Connect to BigQuery Data in DBeaver

The CData ODBC Driver for Google BigQuery enables access to live data from BigQuery under the ODBC standard, allowing you work with BigQuery data in a wide variety of BI, reporting, and ETL tools and directly, using familiar SQL queries. This article shows how to manage BigQuery data with visual tools in DBeaver like the query browser.

The CData ODBC drivers offer unmatched performance for interacting with live BigQuery data in DBeaver due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from DBeaver to BigQuery, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to BigQuery and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations (often SQL functions and JOIN operations) client-side. With built-in dynamic metadata querying, you can manage and analyze BigQuery data.

Connect to BigQuery

If you have not already done so, provide values for the required connection properties in the data source name (DSN). You can configure the DSN using the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator. This is also the last step of the driver installation. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the Help documentation for a guide to using the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure a DSN.

Google uses the OAuth authentication standard. To access Google APIs on behalf of individual users, you can use the embedded credentials or you can register your own OAuth app.

OAuth also enables you to use a service account to connect on behalf of users in a Google Apps domain. To authenticate with a service account, you will need to register an application to obtain the OAuth JWT values.

In addition to the OAuth values, you will need to specify the DatasetId and ProjectId. See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for a guide to using OAuth.

Finally, set the "Map To WVarchar connection property to False in the DSN Configuration window for the driver. This configuration will allow string types to be mapped to SQL_VARCHAR and prevent SQL_WVARCHAR types from being displayed as NULL.

Connecting to the BigQuery ODBC Data Source in DBeaver

1. Open the DBeaver application and in the Database menu, select the New Database Connection option.
2. In the 'Connect to a database' window, select ODBC and click Next.
3. In the Database/Schema field, enter the DSN name (CData BigQuery Source by default). It will be automatically added to the JDBC URL as well.
4. Click the Test Connection button. You should receive a 'Connected' message after DBeaver has detected the DSN, along with details about the driver if the connection is successful.

Query BigQuery Data

You can now query information from the tables exposed by the data source connection. You can expand the database structure in order to view all the tables. You can retrieve the table's data by right-clicking on a table name and selecting View data. The data will then be available in the Data tab.

Free Trial & More Information

At this point, you have connected to live BigQuery data from DBeaver. For more information, visit the CData ODBC Driver page. Download a free, 30-day trial and start working live BigQuery data DBeaver today.