Use CData Connect Cloud to access MySQL data in Google Apps Script.
Google Apps Script gives you the ability to create custom functionality within your Google documents, including Google Sheets, Google Docs, and more. With CData Connect Cloud, you get a SQL Server interface for any of the 100+ sources supported by CData, including MySQL. The SQL Server protocol is natively supported through the JDBC service in Google Apps Script, so by utilizing Connect Cloud, you gain access to live MySQL data within your Google documents.
This article shows how to connect to MySQL in Connect Cloud and provides sample scripting for processing MySQL data in a Google Spreadsheet.
Our script only reads data from a specified table, but you can easily extend the script to incorporate update functionality.
Connect to MySQL in Connect Cloud
CData Connect Cloud uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.
- Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
- Select "MySQL" from the Add Connection panel
- Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to MySQL.
The Server and Port properties must be set to a MySQL server. If IntegratedSecurity is set to false, then User and Password must be set to valid user credentials. Optionally, Database can be set to connect to a specific database. If not set, tables from all databases will be returned.
- Click Create & Test
- Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add MySQL Connection page and update the User-based permissions.
Add a Personal Access Token
If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.
- Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
- On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
- Give your PAT a name and click Create.
- The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.
With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to MySQL data from Google Apps Script.
Connect to MySQL Data with Apps Script
At this point, you should have configured a connection MySQL in Connect Cloud. All that is left new is to use Google Apps Script to access Connect Cloud and work with your MySQL data in Google Sheets.
In this section, you will create a script (with a menu option to call the script) to populate a spreadsheet with MySQL data. We have created a sample script and explained the different parts. You can view the raw script at the and of the article.
1. Create an Empty Script
To create a script for your Google Sheet, click Tools Script editor from the Google Sheets menu:
2. Declare Class Variables
Create a handful of class variables to be available for any functions created in the script.
//replace the variables in this block with real values as needed
var address = 'tds.cdata.com:14333';
var user = 'CONNECT_USER'; // [email protected]
var userPwd = 'CONNECT_USER_PAT';
var db = 'MySQL1';
var dbUrl = 'jdbc:sqlserver://' + address + ';databaseName=' + db;
3. Add a Menu Option
This function adds a menu option to your Google Sheet, allowing you to use the UI to call your function.
function onOpen() {
var spreadsheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();
var menuItems = [
{name: 'Write data to a sheet', functionName: 'connectToMySQLData'}
];
spreadsheet.addMenu('MySQL Data', menuItems);
}
4. Write a Helper Function
This function is used to find the first empty row in a spreadsheet.
/*
* Finds the first empty row in a spreadsheet by scanning an array of columns
* @return The row number of the first empty row.
*/
function getFirstEmptyRowByColumnArray(spreadSheet, column) {
var column = spreadSheet.getRange(column + ":" + column);
var values = column.getValues(); // get all data in one call
var ct = 0;
while ( values[ct] && values[ct][0] != "" ) {
ct++;
}
return (ct+1);
}
5. Write a Function to Write MySQL Data to a Spreadsheet
The function below writes the MySQL data, using the Google Apps Script JDBC functionality to connect to Connect Cloud, SELECT data, and populate a spreadsheet. When the script is run, two input boxes will appear:
The first one asks the user to input the name of a sheet to hold the data (if the spreadsheet does not exist, the function creates it).
The second asks the user to input the name of a MySQL table to read. If an invalid table is chosen, an error message appears and the function is exited.
Note, while the function is designed for use as a menu option, you can extend it for use as a spreadsheet formula.
/*
* Reads data from a specified MySQL 'table' and writes it to the specified sheet.
* (If the specified sheet does not exist, it is created.)
*/
function connectToMySQLData() {
var thisWorkbook = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();
//select a sheet and create it if it does not exist
var selectedSheet = Browser.inputBox('Which sheet would you like the data to post to?',Browser.Buttons.OK_CANCEL);
if (selectedSheet == 'cancel')
return;
if (thisWorkbook.getSheetByName(selectedSheet) == null)
thisWorkbook.insertSheet(selectedSheet);
var resultSheet = thisWorkbook.getSheetByName(selectedSheet);
var rowNum = 2;
//select a MySQL 'table'
var table = Browser.inputBox('Which table would you like to pull data from?',Browser.Buttons.OK_CANCEL);
if (table == 'cancel')
return;
var name = Jdbc.getConnection(dbUrl, {
user: user,
password: userPwd
}
);
//confirm that var table is a valid table/view
var dbMetaData = name.getMetaData();
var tableSet = dbMetaData.getTables(null, null, table, null);
var validTable = false;
while (tableSet.next()) {
var tempTable = tableSet.getString(3);
if (table.toUpperCase() == tempTable.toUpperCase()){
table = tempTable;
validTable = true;
break;
}
}
tableSet.close();
if (!validTable) {
Browser.msgBox("Invalid table name: " + table, Browser.Buttons.OK);
return;
}
var stmt = name.createStatement();
var results = stmt.executeQuery('SELECT * FROM ' + table);
var rsmd = results.getMetaData();
var numCols = rsmd.getColumnCount();
//if the sheet is empty, populate the first row with the headers
var firstEmptyRow = getFirstEmptyRowByColumnArray(resultSheet, "A");
if (firstEmptyRow == 1) {
//collect column names
var headers = new Array(new Array(numCols));
for (var col = 0; col < numCols; col++){
headers[0][col] = rsmd.getColumnName(col+1);
}
resultSheet.getRange(1, 1, headers.length, headers[0].length).setValues(headers);
} else {
rowNum = firstEmptyRow;
}
//write rows of MySQL data to the sheet
var values = new Array(new Array(numCols));
while (results.next()) {
for (var col = 0; col < numCols; col++) {
values[0][col] = results.getString(col + 1);
}
resultSheet.getRange(rowNum, 1, 1, numCols).setValues(values);
rowNum++;
}
results.close();
stmt.close();
}
When the function is completed, you have a spreadsheet populated with your MySQL data, and you can now leverage all of the calculating, graphing, and charting functionality of Google Sheets anywhere you have access to the Internet.
Complete Google Apps Script
//replace the variables in this block with real values as needed
var address = 'tds.cdata.com:14333';
var user = 'CONNECT_USER'; // [email protected]
var userPwd = 'CONNECT_USER_PAT';
var db = 'MySQL1';
var dbUrl = 'jdbc:sqlserver://' + address + ';databaseName=' + db;
function onOpen() {
var spreadsheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();
var menuItems = [
{name: 'Write table data to a sheet', functionName: 'connectToMySQLData'}
];
spreadsheet.addMenu('MySQL Data', menuItems);
}
/*
* Finds the first empty row in a spreadsheet by scanning an array of columns
* @return The row number of the first empty row.
*/
function getFirstEmptyRowByColumnArray(spreadSheet, column) {
var column = spreadSheet.getRange(column + ":" + column);
var values = column.getValues(); // get all data in one call
var ct = 0;
while ( values[ct] && values[ct][0] != "" ) {
ct++;
}
return (ct+1);
}
/*
* Reads data from a specified 'table' and writes it to the specified sheet.
* (If the specified sheet does not exist, it is created.)
*/
function connectToMySQLData() {
var thisWorkbook = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();
//select a sheet and create it if it does not exist
var selectedSheet = Browser.inputBox('Which sheet would you like the data to post to?',Browser.Buttons.OK_CANCEL);
if (selectedSheet == 'cancel')
return;
if (thisWorkbook.getSheetByName(selectedSheet) == null)
thisWorkbook.insertSheet(selectedSheet);
var resultSheet = thisWorkbook.getSheetByName(selectedSheet);
var rowNum = 2;
//select a MySQL 'table'
var table = Browser.inputBox('Which table would you like to pull data from?',Browser.Buttons.OK_CANCEL);
if (table == 'cancel')
return;
var name = Jdbc.getConnection(dbUrl, {
user: user,
password: userPwd
}
);
//confirm that var table is a valid table/view
var dbMetaData = name.getMetaData();
var tableSet = dbMetaData.getTables(null, null, table, null);
var validTable = false;
while (tableSet.next()) {
var tempTable = tableSet.getString(3);
if (table.toUpperCase() == tempTable.toUpperCase()){
table = tempTable;
validTable = true;
break;
}
}
tableSet.close();
if (!validTable) {
Browser.msgBox("Invalid table name: " + table, Browser.Buttons.OK);
return;
}
var stmt = name.createStatement();
var results = stmt.executeQuery('SELECT * FROM ' + table);
var rsmd = results.getMetaData();
var numCols = rsmd.getColumnCount();
//if the sheet is empty, populate the first row with the headers
var firstEmptyRow = getFirstEmptyRowByColumnArray(resultSheet, "A");
if (firstEmptyRow == 1) {
//collect column names
var headers = new Array(new Array(numCols));
for (var col = 0; col < numCols; col++){
headers[0][col] = rsmd.getColumnName(col+1);
}
resultSheet.getRange(1, 1, headers.length, headers[0].length).setValues(headers);
} else {
rowNum = firstEmptyRow;
}
//write rows of MySQL data to the sheet
var values = new Array(new Array(numCols));
while (results.next()) {
for (var col = 0; col < numCols; col++) {
values[0][col] = results.getString(col + 1);
}
resultSheet.getRange(rowNum, 1, 1, numCols).setValues(values);
rowNum++;
}
results.close();
stmt.close();
}
