Extend Google Sheets with Outlook Data

Interact with Outlook data from Google Sheets through macros, custom functions, and add-ons. The CData API Server enables connectivity to Outlook data from cloud-based and mobile applications like Google Sheets. The API Server is a lightweight Web application that produces OData services for Outlook.

Google Apps Script can consume these OData services in the JSON format. This article shows how to create a simple add-on that populates a Google Spreadsheet with CalendarGroupCalendars data.

Set Up the API Server

If you have not already done so, download the CData API Server. Once you have installed the API Server, follow the steps below to begin producing secure Outlook OData services:

Connect to Outlook

To work with Outlook data from Google Sheets, we start by creating and configuring a Outlook connection. Follow the steps below to configure the API Server to connect to Outlook data:

1. First, navigate to the Connections page.
2. Click Add Connection and then search for and select the Outlook connection.
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Outlook.

   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;
   

   
4. After configuring the connection, click Save & Test to confirm a successful connection.

Configure API Server Users

Next, create a user to access your Outlook data through the API Server. You can add and configure users on the Users page. Follow the steps below to configure and create a user:

1. On the Users page, click Add User to open the Add User dialog.
2. Next, set the Role, Username, and Privileges properties and then click Add User.
3. An Authtoken is then generated for the user. You can find the Authtoken and other information for each user on the Users page:

Creating API Endpoints for Outlook

Having created a user, you are ready to create API endpoints for the Outlook tables:

1. First, navigate to the API page and then click Add Table .
2. Select the connection you wish to access and click Next.
3. With the connection selected, create endpoints by selecting each table and then clicking Confirm.

Gather the OData Url

Having configured a connection to Outlook data, created a user, and added resources to the API Server, you now have an easily accessible REST API based on the OData protocol for those resources. From the API page in API Server, you can view and copy the API Endpoints for the API:

Retrieve Outlook Data

Open the Script Editor from your spreadsheet by clicking Tools -> Script Editor. In the Script Editor, add the following function to populate a spreadsheet with the results of an OData query:

function retrieve(){
  var url = "https://MyUrl/api.rsc/CalendarGroupCalendars?select=Id,,,CalendarGroupId";
  var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url,{
    headers: {"Authorization": "Basic " + Utilities.base64Encode("MyUser:MyAuthtoken")}
  }); 
  var json = response.getContentText();
  var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();
  var a1 = sheet.getRange('a1');
  var index=1;
  var calendargroupcalendars = JSON.parse(json).value;

  var cols = [["Id","","","CalendarGroupId"]]; 
  sheet.getRange(1,1,1,4).setValues(cols);

  row=2;
  for(var i in calendargroupcalendars){
    for (var j in calendargroupcalendars[i]) {
      switch (j) {
        case "Id":
          a1.offset(row,0).setValue(account[i][j]);
          break;
        case "":
          a1.offset(row,1).setValue(account[i][j]);
          break;
        case "":
          a1.offset(row,2).setValue(account[i][j]);
          break;
        case "CalendarGroupId":
          a1.offset(row,3).setValue(account[i][j]);
          break;
      }      
    }
    row++;
  }
}

Follow the steps below to add an installable trigger to populate the spreadsheet when opened:

1. Click Resources -> Current Project's Triggers -> Add a New Trigger.
2. Select retrieve in the Run menu.
3. Select From Spreadsheet.
4. Select On open.

After closing the dialog, you are prompted to allow access to the application.

You can test the script by clicking Publish -> Test as Add-On. Select the version, installation type, and spreadsheet to create a test configuration. You can then select and run the test configuration.