Connect to SingleStore Data in 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 200+ drivers by CData for sources like SingleStore. 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 SingleStore data within your Google documents.

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

Our script only reads data from a specified table, but you can easily extend the script to incorporate update functionality.

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 SingleStore and ensure that the SQL Gateway is installed on a web-facing machine (or can connect to a hosted SSH server).

Connect to SingleStore 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.

The following connection properties are required in order to connect to data.

• Server: The host name or IP of the server hosting the SingleStore database.
• Port: The port of the server hosting the SingleStore database.
• Database (Optional): The default database to connect to when connecting to the SingleStore Server. If this is not set, tables from all databases will be returned.

Connect Using Standard Authentication

To authenticate using standard authentication, set the following:

• User: The user which will be used to authenticate with the SingleStore server.
• Password: The password which will be used to authenticate with the SingleStore server.

Connect Using Integrated Security

As an alternative to providing the standard username and password, you can set IntegratedSecurity to True to authenticate trusted users to the server via Windows Authentication.

Connect Using SSL Authentication

You can leverage SSL authentication to connect to SingleStore data via a secure session. Configure the following connection properties to connect to data:

• SSLClientCert: Set this to the name of the certificate store for the client certificate. Used in the case of 2-way SSL, where truststore and keystore are kept on both the client and server machines.
• SSLClientCertPassword: If a client certificate store is password-protected, set this value to the store's password.
• SSLClientCertSubject: The subject of the TLS/SSL client certificate. Used to locate the certificate in the store.
• SSLClientCertType: The certificate type of the client store.
• SSLServerCert: The certificate to be accepted from the server.

Connect Using SSH Authentication

Using SSH, you can securely login to a remote machine. To access SingleStore data via SSH, configure the following connection properties:

• SSHClientCert: Set this to the name of the certificate store for the client certificate.
• SSHClientCertPassword: If a client certificate store is password-protected, set this value to the store's password.
• SSHClientCertSubject: The subject of the TLS/SSL client certificate. Used to locate the certificate in the store.
• SSHClientCertType: The certificate type of the client store.
• SSHPassword: The password that you use to authenticate with the SSH server.
• SSHPort: The port used for SSH operations.
• SSHServer: The SSH authentication server you are trying to authenticate against.
• SSHServerFingerPrint: The SSH Server fingerprint used for verification of the host you are connecting to.
• SSHUser: Set this to the username that you use to authenticate with the SSH server.

Create a MySQL Remoting Service for SingleStore Data

See the SQL Gateway Overview to set up connectivity to SingleStore 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 SingleStore Data with Apps Script

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

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 SingleStore 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: 'connectToSingleStoreData'}
  ];
  spreadsheet.addMenu('SingleStore Data', menuItems);
} 

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 SingleStore Data to a Spreadsheet

The function below writes the SingleStore 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)

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

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 SingleStore 'table' and writes it to the specified sheet.
 *    (If the specified sheet does not exist, it is created.)
 */
function connectToSingleStoreData() {
  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 SingleStore '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 SingleStore 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 SingleStore 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 SingleStore Sys';

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

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