How to connect to Outlook Data with Squirrel SQL client
The CData JDBC Driver for Outlook enables you to execute queries to Outlook data in tools like Squirrel SQL Client. In this article, you will create a JDBC data source for Outlook data and execute queries.
Add the JDBC Driver for Outlook
Follow the steps below to add the driver JAR.
- In Squirrel SQL, click Windows -> View Drivers.
- Click the plus icon to open the Add Driver wizard.
- In the Name box, enter a user-friendly name for the driver; for example, CData JDBC Driver for Outlook.
- In the Example URL box, enter jdbc:api:
- In the Extra Class Path tab, click Add.
- In the file explorer dialog that opens, select the JAR file for the driver, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
- Click List Drivers to populate the Class Name menu with the class name for the driver, cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver.
Define Connection Properties
Follow the steps below to save connection properties in the driver alias.
- Click Windows -> View Aliases.
- In the pane that lists the aliases, click the plus icon.
In the Add Alias wizard that opens, the following fields are required for the JDBC driver:
- Name: Enter a name for the alias; for example, CData Outlook Source.
- Driver: Select the CData JDBC Driver for Outlook.
- URL: Enter jdbc:api:
- If you want to define any additional properties, click Properties.
- In the Driver properties tab of the dialog that appears, select the Use driver properties checkbox.
- In the Specify column, select the checkboxes for the required connection properties.
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
- Log in to the Azure Portal.
- Navigate to Azure Active Directory > App registrations.
- Click New registration to create a new application.
- Enter an application name and select the appropriate account types.
- Set the Redirect URI to your application's callback URL (e.g., http://localhost:33333 for desktop apps).
- Click Register to create the application.
- On the application overview page, copy the Application (client) ID - this is your OAuthClientId.
- Navigate to Certificates & secrets and create a new client secret.
- Copy the client secret value - this is your OAuthClientSecret.
- 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
- 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;
Below is a typical connection string:
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;
- In the dialog that appears after you click OK, click connect to test the connection.
Discover Schemas and Query Outlook Data
After the metadata has loaded, a new tab for the Outlook data source is displayed. On the Objects subtab, you can discover schema information, such as the available tables and views.
To view table data, select the table on the Objects tab. The table data is then loaded in a grid on the Content tab.
To execute an SQL query, enter the query on the SQL tab and then click Run SQL (the runner icon). For example:
SELECT , FROM CalendarGroupCalendars WHERE CalendarGroupId = 'group_id'