Access Live IBM Cloud Object Storage Data in Google Sheets through Connect Spreadsheets

Google Sheets is a web-based spreadsheet program provided by Google. When integrated with Connect Spreadsheets by CData, you can effortlessly gain access to IBM Cloud Object Storage data directly within Google Sheets for tasks such as data analysis, collaboration, calculations, and more. This article offers a comprehensive guide on connecting to IBM Cloud Object Storage within Connect Spreadsheets and accessing live IBM Cloud Object Storage data seamlessly within Google Sheets.

Connect Spreadsheets is the easiest way to get all your live data into Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets - no more downloading, wrangling, and uploading files again. Just connect to your data, select the dataset you'd like to see, and import it into your spreadsheet.

Configure IBM Cloud Object Storage Connectivity for Google Sheets

Connectivity to IBM Cloud Object Storage from Google Sheets is made possible through Connect Spreadsheets. To work with IBM Cloud Object Storage data from Google Sheets, we start by creating and configuring a IBM Cloud Object Storage connection.

1. Log into Connect Spreadsheets, click Sources and click Add Connection
2. Select "IBM Cloud Object Storage" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to IBM Cloud Object Storage.

   Register a New Instance of Cloud Object Storage

   If you do not already have Cloud Object Storage in your IBM Cloud account, follow the procedure below to install an instance of SQL Query in your account:

   1. Log in to your IBM Cloud account.
   2. Navigate to the page, choose a name for your instance and click Create. You will be redirected to the instance of Cloud Object Storage you just created.

   Connecting using OAuth Authentication

   There are certain connection properties you need to set before you can connect. You can obtain these as follows:

   API Key

   To connect with IBM Cloud Object Storage, you need an API Key. You can obtain this as follows:

   1. Log in to your IBM Cloud account.
   2. Navigate to the Platform API Keys page.
   3. On the middle-right corner click "Create an IBM Cloud API Key" to create a new API Key.
   4. In the pop-up window, specify the API Key name and click "Create". Note the API Key as you can never access it again from the dashboard.

   Cloud Object Storage CRN

   If you have multiple accounts, specify the CloudObjectStorageCRN explicitly. To find the appropriate value, you can:

   • Query the Services view. This will list your IBM Cloud Object Storage instances along with the CRN for each.
   • Locate the CRN directly in IBM Cloud. To do so, navigate to your IBM Cloud Dashboard. In the Resource List, Under Storage, select your Cloud Object Storage resource to get its CRN.

   Connecting to Data

   You can now set the following to connect to data:

   • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
   • ApiKey: Set this to your API key which was noted during setup.
   • CloudObjectStorageCRN (Optional): Set this to the cloud object storage CRN you want to work with. While the connector attempts to retrieve this automatically, specifying this explicitly is recommended if you have more than Cloud Object Storage account.

   When you connect, the connector completes the OAuth process.

   1. Extracts the access token and authenticates requests.
   2. Saves OAuth values in OAuthSettingsLocation to be persisted across connections.
   
4. Click Create & Test

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to IBM Cloud Object Storage data from Google Sheets.

Access Live IBM Cloud Object Storage Data from Google Sheets

The steps below outline connecting to Connect Spreadsheets from Google Sheets to access live IBM Cloud Object Storage data.

1. Log into Google Sheets, create a new sheet (or open an existing one).
2. Click Add-ons and click Get Add-ons (if you have already installed the Add-on, jump to step 5).
3. Search for Connect Spreadsheets Add-On and install the Add-on.
4. Authorize the Add-On.
5. Back in Google Sheets, click Add-ons and open the Connect Spreadsheets Add-On.
6. In the Add-On panel, click "Log in" to sign into and authenticate with your Connect Spreadsheets account
7. In the Connect Spreadsheets panel in Google Sheets, click Import
8. Choose a Connection (e.g. IBMCloudObjectStorage1), Table (e.g. Objects, and Columns to import
9. Optionally add Filters, Sorting, and a Limit
10. Click Execute to import the data and opt to overwrite the existing sheet or create a new one.

Live Access to IBM Cloud Object Storage Data from Cloud Applications

New, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live IBM Cloud Object Storage data from your Google Sheets workbook. You can add more data to your workbook for calculations, aggregations, collaboration, and more.

Try Connect Spreadsheets and get real-time data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications.