How to Visualize SendPulse Data in Python with pandas via CData Connect AI

Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Use the CData Connect AI Python SDK with pandas and Matplotlib to analyze and visualize live SendPulse data in Python.

The rich ecosystem of Python modules lets you get to work quickly and integrate your systems more effectively. With the CData Connect AI Python SDK, the pandas and Matplotlib modules, you can build SendPulse-connected Python applications and scripts for visualizing SendPulse data. This article shows how to connect to Connect AI and use the pandas and Matplotlib built-in functions to query SendPulse data and visualize the results.

The Connect AI Python SDK (cdata-connect-ai) is a DB-API 2.0 (PEP 249) compliant client, so pandas can read query results directly from the SDK connection object. There is no driver to install per source and no SQLAlchemy engine to configure: connect with a Personal Access Token and pass the connection straight to pandas.read_sql.

Connect to SendPulse in Connect AI

CData Connect AI uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

  1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
  2. Adding a Connection
  3. Select "SendPulse" from the Add Connection panel
  4. Selecting a data source
  5. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to SendPulse.

    Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the SendPulse Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\SendPulse.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for SendPulse (see below).

    SendPulse API Profile Settings

    Log into your SendPulse account, navigate to Profile > Account Settings > API, and retrieve your API ID and Secret to use as your OAuth Client ID and Secret.

    Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
  6. Click Save & Test
  7. Navigate to the Permissions tab and update the user-based permissions. Updating permissions

Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT)

The Python SDK authenticates to Connect AI with your account email and a Personal Access Token (PAT). It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each application to maintain granularity of access.

  1. Click the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the Settings page.
  2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
  3. Give the PAT a name and click Create. Creating a new PAT
  4. The PAT is only visible at creation, so copy it and store it securely.

Install Required Modules

Install the SDK (with the pandas extra) and Matplotlib using the pip utility:

pip install "cdata-connect-ai[full]"
pip install matplotlib

Visualize SendPulse Data in Python

Import the modules, then connect to Connect AI with your account email and PAT. Identifiers are three-part: <Connection>.<Schema>.<Table>, where the connection name defaults to the source name (for example, API1).

import pandas
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import cdata_connect_ai

conn = cdata_connect_ai.connect(
    username="[email protected]",
    password="<your_pat>",
)

Query SendPulse with pandas

Use the read_sql function from pandas to execute a SQL statement and store the result set in a DataFrame. Pass the SDK connection directly, no engine required.

df = pandas.read_sql(
    "SELECT AutoresponderId, AutoresponderName "
    "FROM [API1].[API].[AutomationFlowsStatistics] "
    "WHERE AutoresponderStatus = '1'",
    conn,
)

Note: pandas may print a UserWarning stating that it only officially supports SQLAlchemy connectables. This is expected when passing a DB-API connection directly—the query runs correctly and the warning is safe to ignore.

Visualize SendPulse Data

With the query results stored in a DataFrame, use the plot function to build a chart. The show method displays the chart in a new window.

df.plot(kind="bar", x="AutoresponderId", y="AutoresponderName")
plt.show()

conn.close()
The Matplotlib chart of the query results (Salesforce is shown)

More Information and Free Trial

Now you can read live SendPulse data into pandas through the CData Connect AI Python SDK. For more information on connecting to SendPulse (and hundreds of other data sources), visit the Connect AI page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live SendPulse data in Python.



Full Source Code

import pandas
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import cdata_connect_ai

conn = cdata_connect_ai.connect(
    username="[email protected]",
    password="<your_pat>",
)

df = pandas.read_sql(
    "SELECT AutoresponderId, AutoresponderName "
    "FROM [API1].[API].[AutomationFlowsStatistics] "
    "WHERE AutoresponderStatus = '1'",
    conn,
)

df.plot(kind="bar", x="AutoresponderId", y="AutoresponderName")
plt.show()

conn.close()

Ready to get started?

Learn more about CData Connect AI or sign up for free trial access:

Free Trial