How to Visualize ZenRows Data in Python with pandas

Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Use pandas and other modules to analyze and visualize live ZenRows data in Python.

The rich ecosystem of Python modules lets you get to work quickly and integrate your systems more effectively. With the CData API Driver for Python, the pandas & Matplotlib modules, and the SQLAlchemy toolkit, you can build ZenRows-connected Python applications and scripts for visualizing ZenRows data. This article shows how to use the pandas, SQLAlchemy, and Matplotlib built-in functions to connect to ZenRows data, execute queries, and visualize the results.

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

Connecting to ZenRows Data

Connecting to ZenRows 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 ZenRows Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\ZenRows.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for ZenRows (see below).

ZenRows API Profile Settings

To use the ZenRows API, you need to obtain an API key from your ZenRows account. Navigate to the ZenRows dashboard at app.zenrows.com and copy your API key from the account settings.

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

  • AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
  • APIKey: Set this to your ZenRows API key.

Follow the procedure below to install the required modules and start accessing ZenRows through Python objects.

Install Required Modules

Use the pip utility to install the pandas & Matplotlib modules and the SQLAlchemy toolkit:

pip install pandas
pip install matplotlib
pip install sqlalchemy

Be sure to import the module with the following:

import pandas
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from sqlalchemy import create_engine

Visualize ZenRows Data in Python

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

engine = create_engine("api:///?Profile=C:\profiles\ZenRows.apip&AuthScheme=APIKey&ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key'")

Execute SQL to ZenRows

Use the read_sql function from pandas to execute any SQL statement and store the resultset in a DataFrame.

df = pandas.read_sql("SELECT ProductId, ProductName FROM AmazonDiscovery WHERE Query = 'laptop'", engine)

Visualize ZenRows Data

With the query results stored in a DataFrame, use the plot function to build a chart to display the ZenRows data. The show method displays the chart in a new window.

df.plot(kind="bar", x="ProductId", y="ProductName")
plt.show()
ZenRows data in a Python plot (Salesforce is shown).

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 ZenRows data. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.



Full Source Code

import pandas
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from sqlalchemy import create_engin

engine = create_engine("api:///?Profile=C:\profiles\ZenRows.apip&AuthScheme=APIKey&ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key'")
df = pandas.read_sql("SELECT ProductId, ProductName FROM AmazonDiscovery WHERE Query = 'laptop'", engine)

df.plot(kind="bar", x="ProductId", y="ProductName")
plt.show()

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