Connect to RabbitMQ Data in Google Apps Script via SQL Gateway

Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Use the ODBC Driver for RabbitMQ and the SQL Gateway to access RabbitMQ data from Google Apps Script.

Google Apps Script gives you the ability to create custom functionality within your Google documents, including Google Sheets, Google Docs, and more. With the CData SQL Gateway, you can create a MySQL interface for any ODBC driver, including the hundreds of drivers by CData for sources like RabbitMQ. The MySQL protocol is natively supported through the JDBC service in Google Apps Script, so by utilizing the SQL Gateway, you gain access to live RabbitMQ data within your Google documents.

This article discusses connecting to the ODBC Driver for RabbitMQ from Google Apps Script, walking through the process of configuring the SQL Gateway and providing sample scripting for processing RabbitMQ data in a Google Spreadsheet.

Real-Time Connectivity Through SQL Gateway

With SQL Gateway, your local ODBC data sources can look and behave like a standard MySQL database. Simply create a new MySQL remoting service in the SQL Gateway for the ODBC Driver for RabbitMQ and ensure that the SQL Gateway is installed on a web-facing machine (or can connect to a hosted SSH server).

Connect to RabbitMQ Data

If you have not already done so, provide values for the required connection properties in the data source name (DSN). You can use the built-in Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to configure the DSN. This is also the last step of the driver installation. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for a guide to using the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure a DSN.

About RabbitMQ Management HTTP API

RabbitMQ is an open-source message broker that supports multiple messaging protocols. The RabbitMQ Management HTTP API provides HTTP-based access to management and monitoring data for a RabbitMQ server. The API exposes information about virtual hosts, exchanges, queues, bindings, connections, channels, consumers, users, permissions, policies, and cluster-wide statistics.

The Management plugin must be enabled on the RabbitMQ server for the HTTP API to be available. By default, the management interface listens on port 15672.

Using Basic Authentication

RabbitMQ Management HTTP API uses HTTP Basic authentication. You must supply the username and password of a RabbitMQ management user.

To enable access to the management API:

  1. Ensure the RabbitMQ Management plugin is enabled on your server (rabbitmq-plugins enable rabbitmq_management).
  2. Use an existing management user or create one with the appropriate management tag (management, policymaker, monitoring, or administrator).
  3. Note the full base URL of your RabbitMQ Management HTTP API (e.g., http://localhost:15672).

After configuring your RabbitMQ server, set the following connection properties to connect:

  • AuthScheme: Set this to Basic.
  • URL: Set this to the base URL of your RabbitMQ Management HTTP API (e.g., http://localhost:15672).
  • User: Set this to your RabbitMQ management username (e.g., guest).
  • Password: Set this to your RabbitMQ management password.

Example connection string:

Profile=C:\profiles\RabbitMQ.apip;AuthScheme=Basic;URL=http://localhost:15672;User=guest;Password=guest;

Available Tables

The RabbitMQ profile provides access to the following tables:

  • Overview - Cluster-wide statistics and information about the RabbitMQ node
  • Nodes - Information about individual nodes in the RabbitMQ cluster
  • NodeMemory - Detailed memory usage breakdown for a specific cluster node
  • Connections - List of all open AMQP connections to the broker
  • Channels - List of all open AMQP channels across all connections
  • Consumers - List of all consumers registered across all queues
  • Exchanges - List of exchanges declared across all virtual hosts
  • Queues - List of queues declared across all virtual hosts
  • Bindings - List of all bindings between exchanges and queues
  • VirtualHosts - List of virtual hosts configured on the broker
  • VhostPermissions - User permissions within a specific virtual host
  • Users - List of all RabbitMQ users
  • Permissions - Permission records for all users across all virtual hosts
  • TopicPermissions - Topic-level permission records for all users
  • Policies - List of policies applied to queues and exchanges in virtual hosts
  • OperatorPolicies - List of operator policies applied to queues in virtual hosts
  • Parameters - List of component parameters (e.g., federation, shovel) per virtual host
  • GlobalParameters - List of global parameters that apply across all virtual hosts
  • VhostLimits - Resource limits configured for specific virtual hosts
  • UserLimits - Resource limits configured for specific users
  • FeatureFlags - List of feature flags and their enabled/disabled state on the node
  • DeprecatedFeatures - List of deprecated features and their usage state
  • AuthAttempts - Authentication attempt statistics for the node
  • ClusterName - The name of the RabbitMQ cluster
  • WhoAmI - Information about the currently authenticated management user
  • ExchangeBindingsSource - Bindings for which a specific exchange is the source
  • ExchangeBindingsDestination - Bindings for which a specific exchange is the destination
  • QueueBindings - Bindings for a specific queue within a virtual host

Create a MySQL Remoting Service for RabbitMQ Data

See the SQL Gateway Overview to set up connectivity to RabbitMQ data as a virtual MySQL database. You will configure a MySQL remoting service that listens for MySQL requests from clients. The service can be configured in the SQL Gateway UI.

Configure Remote Access

If your ODBC Driver and the remoting service are installed on-premise (and not accessible from Google Apps Script), you can use the reverse SSH tunneling feature to enable remote access. For detailed instructions, read our Knowledge Base article: SQL Gateway SSH Tunneling Capabilities.

Connecting to RabbitMQ Data with Apps Script

At this point, you should have configured the SQL Gateway for RabbitMQ data. All that is left now is to use Google Apps Script to access the MySQL remoting service and work with your RabbitMQ data in Google Sheets.

In this section, you will create a script (with a menu option to call the script) to populate a spreadsheet with RabbitMQ data. We have created a sample script and explained the different parts. You can view the raw script at the end of the article.

1. Create an Empty Script

To create a script for your Google Sheet, click Tools Script editor from the Google Sheets menu:

Open Script Editor

2. Declare Class Variables

Create a handful of class variables to be available for any functions created in the script. 

//replace the variables in this block with real values as needed
var address = 'my.server.address:port';
var user = 'SQL_GATEWAY_USER';
var userPwd = 'SQL_GATEWAY_PASSWORD';
var db = 'CData API Sys';

var dbUrl = 'jdbc:mysql://' + address + '/' + db;

3. Add a Menu Option

This function adds a menu option to your Google Sheet, allowing you to use the UI to call your function.

function onOpen() {
  var spreadsheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();
  var menuItems = [
    {name: 'Write data to a sheet', functionName: 'connectToAPIData'}
  ];
  spreadsheet.addMenu('RabbitMQ Data', menuItems);
}
The newly added Menu option.

4. Write a Helper Function

This function is used to find the first empty row in a spreadsheet.

/*
 * Finds the first empty row in a spreadsheet by scanning an array of columns
 * @return The row number of the first empty row.
 */
function getFirstEmptyRowByColumnArray(spreadSheet, column) {
  var column = spreadSheet.getRange(column + ":" + column);
  var values = column.getValues(); // get all data in one call
  var ct = 0;
  while ( values[ct] && values[ct][0] != "" ) {
    ct++;
  }
  return (ct+1);
}

5. Write a Function to Write RabbitMQ Data to a Spreadsheet

The function below writes the RabbitMQ data, using the Google Apps Script JDBC functionality to connect to the MySQL remoting service, SELECT data, and populate a spreadsheet. When the script is run, two input boxes will appear:

The first one asking the user to input the name of a sheet to hold the data (if the spreadsheet does not exist, the function creates it)

Input box for sheet selection.

and the second one asking the user to input the name of a RabbitMQ table to read. If an invalid table is chosen, an error message appears and the function is exited.

Input box for table selection.

It is worth noting that, while the function is designed to be used as a menu option, it could be extended for use as a formula in a spreadsheet.

/*
 * Reads data from a specified RabbitMQ 'table' and writes it to the specified sheet.
 *    (If the specified sheet does not exist, it is created.)
 */
function connectToAPIData() {
  var thisWorkbook = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();

  //select a sheet and create it if it does not exist
  var selectedSheet = Browser.inputBox('Which sheet would you like the data to post to?',Browser.Buttons.OK_CANCEL);
  if (selectedSheet == 'cancel')
    return;

  if (thisWorkbook.getSheetByName(selectedSheet) == null)
    thisWorkbook.insertSheet(selectedSheet);
  var resultSheet = thisWorkbook.getSheetByName(selectedSheet);
  var rowNum = 2;

  //select a RabbitMQ 'table'
  var table = Browser.inputBox('Which table would you like to pull data from?',Browser.Buttons.OK_CANCEL);
  if (table == 'cancel')
    return;

  var conn = Jdbc.getConnection(dbUrl, user, userPwd);

  //confirm that var table is a valid table/view
  var dbMetaData = conn.getMetaData();
  var tableSet = dbMetaData.getTables(null, null, table, null);
  var validTable = false;
  while (tableSet.next()) {
    var tempTable = tableSet.getString(3);
    if (table.toUpperCase() == tempTable.toUpperCase()){
      table = tempTable;
      validTable = true;
      break;
    }
  } 
  tableSet.close();
  if (!validTable) {
    Browser.msgBox("Invalid table name: " + table, Browser.Buttons.OK);
    return;
  }

  var stmt = conn.createStatement();

  var results = stmt.executeQuery('SELECT * FROM ' + table);
  var rsmd = results.getMetaData();
  var numCols = rsmd.getColumnCount();

  //if the sheet is empty, populate the first row with the headers
  var firstEmptyRow = getFirstEmptyRowByColumnArray(resultSheet, "A");
  if (firstEmptyRow == 1) {
    //collect column names
    var headers = new Array(new Array(numCols));
    for (var col = 0; col < numCols; col++){
      headers[0][col] = rsmd.getColumnName(col+1);
    }
    resultSheet.getRange(1, 1, headers.length, headers[0].length).setValues(headers);
  } else {
    rowNum = firstEmptyRow;
  }

  //write rows of RabbitMQ data to the sheet
  var values = new Array(new Array(numCols));
  while (results.next()) {
    for (var col = 0; col < numCols; col++) {
      values[0][col] = results.getString(col + 1);
    }
    resultSheet.getRange(rowNum, 1, 1, numCols).setValues(values);
    rowNum++;
  }

  results.close();
  stmt.close();
}

When the function is completed, you have a spreadsheet populated with your RabbitMQ data and you can now leverage all of the calculating, graphing, and charting functionality of Google Sheets anywhere you have access to the Internet.

Complete Google Apps Script

//replace the variables in this block with real values as needed
var address = 'my.server.address:port';
var user = 'SQL_GATEWAY_USER';
var userPwd = 'SQL_GATEWAY_PASSWORD';
var db = 'CData API Sys';

var dbUrl = 'jdbc:mysql://' + address + '/' + db;

function onOpen() {
  var spreadsheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();
  var menuItems = [
    {name: 'Write table data to a sheet', functionName: 'connectToAPIData'}
  ];
  spreadsheet.addMenu('RabbitMQ Data', menuItems);
}

/*
 * Finds the first empty row in a spreadsheet by scanning an array of columns
 * @return The row number of the first empty row.
 */
function getFirstEmptyRowByColumnArray(spreadSheet, column) {
  var column = spreadSheet.getRange(column + ":" + column);
  var values = column.getValues(); // get all data in one call
  var ct = 0;
  while ( values[ct] && values[ct][0] != "" ) {
    ct++;
  }
  return (ct+1);
}

/*
 * Reads data from a specified 'table' and writes it to the specified sheet.
 *    (If the specified sheet does not exist, it is created.)
 */
function connectToAPIData() {
  var thisWorkbook = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();

  //select a sheet and create it if it does not exist
  var selectedSheet = Browser.inputBox('Which sheet would you like the data to post to?',Browser.Buttons.OK_CANCEL);
  if (selectedSheet == 'cancel')
    return;

  if (thisWorkbook.getSheetByName(selectedSheet) == null)
    thisWorkbook.insertSheet(selectedSheet);
  var resultSheet = thisWorkbook.getSheetByName(selectedSheet);
  var rowNum = 2;

  //select a RabbitMQ 'table'
  var table = Browser.inputBox('Which table would you like to pull data from?',Browser.Buttons.OK_CANCEL);
  if (table == 'cancel')
    return;

  var conn = Jdbc.getConnection(dbUrl, user, userPwd);

  //confirm that var table is a valid table/view
  var dbMetaData = conn.getMetaData();
  var tableSet = dbMetaData.getTables(null, null, table, null);
  var validTable = false;
  while (tableSet.next()) {
    var tempTable = tableSet.getString(3);
    if (table.toUpperCase() == tempTable.toUpperCase()){
      table = tempTable;
      validTable = true;
      break;
    }
  } 
  tableSet.close();
  if (!validTable) {
    Browser.msgBox("Invalid table name: " + table, Browser.Buttons.OK);
    return;
  }

  var stmt = conn.createStatement();

  var results = stmt.executeQuery('SELECT * FROM ' + table);
  var rsmd = results.getMetaData();
  var numCols = rsmd.getColumnCount();

  //if the sheet is empty, populate the first row with the headers
  var firstEmptyRow = getFirstEmptyRowByColumnArray(resultSheet, "A");
  if (firstEmptyRow == 1) {
    //collect column names
    var headers = new Array(new Array(numCols));
    for (var col = 0; col < numCols; col++){
      headers[0][col] = rsmd.getColumnName(col+1);
    }
    resultSheet.getRange(1, 1, headers.length, headers[0].length).setValues(headers);
  } else {
    rowNum = firstEmptyRow;
  }

  //write rows of RabbitMQ data to the sheet
  var values = new Array(new Array(numCols));
  while (results.next()) {
    for (var col = 0; col < numCols; col++) {
      values[0][col] = results.getString(col + 1);
    }
    resultSheet.getRange(rowNum, 1, 1, numCols).setValues(values);
    rowNum++;
  }

  results.close();
  stmt.close();
}

Ready to get started?

Connect to live data from RabbitMQ with the API Driver

Connect to RabbitMQ

In this article

Related articles