How to Use a Microsoft Access Database to Update Gmail Data in Real Time

CData ODBC drivers connect your data to any database management tool that supports Open Database Connectivity (ODBC). This includes many of the most popular productivity tools, adding new capabilities for document sharing and collaboration. Using the CData ODBC driver for Gmail, you can update live Gmail data in Microsoft Access; for example, you can make updates that can be immediately seen by other users.

Connect to Gmail as an ODBC Data Source

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

There are two ways to authenticate to Gmail. Before selecting one, first ensure that you have enabled IMAP access in your Gmail account settings. See the "Connecting to Gmail" section under "Getting Started" in the installed documentation for a guide.

The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, can be set to valid Gmail user credentials.

Alternatively, instead of providing the Password, you can use the OAuth authentication standard. To access Google APIs on behalf on individual users, you can use the embedded credentials or you can register your own OAuth app.

OAuth also enables you to use a service account to connect on behalf of users in a Google Apps domain. To authenticate with a service account, register an application to obtain the OAuth JWT values.

In addition to the OAuth values, provide the User. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for a guide to using OAuth.

Create a Linked Table to Inbox Data

Follow the steps below to create a linked table, which enables you to access live Inbox data.

1. On the External Data tab in Access, click ODBC Database. 👁 Use the Get External Data wizard to work with ODBC data sources in Access.
   
2. Select the option to link to the data source. A linked table will enable you to read from and write data to the Inbox table. 👁 Linked Tables enable you use the live connection to Gmail that is provided by the driver.
   

3. Select the CData Gmail data source from the Machine Data Source tab.

   👁 DSNs listed in the Get External Data wizard.
   
4. Select the Inbox table. For more information on this table, see the "Data Model" chapter in the help documentation. 👁 Available tables. (Google is shown.)
   

5. Double-click the linked table to make edits. The linked table will always have up-to-date data and any changes will be reflected back to the underlying table.

   👁 A linked table to the live data. (Google is shown.)