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Connect to Google Sheets data in Ruby with ruby-dbi, dbd-odbc, and ruby-odbc.
The CData ODBC Driver for Google Sheets makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live Google Sheets data in Ruby. This article shows how to create a simple Ruby app that connects to Google Sheets data, executes a query, and displays the results.
Create an ODBC Connection to Google Sheets Data
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.
You can connect to a spreadsheet by providing authentication to Google and then setting the Spreadsheet connection property to the name or feed link of the spreadsheet. If you want to view a list of information about the spreadsheets in your Google Drive, execute a query to the Spreadsheets view after you authenticate.
ClientLogin (username/password authentication) has been officially deprecated since April 20, 2012 and is now no longer available. Instead, use the OAuth 2.0 authentication standard. To access Google APIs on behalf on individual users, you can use the embedded credentials or you can register your own OAuth app.
OAuth also enables you to use a service account to connect on behalf of users in a Google Apps domain. To authenticate with a service account, you will need to register an application to obtain the OAuth JWT values.
See the Getting Started chapter in the help documentation to connect to Google Sheets from different types of accounts: Google accounts, Google Apps accounts, and accounts using two-step verification.
Installing Ruby and Necessary Gems
If you do not have Ruby installed, refer to the Ruby installation page. With Ruby installed, you will need to install the ruby-dbi, dbd-odbc, and ruby-odbc gems:
gem install dbi
gem install dbd-odbc
gem install ruby-odbc
Create a Ruby App with Connectivity to Google Sheets Data
Create a new Ruby file (for example: GoogleSheetsSelect.rb) and open it in a text editor. Copy the following code into your file:
#connect to the DSN
require 'DBI'
cnxn = DBI.connect('DBI:ODBC:CData GoogleSheets Source','','')
#execute a SELECT query and store the result set
resultSet = cnxn.execute("SELECT Shipcountry, SUM(OrderPrice) FROM Orders GROUP BY Shipcountry")
#display the names of the columns
resultSet.column_names.each do |name|
print name, "\t"
end
puts
#display the results
while row = resultSet.fetch do
(0..resultSet.column_names.size - 1).each do |n|
print row[n], "\t"
end
puts
end
resultSet.finish
#close the connection
cnxn.disconnect if cnxn
With the file completed, you are ready to display your Google Sheets data with Ruby. To do so, simply run your file from the command line:
ruby GoogleSheetsSelect.rb
Writing SQL-92 queries to Google Sheets allows you to quickly and easily incorporate Google Sheets data into your own Ruby applications. Download a free trial today!