How to use SQLAlchemy ORM to access Vimeo 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 Vimeo-connected Python applications and scripts. This article shows how to use SQLAlchemy to connect to Vimeo data to query Vimeo data.

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

Connecting to Vimeo Data

Connecting to Vimeo 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.

Vimeo is a professional video hosting platform. The Vimeo API uses personal access tokens (bearer tokens) to enable secure access to video metadata, user information, channels, groups, categories, and related resources.

Using API Key Authentication

To authenticate to the Vimeo API, you will need to provide a personal access token. To obtain your access token:

1. Log in to your Vimeo account at https://vimeo.com
2. Navigate to https://developer.vimeo.com/apps
3. Create a new app or select an existing app
4. Under "Personal Access Tokens", click "Generate" to create a new token
5. Select the required scopes: public and private for read access
6. Copy the generated token

After obtaining your access token, set the following connection properties:

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
• APIKey: Set this to your Vimeo personal access token.

Example connection string

Profile=C:\profiles\Vimeo.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_personal_access_token';

Follow the procedure below to install SQLAlchemy and start accessing Vimeo 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 Vimeo Data in Python

You can now connect with a connection string. Use the create_engine function to create an Engine for working with Vimeo 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\Vimeo.apip&ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_personal_access_token'")

Declare a Mapping Class for Vimeo 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 Videos 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 Videos(base):
	__tablename__ = "Videos"
	 = Column(String,primary_key=True)
	 = Column(String)
	...

Query Vimeo 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\Vimeo.apip&ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_personal_access_token'")
factory = sessionmaker(bind=engine)
session = factory()
for instance in session.query(Videos).filter_by(UserUri="/users/12345678"):
	print(": ", instance.)
	print(": ", instance.)
	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

Videos_table = Videos.metadata.tables["Videos"]
for instance in session.execute(Videos_table.select().where(Videos_table.c.UserUri == "/users/12345678")):
	print(": ", instance.)
	print(": ", instance.)
	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 Vimeo data. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.