Extend Google Sheets with SQL Analysis Services Data

Interact with SQL Analysis Services data from Google Sheets through macros, custom functions, and add-ons. The CData API Server enables connectivity to SQL Analysis Services data from cloud-based and mobile applications like Google Sheets. The API Server is a lightweight Web application that produces OData services for SQL Analysis Services.

Google Apps Script can consume these OData services in the JSON format. This article shows how to create a simple add-on that populates a Google Spreadsheet with Adventure_Works data.

Set Up the API Server

If you have not already done so, download the CData API Server. Once you have installed the API Server, follow the steps below to begin producing secure SQL Analysis Services OData services:

Connect to SQL Analysis Services

To work with SQL Analysis Services data from Google Sheets, we start by creating and configuring a SQL Analysis Services connection. Follow the steps below to configure the API Server to connect to SQL Analysis Services data:

1. First, navigate to the Connections page.
2. Click Add Connection and then search for and select the SQL Analysis Services connection.
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to SQL Analysis Services.

   To connect, provide authentication and set the Url property to a valid SQL Server Analysis Services endpoint. You can connect to SQL Server Analysis Services instances hosted over HTTP with XMLA access. See the Microsoft documentation to configure HTTP access to SQL Server Analysis Services.

   To secure connections and authenticate, set the corresponding connection properties, below. The data provider supports the major authentication schemes, including HTTP and Windows, as well as SSL/TLS.

   • HTTP Authentication

     Set AuthScheme to "Basic" or "Digest" and set User and Password. Specify other authentication values in CustomHeaders.

   • Windows (NTLM)

     Set the Windows User and Password and set AuthScheme to "NTLM".

   • Kerberos and Kerberos Delegation

     To authenticate with Kerberos, set AuthScheme to NEGOTIATE. To use Kerberos delegation, set AuthScheme to KERBEROSDELEGATION. If needed, provide the User, Password, and KerberosSPN. By default, the data provider attempts to communicate with the SPN at the specified Url.

   • SSL/TLS:

     By default, the data provider attempts to negotiate SSL/TLS by checking the server's certificate against the system's trusted certificate store. To specify another certificate, see the SSLServerCert property for the available formats.

   You can then access any cube as a relational table: When you connect the data provider retrieves SSAS metadata and dynamically updates the table schemas. Instead of retrieving metadata every connection, you can set the CacheLocation property to automatically cache to a simple file-based store.

   See the Getting Started section of the CData documentation, under Retrieving Analysis Services Data, to execute SQL-92 queries to the cubes.

   
4. After configuring the connection, click Save & Test to confirm a successful connection.

Configure API Server Users

Next, create a user to access your SQL Analysis Services data through the API Server. You can add and configure users on the Users page. Follow the steps below to configure and create a user:

1. On the Users page, click Add User to open the Add User dialog.
2. Next, set the Role, Username, and Privileges properties and then click Add User.
3. An Authtoken is then generated for the user. You can find the Authtoken and other information for each user on the Users page:

Creating API Endpoints for SQL Analysis Services

Having created a user, you are ready to create API endpoints for the SQL Analysis Services tables:

1. First, navigate to the API page and then click Add Table .
2. Select the connection you wish to access and click Next.
3. With the connection selected, create endpoints by selecting each table and then clicking Confirm.

Gather the OData Url

Having configured a connection to SQL Analysis Services data, created a user, and added resources to the API Server, you now have an easily accessible REST API based on the OData protocol for those resources. From the API page in API Server, you can view and copy the API Endpoints for the API:

Retrieve SQL Analysis Services Data

Open the Script Editor from your spreadsheet by clicking Tools -> Script Editor. In the Script Editor, add the following function to populate a spreadsheet with the results of an OData query:

function retrieve(){
  var url = "https://MyUrl/api.rsc/Adventure_Works?select=Id,Fiscal_Year,Sales_Amount,Fiscal_Year";
  var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url,{
    headers: {"Authorization": "Basic " + Utilities.base64Encode("MyUser:MyAuthtoken")}
  }); 
  var json = response.getContentText();
  var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();
  var a1 = sheet.getRange('a1');
  var index=1;
  var adventure_works = JSON.parse(json).value;

  var cols = [["Id","Fiscal_Year","Sales_Amount","Fiscal_Year"]]; 
  sheet.getRange(1,1,1,4).setValues(cols);

  row=2;
  for(var i in adventure_works){
    for (var j in adventure_works[i]) {
      switch (j) {
        case "Id":
          a1.offset(row,0).setValue(account[i][j]);
          break;
        case "Fiscal_Year":
          a1.offset(row,1).setValue(account[i][j]);
          break;
        case "Sales_Amount":
          a1.offset(row,2).setValue(account[i][j]);
          break;
        case "Fiscal_Year":
          a1.offset(row,3).setValue(account[i][j]);
          break;
      }      
    }
    row++;
  }
}

Follow the steps below to add an installable trigger to populate the spreadsheet when opened:

1. Click Resources -> Current Project's Triggers -> Add a New Trigger.
2. Select retrieve in the Run menu.
3. Select From Spreadsheet.
4. Select On open.

After closing the dialog, you are prompted to allow access to the application.

You can test the script by clicking Publish -> Test as Add-On. Select the version, installation type, and spreadsheet to create a test configuration. You can then select and run the test configuration.