Connect to Outlook Data in HULFT Integrate

HULFT Integrate is a modern data integration platform that provides a drag-and-drop user interface to create cooperation flows, data conversion, and processing so that complex data connections are easier than ever to execute. When paired with the CData API Driver for JDBC, HULFT Integrate can work with live Outlook data. This article explains how to connect to Outlook and move the data into a CSV file.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Outlook data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Outlook, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Outlook and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). Its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze Outlook data using native data types.

Enable Access to Outlook

To enable access to Outlook data from HULFT Integrate projects:

1. Copy the CData JDBC Driver JAR file (and license file if it exists), cdata.jdbc.api.jar (and cdata.jdbc.api.lic), to the jdbc_adapter subfolder for the Integrate Server
2. Restart the HULFT Integrate Server and launch HULFT Integrate Studio

Build a Project with Access to Outlook Data

Once you copy the JAR files, you can create a project with access to Outlook data. Start by opening Integrate Studio and creating a new project.

1. Name the project
2. Ensure the "Create script" checkbox is checked
3. Click Next
4. Name the script (e.g.: APItoCSV)

Once you create the project, add components to the script to copy Outlook data to a CSV file.

Configure an Execute Select SQL Component

Drag an "Execute Select SQL" component from the Tool Palette (Database -> JDBC) into the Script workspace.

1. In the "Required settings" tab for the Destination, click "Add" to create a new connection for Outlook. Set the following properties:
   • Name: Outlook Connection Settings
   • Driver class name: cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver
   • URL: 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;
     
     

     Built-in Connection String Designer

     For assistance 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.

     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;
     

     
2. Write your SQL statement. For example:

   SELECT ,  FROM CalendarGroupCalendars

3. Click "Extraction test" to ensure the connection and query are configured properly
4. Click "Execute SQL statement and set output schema"
5. Click "Finish"

Configure a Write CSV File Component

Drag a "Write CSV File" component from the Tool Palette (File -> CSV) onto the workspace.

1. Set a file to write the query results to (e.g. CalendarGroupCalendars.csv)
2. Set "Input data" to the "Select SQL" component
3. Add columns for each field selected in the SQL query
4. In the "Write settings" tab, check the checkbox to "Insert column names into first row"
5. Click "Finish"

Map Outlook Fields to the CSV Columns

Map each column from the "Select" component to the corresponding column for the "CSV" component.

Finish the Script

Drag the "Start" component onto the "Select" component and the "CSV" component onto the "End" component. Build the script and run the script to move Outlook data into a CSV file.

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