Use Dash to Build Web Apps on Bullhorn CRM Data via CData Connect AI

The rich ecosystem of Python modules lets you get to work quickly and integrate your systems more effectively. With the CData Connect AI Python SDK, the pandas module, and the Dash framework, you can build Bullhorn CRM-connected web applications for Bullhorn CRM data. This article shows how to connect to Connect AI and use pandas and Dash to build a simple web app for visualizing Bullhorn CRM data.

The Connect AI Python SDK (cdata-connect-ai) is a DB-API 2.0 (PEP 249) compliant client, so pandas can read query results directly from the SDK connection object. There is no driver to install per source: connect with a Personal Access Token and build your app.

Connect to Bullhorn CRM 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 "Bullhorn CRM" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Bullhorn CRM.

   Begin by providing your Bullhorn CRM account credentials in the following:

   • DataCenterCode: Set this to the data center code which responds to your data center. Refer to the list of data-center-specific Bullhorn API URLs: https://bullhorn.github.io/Data-Center-URLs/

   If you are uncertain about your data center code, codes like CLS2, CLS21, etc. are cluster IDs that are contained in a user's browser URL (address bar) once they are logged in.

   Example: https://cls21.bullhornstaffing.com/BullhornSTAFFING/MainFrame.jsp?#no-ba... indicates that the logged in user is on CLS21.

   Authenticating with OAuth

   Bullhorn CRM uses the OAuth 2.0 authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, create and configure a custom OAuth app. See the Help documentation for more information.

   
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 Required Modules

Install the SDK (with the pandas extra), Dash, and Plotly using the pip utility:

pip install "cdata-connect-ai[full]"
pip install dash
pip install plotly

Build a Web App on Bullhorn CRM Data in Python

Once the required modules are installed, you are ready to build the web app. Code snippets follow, but the full source code is available at the end of the article.

First, import the modules, then connect to Connect AI with your account email and PAT and read Bullhorn CRM data into a DataFrame. Identifiers are three-part: <Connection>.<Schema>.<Table>, where the connection name defaults to the source name (for example, BullhornCRM1).

import dash
from dash import dcc, html
import pandas as pd
import plotly.graph_objs as go
import cdata_connect_ai

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

df = pd.read_sql(
    "SELECT Id, CandidateName "
    "FROM [BullhornCRM1].[BullhornCRM].[Candidate] "
    "WHERE CandidateName = 'Jane Doe'",
    conn,
)

conn.close()

Configure the App and Layout

With the query results stored in a DataFrame, build a bar graph from the Bullhorn CRM data and configure the app layout.

app = dash.Dash(__name__)
app.title = 'CData Connect AI + Dash'

trace = go.Bar(x=df['Id'], y=df['CandidateName'], name='Id')

app.layout = html.Div(
    children=[
        html.H1("CData Connect AI + Dash", style={'textAlign': 'center'}),
        dcc.Graph(
            id='example-graph',
            figure={
                'data': [trace],
                'layout': go.Layout(title='Bullhorn CRM Candidate Data', barmode='stack'),
            },
        ),
    ],
    className="container",
)

Set the App to Run

With the connection, app, and layout configured, you are ready to run the app.

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run(debug=True)

Now, use Python to run the web app and a browser to view the Bullhorn CRM data.

python bullhorncrm-dash.py

More Information and Free Trial

Now you can build interactive Dash web apps on live Bullhorn CRM data using the CData Connect AI Python SDK. For more information on connecting to Bullhorn CRM (and hundreds of other data sources), visit the Connect AI page. Sign up for a free trial and start building web apps on live Bullhorn CRM data in Python.

Full Source Code

import dash
from dash import dcc, html
import pandas as pd
import plotly.graph_objs as go
import cdata_connect_ai

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

df = pd.read_sql(
    "SELECT Id, CandidateName "
    "FROM [BullhornCRM1].[BullhornCRM].[Candidate] "
    "WHERE CandidateName = 'Jane Doe'",
    conn,
)

conn.close()

app = dash.Dash(__name__)
app.title = 'CData Connect AI + Dash'

trace = go.Bar(x=df['Id'], y=df['CandidateName'], name='Id')

app.layout = html.Div(
    children=[
        html.H1("CData Connect AI + Dash", style={'textAlign': 'center'}),
        dcc.Graph(
            id='example-graph',
            figure={
                'data': [trace],
                'layout': go.Layout(title='Bullhorn CRM Candidate Data', barmode='stack'),
            },
        ),
    ],
    className="container",
)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run(debug=True)