Use Dash to Build to Web Apps on Zoho Creator Data



Create Python applications that use pandas and Dash to build Zoho Creator-connected web apps.

The rich ecosystem of Python modules lets you get to work quickly and integrate your systems more effectively. With the CData Python Connector for Zoho Creator, the pandas module, and the Dash framework, you can build Zoho Creator-connected web applications for Zoho Creator data. This article shows how to connect to Zoho Creator with the CData Connector and use pandas and Dash to build a simple web app for visualizing Zoho Creator data.

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

Connecting to Zoho Creator Data

Connecting to Zoho Creator 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.

The connector is already registered with Zoho Creator as an OAuth application.

If you would prefer to use your own custom OAuth app, see the Help documentation.

After installing the CData Zoho Creator Connector, follow the procedure below to install the other required modules and start accessing Zoho Creator through Python objects.

Install Required Modules

Use the pip utility to install the required modules and frameworks:

pip install pandas
pip install dash
pip install dash-daq

Visualize Zoho Creator Data in Python

Once the required modules and frameworks are installed, we are ready to build our web app. Code snippets follow, but the full source code is available at the end of the article.

First, be sure to import the modules (including the CData Connector) with the following:

import os
import dash
import dash_core_components as dcc
import dash_html_components as html
import pandas as pd
import cdata.zohocreator as mod
import plotly.graph_objs as go

You can now connect with a connection string. Use the connect function for the CData Zoho Creator Connector to create a connection for working with Zoho Creator data.

cnxn = mod.connect("AccountsServer=AccountsServer;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthSettingsLocation=/PATH/TO/OAuthSettings.txt")")

Execute SQL to Zoho Creator

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

df = pd.read_sql("SELECT ID, Leave_Type FROM Leave_Types WHERE Leave_Type = 'Sick'", cnxn)

Configure the Web App

With the query results stored in a DataFrame, we can begin configuring the web app, assigning a name, stylesheet, and title.

app_name = 'dash-zohocreatoredataplot'

external_stylesheets = ['https://codepen.io/chriddyp/pen/bWLwgP.css']

app = dash.Dash(__name__, external_stylesheets=external_stylesheets)
app.title = 'CData + Dash'

Configure the Layout

The next step is to create a bar graph based on our Zoho Creator data and configure the app layout.

trace = go.Bar(x=df.ID, y=df.Leave_Type, name='ID')

app.layout = html.Div(children=[html.H1("CData Extension + Dash", style={'textAlign': 'center'}),
	dcc.Graph(
		id='example-graph',
		figure={
			'data': [trace],
			'layout':
			go.Layout(title='Zoho Creator Leave_Types Data', barmode='stack')
		})
], className="container")

Set the App to Run

With the connection, app, and layout configured, we are ready to run the app. The last lines of Python code follow.

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run_server(debug=True)

Now, use Python to run the web app and a browser to view the Zoho Creator data.

python zohocreator-dash.py

Free Trial & More Information

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData Python Connector for Zoho Creator to start building Python apps with connectivity to Zoho Creator data. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.



Full Source Code

import os
import dash
import dash_core_components as dcc
import dash_html_components as html
import pandas as pd
import cdata.zohocreator as mod
import plotly.graph_objs as go

cnxn = mod.connect("AccountsServer=AccountsServer;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthSettingsLocation=/PATH/TO/OAuthSettings.txt")

df = pd.read_sql("SELECT ID, Leave_Type FROM Leave_Types WHERE Leave_Type = 'Sick'", cnxn)
app_name = 'dash-zohocreatordataplot'

external_stylesheets = ['https://codepen.io/chriddyp/pen/bWLwgP.css']

app = dash.Dash(__name__, external_stylesheets=external_stylesheets)
app.title = 'CData + Dash'
trace = go.Bar(x=df.ID, y=df.Leave_Type, name='ID')

app.layout = html.Div(children=[html.H1("CData Extension + Dash", style={'textAlign': 'center'}),
	dcc.Graph(
		id='example-graph',
		figure={
			'data': [trace],
			'layout':
			go.Layout(title='Zoho Creator Leave_Types Data', barmode='stack')
		})
], className="container")

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run_server(debug=True)

Ready to get started?

Download a free trial of the Zoho Creator Connector to get started:

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Learn more:

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