Using the CData ODBC Driver for ServiceDesk Plus in PyCharm

The CData ODBC Drivers can be used in any environment that supports loading an ODBC Driver. In this tutorial we will explore using the CData ODBC Driver for ServiceDesk Plus from within PyCharm. Included are steps for adding the CData ODBC Driver as a data source, as well as basic PyCharm code to query the data source and display results.

To begin, this tutorial will assume that you have already installed the CData ODBC Driver for ServiceDesk Plus as well as PyCharm.

Add Pyodbc to the Project

Follow the steps below to add the pyodbc module to your project.

1. Click File -> Settings to open the project settings window.
2. Click Project Interpreter from the Project: YourProjectName menu.
3. To add pyodbc, click the + button and enter pyodbc.
4. Click Install Package to install pyodbc.

Connect to ServiceDesk Plus

You can now connect with an ODBC connection string or a DSN. See the Getting Started section in the CData driver documentation for a guide to creating a DSN on your OS.

Using OAuth Authentication

ServiceDeskPlus uses Zoho OAuth 2.0 for secure authentication. To set up OAuth access:

1. Register your application in the Zoho Developer Console at https://api-console.zoho.com
2. Configure your redirect URI to match your application setup
3. Note your Client ID and Client Secret from the application settings

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

• AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
• OAuthClientId: Set this to your Zoho application Client ID.
• OAuthClientSecret: Set this to your Zoho application Client Secret.
• Scope: Set this to the required ServiceDeskPlus permissions (default includes read access to requests, problems, assets, and projects).
• Domain: Set this to your ServiceDeskPlus domain
• Portal: Set this to your ServiceDeskPlus portal

Example Connection String

Profile=C:\profiles\ServiceDeskPlus.apip;ProfileSettings="Portal=itdesk;Domain=.in;Scope=SDPOnDemand.requests.READ SDPOnDemand.problems.READ SDPOnDemand.assets.READ SDPOnDemand.projects.READ";AuthScheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;

Below is the syntax for a DSN:

[CData API Source]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for ServiceDesk Plus
Description = My Description
Profile = C:\profiles\ServiceDeskPlus.apip
ProfileSettings = "Portal = itdesk
Domain = .in
Scope = SDPOnDemand.requests.READ SDPOnDemand.problems.READ SDPOnDemand.assets.READ SDPOnDemand.projects.READ"
AuthScheme = OAuth
OAuthClientId = your_client_id
OAuthClientSecret = your_client_secret

Execute SQL to ServiceDesk Plus

Instantiate a Cursor and use the execute method of the Cursor class to execute any SQL statement.

import pyodbc

cnxn = pyodbc.connect('DRIVER={CData ODBC Driver for API};Profile = C:\profiles\ServiceDeskPlus.apip;ProfileSettings = "Portal = itdesk;Domain = .in;Scope = SDPOnDemand.requests.READ SDPOnDemand.problems.READ SDPOnDemand.assets.READ SDPOnDemand.projects.READ";AuthScheme = OAuth;OAuthClientId = your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret = your_client_secret;')
cursor = cnxn.cursor()
cursor.execute("SELECT ,  FROM AnnouncementComments WHERE AnnouncementId = '12345'")
rows = cursor.fetchall()
for row in rows:
  print(row., row.)

After connecting to ServiceDesk Plus in PyCharm using the CData ODBC Driver, you will be able to build Python apps with access to ServiceDesk Plus data as if it were a standard database. If you have any questions, comments, or feedback regarding this tutorial, please contact us at [email protected].