How to use SQLAlchemy ORM to access UKG Pro WFM Data in Python

The rich ecosystem of Python modules lets you get to work quickly and integrate your systems effectively. With the CData API Driver for Python and the SQLAlchemy toolkit, you can build UKG Pro WFM-connected Python applications and scripts. This article shows how to use SQLAlchemy to connect to UKG Pro WFM data to query UKG Pro WFM data.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData Python Connector offers unmatched performance for interacting with live UKG Pro WFM data in Python. When you issue complex SQL queries from UKG Pro WFM, the CData Connector pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to UKG Pro WFM and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations).

Connecting to UKG Pro WFM Data

Connecting to UKG Pro WFM 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.

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

UKGProWFM API Profile Settings

UKG Pro Workforce Management uses OAuth 2.0 with the Resource Owner Password Credentials grant (grant_type=password) to authorize access to the API. Unlike most OAuth-based profiles, this does not use a browser redirect/authorization-code step: the driver exchanges your UKG Pro WFM username, password, client ID, and client secret directly for an access token.

Set the following connection properties to authenticate:

• AuthScheme: Set this to OAuthPassword.
• Host: Set this to the hostname of your UKG Pro Workforce Management datacenter/tenant (for example, yourcompany.mykronos.com). Do not include the protocol (https://) or a trailing slash.
• OAuthClientId: Set this to the client ID issued for your UKG Pro Workforce Management OAuth application.
• OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client secret issued for your UKG Pro Workforce Management OAuth application.
• User: Set this to your UKG Pro Workforce Management username.
• Password: Set this to your UKG Pro Workforce Management password.

Access tokens are obtained from https://{Host}/api/authentication/access_token. Refresh tokens issued by UKG Pro Workforce Management expire after 7 days; if a refresh attempt fails because the refresh token itself has expired, the driver must re-authenticate with your User/Password credentials to obtain a new access token.

Follow the procedure below to install SQLAlchemy and start accessing UKG Pro WFM through Python objects.

Install Required Modules

Use the pip utility to install the SQLAlchemy toolkit and SQLAlchemy ORM package:

pip install sqlalchemy
pip install sqlalchemy.orm

Be sure to import the appropriate modules:

from sqlalchemy import create_engine, String, Column
from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker

Model UKG Pro WFM Data in Python

You can now connect with a connection string. Use the create_engine function to create an Engine for working with UKG Pro WFM data.

NOTE: Users should URL encode the any connection string properties that include special characters. For more information, refer to the SQL Alchemy documentation.

engine = create_engine("api:///?Profile=C:\profiles\UKGProWFM.apip&AuthScheme=OAuthPassword&ProfileSettings='Host=yourcompany.mykronos.com&User=your_username&Password=your_password&'&OAuthClientId=your_client_id&OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret")

Declare a Mapping Class for UKG Pro WFM Data

After establishing the connection, declare a mapping class for the table you wish to model in the ORM (in this article, we will model the Employees table). Use the sqlalchemy.ext.declarative.declarative_base function and create a new class with some or all of the fields (columns) defined.

base = declarative_base()
class Employees(base):
	__tablename__ = "Employees"
	PersonNumber = Column(String,primary_key=True)
	UserName = Column(String)
	...

Query UKG Pro WFM Data

With the mapping class prepared, you can use a session object to query the data source. After binding the Engine to the session, provide the mapping class to the session query method.

Using the query Method

engine = create_engine("api:///?Profile=C:\profiles\UKGProWFM.apip&AuthScheme=OAuthPassword&ProfileSettings='Host=yourcompany.mykronos.com&User=your_username&Password=your_password&'&OAuthClientId=your_client_id&OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret")
factory = sessionmaker(bind=engine)
session = factory()
for instance in session.query(Employees).filter_by(PersonId="12345"):
	print("PersonNumber: ", instance.PersonNumber)
	print("UserName: ", instance.UserName)
	print("---------")

Alternatively, you can use the execute method with the appropriate table object. The code below works with an active session.

Using the execute Method

Employees_table = Employees.metadata.tables["Employees"]
for instance in session.execute(Employees_table.select().where(Employees_table.c.PersonId == "12345")):
	print("PersonNumber: ", instance.PersonNumber)
	print("UserName: ", instance.UserName)
	print("---------")

For examples of more complex querying, including JOINs, aggregations, limits, and more, refer to the Help documentation for the extension.

Free Trial & More Information

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData API Driver for Python to start building Python apps and scripts with connectivity to UKG Pro WFM data. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.