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Create Python applications that use pandas and Dash to build SharePoint-connected web apps.
The rich ecosystem of Python modules lets you get to work quickly and integrate your systems more effectively. With the CData Python Connector for SharePoint, the pandas module, and the Dash framework, you can build SharePoint-connected web applications for SharePoint data. This article shows how to connect to SharePoint with the CData Connector and use pandas and Dash to build a simple web app for visualizing SharePoint data.
With built-in, optimized data processing, the CData Python Connector offers unmatched performance for interacting with live SharePoint data in Python. When you issue complex SQL queries from SharePoint, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to SharePoint and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations).
About SharePoint Data Integration
Accessing and integrating live data from SharePoint has never been easier with CData. Customers rely on CData connectivity to:
- Access data from a wide range of SharePoint versions, including Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and above, and SharePoint Online.
- Access all of SharePoint thanks to support for Hidden and Lookup columns.
- Recursively scan folders to create a relational model of all SharePoint data.
- Use SQL stored procedures to upload and download documents and attachments.
Most customers rely on CData solutions to integrate SharePoint data into their database or data warehouse, while others integrate their SharePoint data with preferred data tools, like Power BI, Tableau, or Excel.
For more information on how customers are solving problems with CData's SharePoint solutions, refer to our blog: Drivers in Focus: Collaboration Tools.
Getting Started
Connecting to SharePoint Data
Connecting to SharePoint data looks just like connecting to any relational data source. Create a connection string using the required connection properties. For this article, you will pass the connection string as a parameter to the create_engine function.
Set the URL property to the base SharePoint site or to a sub-site. This allows you to query any lists and other SharePoint entities defined for the site or sub-site.
The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid SharePoint user credentials when using SharePoint On-Premise.
If you are connecting to SharePoint Online, set the SharePointEdition to SHAREPOINTONLINE along with the User and Password connection string properties. For more details on connecting to SharePoint Online, see the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation
After installing the CData SharePoint Connector, follow the procedure below to install the other required modules and start accessing SharePoint through Python objects.
Install Required Modules
Use the pip utility to install the required modules and frameworks:
pip install pandas pip install dash pip install dash-daq
Visualize SharePoint Data in Python
Once the required modules and frameworks are installed, we are ready to build our web app. Code snippets follow, but the full source code is available at the end of the article.
First, be sure to import the modules (including the CData Connector) with the following:
import os import dash import dash_core_components as dcc import dash_html_components as html import pandas as pd import cdata.sharepoint as mod import plotly.graph_objs as go
You can now connect with a connection string. Use the connect function for the CData SharePoint Connector to create a connection for working with SharePoint data.
cnxn = mod.connect("User=myuseraccount;Password=mypassword;Auth Scheme=NTLM;URL=http://sharepointserver/mysite;SharePointEdition=SharePointOnPremise;")
Execute SQL to SharePoint
Use the read_sql function from pandas to execute any SQL statement and store the result set in a DataFrame.
df = pd.read_sql("SELECT Name, Revenue FROM MyCustomList WHERE Location = 'Chapel Hill'", cnxn)
Configure the Web App
With the query results stored in a DataFrame, we can begin configuring the web app, assigning a name, stylesheet, and title.
app_name = 'dash-sharepointedataplot' external_stylesheets = ['https://codepen.io/chriddyp/pen/bWLwgP.css'] app = dash.Dash(__name__, external_stylesheets=external_stylesheets) app.title = 'CData + Dash'
Configure the Layout
The next step is to create a bar graph based on our SharePoint data and configure the app layout.
trace = go.Bar(x=df.Name, y=df.Revenue, name='Name') app.layout = html.Div(children=[html.H1("CData Extension + Dash", style={'textAlign': 'center'}), dcc.Graph( id='example-graph', figure={ 'data': [trace], 'layout': go.Layout(title='SharePoint MyCustomList Data', barmode='stack') }) ], className="container")
Set the App to Run
With the connection, app, and layout configured, we are ready to run the app. The last lines of Python code follow.
if __name__ == '__main__': app.run_server(debug=True)
Now, use Python to run the web app and a browser to view the SharePoint data.
python sharepoint-dash.py
Free Trial & More Information
Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData Python Connector for SharePoint to start building Python apps with connectivity to SharePoint data. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.
Full Source Code
import os import dash import dash_core_components as dcc import dash_html_components as html import pandas as pd import cdata.sharepoint as mod import plotly.graph_objs as go cnxn = mod.connect("User=myuseraccount;Password=mypassword;Auth Scheme=NTLM;URL=http://sharepointserver/mysite;SharePointEdition=SharePointOnPremise;") df = pd.read_sql("SELECT Name, Revenue FROM MyCustomList WHERE Location = 'Chapel Hill'", cnxn) app_name = 'dash-sharepointdataplot' external_stylesheets = ['https://codepen.io/chriddyp/pen/bWLwgP.css'] app = dash.Dash(__name__, external_stylesheets=external_stylesheets) app.title = 'CData + Dash' trace = go.Bar(x=df.Name, y=df.Revenue, name='Name') app.layout = html.Div(children=[html.H1("CData Extension + Dash", style={'textAlign': 'center'}), dcc.Graph( id='example-graph', figure={ 'data': [trace], 'layout': go.Layout(title='SharePoint MyCustomList Data', barmode='stack') }) ], className="container") if __name__ == '__main__': app.run_server(debug=True)