How to connect to Outlook Data in DBVisualizer

The CData API Driver for JDBC implements JDBC standards to provide connectivity to Outlook data in applications ranging from business intelligence tools to IDEs. This article shows how to establish a connection to Outlook data in DBVisualizer and use the table editor to load Outlook data.

Create a New Driver Definition for Outlook Data

Follow the steps below to use the Driver Manager to provide connectivity to Outlook data from DBVisualizer tools.

1. In DBVisualizer, click Tools -> Driver Manager.
2. Click the plus sign "" to create a new driver.
3. Select "Custom" as the template.
4. On the Driver Settings tab:
   • Set Name to a user-friendly name (e.g. "CData Outlook Driver")
   • Set URL Format to jdbc:api:
   • In Driver artifacts and jar files (jars are loaded in order from top):
     1. Click the plus sign "" -> "Add Files"
     2. Navigate to the "lib" folder in the installation directory (C:\Program Files\CData API Driver for JDBC XXXX\)
     3. Select the JAR file (cdata.jdbc.API.jar) and click "Open"
     
5. The Driver Class should populate automatically. If not, select class (cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver).

Define the Connection to the JDBC Data Source

Close the "Driver Manager" and follow the steps below to save connection properties in the JDBC URL.

1. In the "Databases" tab, click the plus sign "" and select the driver you just created.

2. In the "Connection" section, set the following options:

   • Database Type: If you selected the wizard option, the database type is automatically detected. If you selected the "No Wizard" option, select the Generic or Auto Detect option in the Database Type menu.
   • Driver Type: Select the driver you just created.

   • Database URL: Enter the full JDBC URL. The syntax of the JDBC URL is jdbc:api: followed by the connection properties in a semicolon-separated list of name-value pairs.

     Using OAuth Authentication

     Microsoft Graph API uses OAuth 2.0 for authentication. You must register an application in the Microsoft Azure Portal to obtain OAuth credentials (Client ID and Client Secret).

     Obtaining OAuth Credentials

     1. Log in to the Azure Portal.
     2. Navigate to Azure Active Directory > App registrations.
     3. Click New registration to create a new application.
     4. Enter an application name and select the appropriate account types.
     5. Set the Redirect URI to your application's callback URL (e.g., http://localhost:33333 for desktop apps).
     6. Click Register to create the application.
     7. On the application overview page, copy the Application (client) ID - this is your OAuthClientId.
     8. Navigate to Certificates & secrets and create a new client secret.
     9. Copy the client secret value - this is your OAuthClientSecret.
     10. Navigate to API permissions and add the required Microsoft Graph API permissions:
         • Mail.Read - For accessing email messages
         • Contacts.Read - For accessing contacts
         • Calendars.Read - For accessing calendar events
         • Tasks.Read - For accessing To Do tasks
         • offline_access - For obtaining refresh tokens
     11. Click Grant admin consent to grant these permissions.

     Connecting with OAuth

     After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

     • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
     • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. The CData API Profile for Outlook will automatically walk through the OAuth process in order to obtain the access token.
     • OAuthClientId: Set this to the Application (client) ID from Azure Portal.
     • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client secret value from Azure Portal.
     • TenantId: Set this to your Azure AD tenant identifier (GUID or domain name like 'contoso.onmicrosoft.com').
     • CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI you specified in your app registration (e.g., http://localhost:33333 for desktop apps).

     Example connection string

     Profile=C:\profiles\Outlook.apip;AuthScheme=OAuth;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;TenantId=your_tenant_id;CallbackUrl=http://localhost:33333;
     

     Built-in Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Outlook JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.api.jar
     

     Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

     

     When you configure the JDBC URL, 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.

     A typical connection string is below:

     jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Outlook.apip;AuthScheme=OAuth;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;TenantId=your_tenant_id;CallbackUrl=http://localhost:33333;
     

   • NOTE: Since Outlook does not require a User or Password to authenticate, you may use whatever values you wish for Database Userid and Database Password.
3. On the Connection tab, click Connect.

To browse through tables exposed by the Outlook JDBC Driver, right-click a table and click "Open in New Tab."

To execute SQL queries, use the SQL Commander tool: Click SQL Commander -> New SQL Commander. Select the Database Connection, Database, and Schema from the available menus.

See the "Supported SQL" chapter in the help documentation for more information on the supported SQL. See the "Data Model" chapter for table-specific information.

More Information & Free Trial

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData API Driver for JDBC and start working with your live Outlook data in DbVisualizer. Join the CData Community or reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.