How to use SQLAlchemy ORM to access HCL Domino Data in Python

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

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

Connecting to HCL Domino Data

Connecting to HCL Domino 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.

Connecting to Domino

To connect to Domino data, set the following properties:

• URL: The host name or IP of the server hosting the Domino database. Include the port of the server hosting the Domino database. For example: http://sampleserver:1234/
• DatabaseScope: The name of a scope in the Domino Web UI. The driver exposes forms and views for the schema governed by the specified scope. In the Domino Admin UI, select the Scopes menu in the sidebar. Set this property to the name of an existing scope.

Authenticating with Domino

Domino supports authenticating via login credentials or an Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) OAuth application:

Login Credentials

To authenticate with login credentials, set the following properties:

• AuthScheme: Set this to "OAuthPassword"
• User: The username of the authenticating Domino user
• Password: The password associated with the authenticating Domino user

The driver uses the login credentials to automatically perform an OAuth token exchange.

EntraID (formerly AzureAD)

This authentication method uses Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) as an IdP to obtain a JWT token. You need to create a custom OAuth application in Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) and configure it as an IdP. To do so, follow the instructions in the Help documentation. Then set the following properties:

• AuthScheme: Set this to "EntraID (formerly AzureAD)"
• InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
• OAuthClientId: The Client ID obtained when setting up the custom OAuth application.
• OAuthClientSecret: The Client secret obtained when setting up the custom OAuth application.
• CallbackURL: The redirect URI defined when you registered your app. For example: https://localhost:33333
• AzureTenant: The Microsoft Online tenant being used to access data. Supply either a value in the form companyname.microsoft.com or the tenant ID.

  The tenant ID is the same as the directory ID shown in the Azure Portal's Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) > Properties page.

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

You can now connect with a connection string. Use the create_engine function to create an Engine for working with HCL Domino 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("domino:///?Server=https://domino.corp.com&AuthScheme=OAuthPassword&User=my_domino_user&Password=my_domino_password")

Declare a Mapping Class for HCL Domino 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 ByName 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 ByName(base):
	__tablename__ = "ByName"
	Name = Column(String,primary_key=True)
	Address = Column(String)
	...

Query HCL Domino 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("domino:///?Server=https://domino.corp.com&AuthScheme=OAuthPassword&User=my_domino_user&Password=my_domino_password")
factory = sessionmaker(bind=engine)
session = factory()
for instance in session.query(ByName).filter_by(City="Miami"):
	print("Name: ", instance.Name)
	print("Address: ", instance.Address)
	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

ByName_table = ByName.metadata.tables["ByName"]
for instance in session.execute(ByName_table.select().where(ByName_table.c.City == "Miami")):
	print("Name: ", instance.Name)
	print("Address: ", instance.Address)
	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 Python Connector for HCL Domino to start building Python apps and scripts with connectivity to HCL Domino data. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.