How to use SQLAlchemy ORM to access Oracle Eloqua Reporting Data in Python

The rich ecosystem of Python modules lets you get to work quickly and integrate your systems effectively. With the CData Python Connector for Oracle Eloqua Reporting and the SQLAlchemy toolkit, you can build Oracle Eloqua Reporting-connected Python applications and scripts. This article shows how to use SQLAlchemy to connect to Oracle Eloqua Reporting data to query Oracle Eloqua Reporting data.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData Python Connector offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Oracle Eloqua Reporting data in Python. When you issue complex SQL queries from Oracle Eloqua Reporting, the CData Connector pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Oracle Eloqua Reporting and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations).

Connecting to Oracle Eloqua Reporting Data

Connecting to Oracle Eloqua Reporting data looks just like connecting to any relational data source. Create a connection string using the required connection properties. For this article, you will pass the connection string as a parameter to the create_engine function.

Oracle Eloqua Reporting supports the following authentication methods:

• Basic authentication (User and Password)
• OAuth 2.0 code grant flow
• OAuth 2.0 password grant flow

Basic Authentication (User and Password)

To perform authentication with a user and password, specify these properties:

• AuthScheme: Basic.
• Company: The company name associated with your Oracle Eloqua Reporting account.
• User: Your login account name.
• Password: Your login password.

OAuth Authentication (Code Grant Flow)

To authenticate with the OAuth code grant flow, you must set AuthScheme to OAuth and create a custom OAuth application. For information about how to create a custom OAuth application, see the Help documentation.

Then set the following properties:

• InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. Used to automatically get and refresh the OAuthAccessToken.
• OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your application.
• OAuthClientSecret: The client secret that was assigned when you registered your application.
• CallbackURL: The redirect URI that was defined when you registered your application.

When you connect, the driver opens Oracle Eloqua Reporting's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application. When the access token expires, the driver refreshes it automatically.

OAuth Authentication (Password Grant Flow)

With the OAuth password grant flow, you can use your OAuth application's credentials alongside your user credentials to authenticate without the need to grant permission manually via a browser prompt. You must create an OAuth app (see the Help documentation) to use this authentication method.

Set the following properties:

• AuthScheme: OAuthPassword
• Company: The company's unique identifier.
• User: Your login account name.
• Password: Your login password.
• OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
• OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.

Follow the procedure below to install SQLAlchemy and start accessing Oracle Eloqua Reporting through Python objects.

Install Required Modules

Use the pip utility to install the SQLAlchemy toolkit and SQLAlchemy ORM package:

pip install sqlalchemy
pip install sqlalchemy.orm

Be sure to import the appropriate modules:

from sqlalchemy import create_engine, String, Column
from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker

Model Oracle Eloqua Reporting Data in Python

You can now connect with a connection string. Use the create_engine function to create an Engine for working with Oracle Eloqua Reporting data.

NOTE: Users should URL encode the any connection string properties that include special characters. For more information, refer to the SQL Alchemy documentation.

engine = create_engine("oracleeloquareporting:///?AuthScheme=Basic&User=user&Password=password&Company=MyCompany")

Declare a Mapping Class for Oracle Eloqua Reporting Data

After establishing the connection, declare a mapping class for the table you wish to model in the ORM (in this article, we will model the table). Use the sqlalchemy.ext.declarative.declarative_base function and create a new class with some or all of the fields (columns) defined.

base = declarative_base()
class (base):
	__tablename__ = ""
	 = Column(String,primary_key=True)
	 = Column(String)
	...

Query Oracle Eloqua Reporting Data

With the mapping class prepared, you can use a session object to query the data source. After binding the Engine to the session, provide the mapping class to the session query method.

Using the query Method

engine = create_engine("oracleeloquareporting:///?AuthScheme=Basic&User=user&Password=password&Company=MyCompany")
factory = sessionmaker(bind=engine)
session = factory()
for instance in session.query().filter_by(=""):
	print(": ", instance.)
	print(": ", instance.)
	print("---------")

Alternatively, you can use the execute method with the appropriate table object. The code below works with an active session.

Using the execute Method

_table = .metadata.tables[""]
for instance in session.execute(_table.select().where(_table.c. == "")):
	print(": ", instance.)
	print(": ", instance.)
	print("---------")

For examples of more complex querying, including JOINs, aggregations, limits, and more, refer to the Help documentation for the extension.

Free Trial & More Information

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData Python Connector for Oracle Eloqua Reporting to start building Python apps and scripts with connectivity to Oracle Eloqua Reporting data. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.