Query Google Data Catalog Data through ODBC in Node.js

Node.js is a JavaScript runtime environment that allows you to run JavaScript code outside of a browser. With the CData ODBC Driver for Google Data Catalog, you can access live Google Data Catalog data from Node.js apps and scripts. In this article, we walk through installing node-odbc and the required tools to create a simple Node.js app with access to live Google Data Catalog data.

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

Connecting to Google Data Catalog Data

If you have not already done so, provide values for the required connection properties in the data source name (DSN). You can use the built-in Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to configure the DSN. 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 Data Catalog uses the OAuth authentication standard. Authorize access to Google APIs on behalf on individual users or on behalf of users in a domain.

Before connecting, specify the following to identify the organization and project you would like to connect to:

• OrganizationId: The ID associated with the Google Cloud Platform organization resource you would like to connect to. Find this by navigating to the cloud console.

  Click the project selection drop-down, and select your organization from the list. Then, click More -> Settings. The organization ID is displayed on this page.

• ProjectId: The ID associated with the Google Cloud Platform project resource you would like to connect to.

  Find this by navigating to the cloud console dashboard and selecting your project from the Select from drop-down. The project ID will be present in the Project info card.

When you connect, the OAuth endpoint opens in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application to completes the OAuth process. For more information, refer to the OAuth section in the Help documentation.

Building node-odbc

In order to connect to Google Data Catalog through the CData ODBC Driver, you need to build node-odbc manually (after installing the required tools).

Installing the Required Tools

The following commands install the tools required to build node-odbc (note the -g parameter, which installs the tools globally).

npm i -g windows-build-tools
npm i -g node-gyp

Building node-odbc

After installing the required tools, create a directory for the Node.js app and install odbc (which builds the binary for us to use in our Node.js script).

mkdir nodeodbc
cd nodeodbc
npm i -g node

Querying Google Data Catalog from Node.js

With the ODBC Driver installed, a DSN Configured, and node-odbc built, we are ready to query live Google Data Catalog data from a Node.js app. The sample code below connects to a specific DSN and queries the Schemas table.

myscript.js

const odbc = require('odbc');

async function queryGoogleDataCatalog() {
    const connection = await odbc.connect(`DSN=CData GoogleDataCatalog Source`);
    const data = await connection.query('SELECT Type, DatasetName FROM Schemas');
    console.log(data);
}

queryGoogleDataCatalog();

Once you write the app, use node to execute the script:

node myscript.js

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData ODBC Driver for Google Data Catalog and start working with your live Google Data Catalog data in Node.js. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.