How to use SQLAlchemy ORM to access Freshsales Data in Python

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

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

Connecting to Freshsales Data

Connecting to Freshsales 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.

Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the Freshsales Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Freshsales.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Freshsales (see below).

Freshsales API Profile Settings

Retrieve your API Key from Profile Settings > API Settings in the top-right corner of Freshsales. Your Domain is the subdomain from your portal URL.

Follow the procedure below to install SQLAlchemy and start accessing Freshsales 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 Freshsales Data in Python

You can now connect with a connection string. Use the create_engine function to create an Engine for working with Freshsales 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("api:///?Profile=C:\profiles\Freshsales.apip&ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key&Domain=your_subdomain'")

Declare a Mapping Class for Freshsales 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 Account 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 Account(base):
	__tablename__ = "Account"
	Id = Column(String,primary_key=True)
	Name = Column(String)
	...

Query Freshsales 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("api:///?Profile=C:\profiles\Freshsales.apip&ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key&Domain=your_subdomain'")
factory = sessionmaker(bind=engine)
session = factory()
for instance in session.query(Account).filter_by(IsDeleted="false"):
	print("Id: ", instance.Id)
	print("Name: ", instance.Name)
	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

Account_table = Account.metadata.tables["Account"]
for instance in session.execute(Account_table.select().where(Account_table.c.IsDeleted == "false")):
	print("Id: ", instance.Id)
	print("Name: ", instance.Name)
	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 API Driver for Python to start building Python apps and scripts with connectivity to Freshsales data. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.