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Get the Report →How to connect to FTP Data from Google Apps Script
Use CData Connect Server to access FTP data in Google Apps Script.
Google Apps Script gives you the ability to create custom functionality within your Google documents, including Google Sheets, Google Docs, and more. With CData Connect Server, you get a SQL Server interface for any of the 200+ sources supported by CData, including FTP. The SQL Server protocol is natively supported through the JDBC service in Google Apps Script, so by utilizing Connect Server, you gain access to live FTP data within your Google documents.
This article shows how to create a virtual database for FTP in Connect Server and provides sample scripting for processing FTP data in a Google Spreadsheet.
Our script only reads data from a specified table, but you can easily extend the script to incorporate update functionality.
CData Connect Server provides a pure SQL Server interface for FTP, allowing you to easily build reports from live FTP data in Apps Script — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you build visualizations, Apps Script generates SQL queries to gather data. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Server pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to FTP, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return the requested FTP data.
Create a Virtual SQL Server Database for FTP Data
CData Connect Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.
- Login to Connect Server and click Connections.
- Select "FTP" from Available Data Sources.
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Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to FTP.
To connect to FTP or SFTP servers, specify at least RemoteHost and FileProtocol. Specify the port with RemotePort.
Set User and Password to perform Basic authentication. Set SSHAuthMode to use SSH authentication. See the Getting Started section of the data provider help documentation for more information on authenticating via SSH.
Set SSLMode and SSLServerCert to secure connections with SSL.
The data provider lists the tables based on the available folders in your FTP server. Set the following connection properties to control the relational view of the file system:
- RemotePath: Set this to the current working directory.
- TableDepth: Set this to control the depth of folders to list as views.
- FileRetrievalDepth: Set this to retrieve and list files recursively from the root table.
Stored Procedures are available to download files, upload files, and send protocol commands. See the Data Model chapter of the FTP data provider documentation for more information.
- Click Save Changes
- Click Privileges -> Add and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions.
With the virtual database created, you are ready to connect to FTP data from Apps Script.
Connect to FTP Data with Apps Script
At this point, you should have configured a virtual database for FTP in Connect Server. All that is left now is to use Google Apps Script to access Connect Server and work with your FTP data in Google Sheets.
In this section, you will create a script (with a menu option to call the script) to populate a spreadsheet with FTP data. We have created a sample script and explained the different parts. You can view the raw script at the end of the article.
1. Create an Empty Script
To create a script for your Google Sheet, click Tools Script editor from the Google Sheets menu:
2. Declare Class Variables
Create a handful of class variables to be available for any functions created in the script.
//replace the variables in this block with real values as needed var address = 'CONNECT_SERVER_URL:port'; var user = 'CONNECT_USER'; var userPwd = 'CONNECT_PASSWORD'; var db = 'ftpdb'; var serverSslCert = '-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- ... -----END CERTIFICATE-----'; var clientSslCert = '-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- ... -----END CERTIFICATE-----'; var clientSslKey = '-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- ... -----END CERTIFICATE-----'; var dbUrl = 'jdbc:sqlserver://' + address + '/' + db + '?useSSL=true';
3. Add a Menu Option
This function adds a menu option to your Google Sheet, allowing you to use the UI to call your function.
function onOpen() { var spreadsheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActive(); var menuItems = [ {name: 'Write data to a sheet', functionName: 'connectToFTPData'} ]; spreadsheet.addMenu('FTP Data', menuItems); }
4. Write a Helper Function
This function is used to find the first empty row in a spreadsheet.
/* * Finds the first empty row in a spreadsheet by scanning an array of columns * @return The row number of the first empty row. */ function getFirstEmptyRowByColumnArray(spreadSheet, column) { var column = spreadSheet.getRange(column + ":" + column); var values = column.getValues(); // get all data in one call var ct = 0; while ( values[ct] && values[ct][0] != "" ) { ct++; } return (ct+1); }
5. Write a Function to Write FTP Data to a Spreadsheet
The function below writes the FTP data, using the Google Apps Script JDBC functionality to connect to Connect Server, SELECT data, and populate a spreadsheet. When the script is run, two input boxes will appear:
The first one asks the user to input the name of a sheet to hold the data (if the spreadsheet does not exist, the function creates it).
The second asks the user to input the name of a FTP table to read. If an invalid table is chosen, an error message appears and the function is exited.
Note, while the function is designed for use as a menu option, you can extend it for use as a spreadsheet formula.
/* * Reads data from a specified FTP 'table' and writes it to the specified sheet. * (If the specified sheet does not exist, it is created.) */ function connectToFTPData() { var thisWorkbook = SpreadsheetApp.getActive(); //select a sheet and create it if it does not exist var selectedSheet = Browser.inputBox('Which sheet would you like the data to post to?',Browser.Buttons.OK_CANCEL); if (selectedSheet == 'cancel') return; if (thisWorkbook.getSheetByName(selectedSheet) == null) thisWorkbook.insertSheet(selectedSheet); var resultSheet = thisWorkbook.getSheetByName(selectedSheet); var rowNum = 2; //select a FTP 'table' var table = Browser.inputBox('Which table would you like to pull data from?',Browser.Buttons.OK_CANCEL); if (table == 'cancel') return; var conn = Jdbc.getConnection(dbUrl, { user: user, password: userPwd, _serverSslCertificate: serverSslCert, _clientSslCertificate: clientSslCert, _clientSslKey: clientSslKey ); //confirm that var table is a valid table/view var dbMetaData = conn.getMetaData(); var tableSet = dbMetaData.getTables(null, null, table, null); var validTable = false; while (tableSet.next()) { var tempTable = tableSet.getString(3); if (table.toUpperCase() == tempTable.toUpperCase()){ table = tempTable; validTable = true; break; } } tableSet.close(); if (!validTable) { Browser.msgBox("Invalid table name: " + table, Browser.Buttons.OK); return; } var stmt = conn.createStatement(); var results = stmt.executeQuery('SELECT * FROM ' + table); var rsmd = results.getMetaData(); var numCols = rsmd.getColumnCount(); //if the sheet is empty, populate the first row with the headers var firstEmptyRow = getFirstEmptyRowByColumnArray(resultSheet, "A"); if (firstEmptyRow == 1) { //collect column names var headers = new Array(new Array(numCols)); for (var col = 0; col < numCols; col++){ headers[0][col] = rsmd.getColumnName(col+1); } resultSheet.getRange(1, 1, headers.length, headers[0].length).setValues(headers); } else { rowNum = firstEmptyRow; } //write rows of FTP data to the sheet var values = new Array(new Array(numCols)); while (results.next()) { for (var col = 0; col < numCols; col++) { values[0][col] = results.getString(col + 1); } resultSheet.getRange(rowNum, 1, 1, numCols).setValues(values); rowNum++; } results.close(); stmt.close(); }
When the function is completed, you have a spreadsheet populated with your FTP data, and you can now leverage all of the calculating, graphing, and charting functionality of Google Sheets anywhere you have access to the Internet.
Complete Google Apps Script
//replace the variables in this block with real values as needed var address = 'CONNECT_SERVER_URL:port'; var user = 'CONNECT_USER'; var userPwd = 'CONNECT_PASSWORD'; var db = 'ftpdb'; var serverSslCert = '-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- ... -----END CERTIFICATE-----'; var clientSslCert = '-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- ... -----END CERTIFICATE-----'; var clientSslKey = '-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- ... -----END CERTIFICATE-----'; var dbUrl = 'jdbc:sqlserver://' + address + '/' + db + '?useSSL=true'; function onOpen() { var spreadsheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActive(); var menuItems = [ {name: 'Write table data to a sheet', functionName: 'connectToFTPData'} ]; spreadsheet.addMenu('FTP Data', menuItems); } /* * Finds the first empty row in a spreadsheet by scanning an array of columns * @return The row number of the first empty row. */ function getFirstEmptyRowByColumnArray(spreadSheet, column) { var column = spreadSheet.getRange(column + ":" + column); var values = column.getValues(); // get all data in one call var ct = 0; while ( values[ct] && values[ct][0] != "" ) { ct++; } return (ct+1); } /* * Reads data from a specified 'table' and writes it to the specified sheet. * (If the specified sheet does not exist, it is created.) */ function connectToFTPData() { var thisWorkbook = SpreadsheetApp.getActive(); //select a sheet and create it if it does not exist var selectedSheet = Browser.inputBox('Which sheet would you like the data to post to?',Browser.Buttons.OK_CANCEL); if (selectedSheet == 'cancel') return; if (thisWorkbook.getSheetByName(selectedSheet) == null) thisWorkbook.insertSheet(selectedSheet); var resultSheet = thisWorkbook.getSheetByName(selectedSheet); var rowNum = 2; //select a FTP 'table' var table = Browser.inputBox('Which table would you like to pull data from?',Browser.Buttons.OK_CANCEL); if (table == 'cancel') return; var conn = Jdbc.getConnection(dbUrl, { user: user, password: userPwd, _serverSslCertificate: serverSslCert, _clientSslCertificate: clientSslCert, _clientSslKey: clientSslKey ); //confirm that var table is a valid table/view var dbMetaData = conn.getMetaData(); var tableSet = dbMetaData.getTables(null, null, table, null); var validTable = false; while (tableSet.next()) { var tempTable = tableSet.getString(3); if (table.toUpperCase() == tempTable.toUpperCase()){ table = tempTable; validTable = true; break; } } tableSet.close(); if (!validTable) { Browser.msgBox("Invalid table name: " + table, Browser.Buttons.OK); return; } var stmt = conn.createStatement(); var results = stmt.executeQuery('SELECT * FROM ' + table); var rsmd = results.getMetaData(); var numCols = rsmd.getColumnCount(); //if the sheet is empty, populate the first row with the headers var firstEmptyRow = getFirstEmptyRowByColumnArray(resultSheet, "A"); if (firstEmptyRow == 1) { //collect column names var headers = new Array(new Array(numCols)); for (var col = 0; col < numCols; col++){ headers[0][col] = rsmd.getColumnName(col+1); } resultSheet.getRange(1, 1, headers.length, headers[0].length).setValues(headers); } else { rowNum = firstEmptyRow; } //write rows of FTP data to the sheet var values = new Array(new Array(numCols)); while (results.next()) { for (var col = 0; col < numCols; col++) { values[0][col] = results.getString(col + 1); } resultSheet.getRange(rowNum, 1, 1, numCols).setValues(values); rowNum++; } results.close(); stmt.close(); }