUi": true
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Dynamically obtain File ID for Google Drive REST API call

Once OAuth connection is defined you can now call any valid API from Google based on Permission you requested in OAuth Connection. OAuth connection takes care of renewing you Token and passing Authorization as per OAuth standard. All these protocol complexity is hidden from you.

First step to get data from Google SpreadSheet using REST API call is get fileId of the Google Drive File you want to read. The easiest way to know file ID is call following API. Below API call returns name, ID and other information about file(s). You can get only fileID and use that in Next Section to export Google SpreadSheet to CSV format.

https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files

OR

https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/?q=name%3D'Customers'

NOTE: For more information about searching files in Google drive / getting list of files using search expression language check this link. Make sure expression is URL encoded (e.g. name=’Customers’ should be passed as name%3D’Customers’)

Above API returns response as below. Notice the name and fileId. We will use fileId when calling export API in next section.

{
 "kind": "drive#fileList",
 "files": [
  {
   "kind": "drive#file",
   "id": "1lkMEgu0zm2Q-cnPeoNZp4hqeIuASxXSpsrxtDDV89tg",
   "name": "Customers",
   "mimeType": "application/vnd.google-apps.spreadsheet"
  },
  {
   "kind": "drive#file",
   "id": "0B6UyXr6ZlIFTc3RhcnRlcl9maWxl",
   "name": "How to get started with Drive",
   "mimeType": "application/pdf"
  }
 ]
}

If you want to automate retrieval of fileId from document name then perform the following steps.

1. In the SSIS package Control flow. Drag and drop ZS REST API Task from SSIS toolbox
2. In the Request Access mode, select “URL from Connection” option
3. Select OAuth connection manager (Created in Section-2)
4. Enter URL as below (It will return any file name equals to Customers (%3D is encoded value for = sign)
   

   https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/?q=name%3D'Customers'

5. Click Test (You will see file information)
   

   Get Google Drive File List in SSIS – Call Google Drive API to search file by name or expression

6. If you want to extract only fileID from full JSON then go to response tab
7. Select Format=JSON, Enter following JSONPath expression to extract only fileId from first record
   

   $.files[0].id

8. Check save response content, select SSIS variable where you want to save fileId as below. Now click Test to see preview of response. You will notice now only fileId will be returned from full JSON response.
   

   Get Google Drive fileid from file name using API call in SSIS

9. Click OK to save task

Conclusion

Google Drive API and Google Sheets API provides a great way to automate file related functionality. However, to call Google API  you have to use SDK / coding approach (e.g. C#, Java, Python, Ruby). Luckily ZappySys SSIS PowerPack provides a great way to integrate any Google API call via simple drag and drop approach without coding. Try out yourself see how long it takes to call virtually any REST API.

The post How to read / write Google SpreadSheet using SSIS appeared first on ZappySys Blog.