Working with Spotify Data in LINQPad

The CData ADO.NET Provider for Spotify enables you to use standard ADO.NET interfaces like LINQ and the Entity Framework to work with Spotify data. This article will demonstrate the process of establishing a connection from LINQPad and executing LINQ queries.

Create the Data Model

After downloading and installing both the provider and LINQPad, create a new class library project within Visual Studio.

See the help documentation for a guide to setting up an EF 6 project to use the provider.

1. Right-click your project and click Add -> New Item -> ADO.NET Entity Data Model. In the resulting dialog, select Code First from database. Click New Connection and specify the connection string options in the resulting wizard.

   Using OAuth Authentication

   Spotify uses OAuth 2.0 for authentication. You will need to create an application in the Spotify Developer Dashboard to obtain your client credentials.

   Setting Up Your Spotify Application

   1. Visit the Spotify Developer Dashboard.
   2. Log in with your Spotify account and click Create app.
   3. Provide an app name, description, and set a Redirect URI (e.g.,

      http://localhost:33333

      for desktop applications).
   4. Copy your Client ID and Client Secret from the app settings.

   Connection Properties

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

   • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
   • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to manage the process to obtain the OAuthAccessToken.
   • OAuthClientId: Set this to your Spotify application's Client ID.
   • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to your Spotify application's Client Secret.
   • Scope: Set this to the required OAuth scopes (space-separated). The default includes all read scopes needed for the tables in this profile.
   • CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI configured in your Spotify application (e.g., http://localhost:33333).

   Example Connection String

   Profile=C:\profiles\Spotify.apip;AuthScheme=OAuth;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackURL=http://localhost:33333;
   

   Available OAuth Scopes

   • user-read-private: Read access to user's subscription details and explicit content settings.
   • user-read-email: Read access to user's email address.
   • user-library-read: Read access to a user's saved tracks, albums, episodes, shows, and audiobooks.
   • playlist-read-private: Read access to user's private playlists.
   • playlist-read-collaborative: Read access to collaborative playlists the user follows.
   • user-follow-read: Read access to the list of artists the current user follows.
   • user-read-playback-state: Read access to a user's player state (device, current track, progress).
   • user-read-currently-playing: Read access to a user's currently playing content.
   • user-read-playback-history: Read access to a user's recently played tracks.
   • user-top-read: Read access to a user's top artists and tracks.

   Below is a typical connection string:

   Profile=C:\profiles\Spotify.apip;AuthScheme=OAuth;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackURL=http://localhost:33333;

   

2. Select the desired tables and views and click Finish to create the data model.

   
3. Build the project. The generated files can be used to create the Spotify connection in LINQPad.

Connect to Spotify Data in LINQPad

After you have obtained the required connection properties and created the data model assembly, follow the steps below to start using the data model in LINQPad.

1. Open LINQPad and click Add Connection.

2. Select the "Use a typed data context from your own assembly" option.

3. Select Entity Framework DbContext.

   

4. Click Browse next to the Path to Custom Assembly box and browse to your project folder. Browse to the .dll or .exe under the bin folder.

5. Select the name of the DbContext.
6. If you saved your connection string in App.Config, specify the path to the App.config.

You can now query Spotify data through LINQPad. For examples of the supported LINQ queries, see the "LINQ and Entity Framework" chapter in the help documentation.