Import and Visualize Google Translate Data in Power View
NOTE: For Excel for the web (Excel 365) and Excel 2019 or higher, Power View is no longer supported. Microsoft encourages the use of Power BI for those users. Please read our article on working with Google Translate in Power BI using our Power BI connector for more information.
You can use the built-in ODBC support in Excel to rapidly create Power View reports featuring Google Translate data. This article shows how to use the Data Connection Wizard, accessible from the Data ribbon, to import Google Translate data into a Power View report.
Connect to Google Translate as an ODBC Data Source
If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.
Authentication
Google Cloud Translation API requires OAuth 2.0 authentication to ensure secure access to translation services, datasets, glossaries, and adaptive MT resources. This authentication method allows you to securely connect to your Google Cloud project and manage translation resources with proper authorization.
OAuth 2.0 Setup and Configuration
Step 1: Create Google Cloud Project and Enable API
To set up OAuth authentication:
- Visit the Google Cloud Console
- Create a new project or select an existing project
- Note down your Project ID (required for all API calls)
- Navigate to "APIs & Services" > "Library"
- Search for and enable the "Cloud Translation API"
- Go to "APIs & Services" > "Credentials"
- Click "Create Credentials" and select "OAuth Client ID"
- Configure the OAuth consent screen if prompted
- Select "Desktop application" or "Web application" as appropriate
- Set the authorized redirect URI (CallbackURL)
- Copy the Client ID and Client Secret for use in your connection
Required Connection Properties
- AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth (required)
- OAuthClientId: Client ID from Google Cloud Console (required)
- OAuthClientSecret: Client secret from Google Cloud Console (required)
- CallbackURL: Redirect URI specified in your OAuth application (required)
- InitiateOAuth: Set to GETANDREFRESH for automatic token management (recommended)
- ProjectId: Your Google Cloud project ID or project number (required for queries)
Required OAuth Scopes
The Google Cloud Translation API Profile requires the following OAuth scope:
- https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-translation - Full access to Cloud Translation API resources including translation, datasets, glossaries, and adaptive MT
When you configure the DSN, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.
Connect with the Data Connection Wizard
Follow the steps below to connect to the DSN from the Data Connection Wizard in Excel.
- In recent versions of Excel the Data Connection Wizard is not visible by default. To enable the Data Connection Wizard in Excel, go to File -> Options -> Data and under Show legacy data import wizards check the From Data Connection Wizard (Legacy).
- After enabling the Data Connection Wizard, on the Data tab you can click Get Data -> Legacy Wizards -> From Data Connection Wizard (Legacy).
- In the Data Connection Wizard, select the ODBC DSN option.
- Select the ODBC DSN for Google Translate from the list.
Select the tables you want to work with.
If you want to import multiple tables, deselect the "Connect to a specific table" option. After you connect to the data source, you can select multiple tables: After you click Finish to close the Data Connection Wizard, select the "Enable selection of multiple tables" option in the Select Table dialog.
- In the Import Data dialog, select the destination for your data. For example, select the Table option and the Existing worksheet option. Then click the cell in your worksheet where results should be output.
- Click Insert -> Power View to create a new Power View report.
Create a Table
Tables are the starting point for charts and other representations of your data. To create a table, select a column in the field list. You can also drag and drop table names and column names onto the view.
Create Data Visualizations
On the Design tab, you can change tables into charts and other visualizations.