Getting Started with the CData Connect AI Python SDK for Azure Data Catalog

The CData Connect AI Python SDK (cdata-connect-ai) is a DB-API 2.0 (PEP 249) compliant client that lets you fetch and act on live Azure Data Catalog data with standard Python database code. Because Connect AI provides the connectivity: you install one package, authenticate with a Personal Access Token, and query Azure Data Catalog (and every other source connected in Connect AI) using the same familiar connect() / cursor() / fetchall() pattern you already know from libraries like sqlite3 and psycopg2.

This guide walks through connecting Azure Data Catalog in Connect AI, generating a Personal Access Token, installing the SDK, and reading (and, where supported, writing) live Azure Data Catalog data.

Prerequisites

• An account in CData Connect AI
• Python 3.8 or higher
• An active Azure Data Catalog account with valid credentials

Connect to Azure Data Catalog in Connect AI

CData Connect AI uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "Azure Data Catalog" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Azure Data Catalog.

   You can optionally set the following to read the different catalog data returned from Azure Data Catalog.

   CatalogName: Set this to the CatalogName associated with your Azure Data Catalog. To get your Catalog name, navigate to your Azure Portal home page > Data Catalog > Catalog Name

   Connect Using OAuth Authentication

   You must use OAuth to authenticate with Azure Data Catalog. OAuth requires the authenticating user to interact with Azure Data Catalog using the browser. For more information, refer to the OAuth section in the help documentation.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab and update the user-based permissions.

Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT)

The Python SDK authenticates to Connect AI with your account email and a Personal Access Token (PAT). It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each application to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the Settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create.
4. The PAT is only visible at creation, so copy it and store it securely.

Install the SDK

Install the SDK from PyPI with pip:

pip install cdata-connect-ai

Connect and Run Your First Query

Connect with your account email and PAT, then query sys_tables to discover every table available across your connected sources. Identifiers in Connect AI are three-part: <Connection>.<Schema>.<Table>, where the connection name defaults to the source name (for example, AzureDataCatalog1).

import cdata_connect_ai

conn = cdata_connect_ai.connect(
    username="[email protected]",
    password="<your_pat>",
)
cur = conn.cursor()

# Discover what's available across your connected sources
cur.execute("SELECT CatalogName, SchemaName, TableName FROM sys_tables LIMIT 25")

for row in cur.fetchall():
    print(row)

Pick any table from the results and query it directly:

cur.execute(
    "SELECT DslAddressDatabase, Type "
    "FROM [AzureDataCatalog1].[AzureDataCatalog].[Tables] "
    "LIMIT 10"
)

for row in cur.fetchall():
    print(row)

Azure Data Catalog is a read-only source in Connect AI, so the SDK supports queries but not INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE. Close the connection when you are finished:

conn.close()

That is the entire workflow: one package, a PAT, and standard DB-API calls. Because the SDK returns a normal DB-API connection, it drops straight into the rest of the Python data ecosystem. From here you can load Azure Data Catalog data into pandas, build ETL pipelines with petl, or power a Dash web app, all using this same connection.

More Information and Free Trial

Now you can query live Azure Data Catalog data from Python through the CData Connect AI Python SDK. For more information on connecting to Azure Data Catalog (and hundreds of other data sources), visit the Connect AI page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live Azure Data Catalog data in Python.