Access Live Google Cloud Storage Data in Excel (Desktop) via Connect AI

Microsoft Excel is a widely used spreadsheet software application, primarily used for tasks related to data management, analysis, and visualization. When combined with CData Connect AI, you gain immediate access to Google Cloud Storage data directly within Excel, facilitating data analysis, collaboration, calculations, and more.This article shows how to connect to Google Cloud Storage in your Connect AI instance and access live Google Cloud Storage data in Excel spreadsheets.

CData Connect AI provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for Google Cloud Storage, allowing you to easily access live Google Cloud Storage data in Excel for the web. Simply use the Connect AI Add-In to query live data (or write your own). Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect AI pushes all supported query operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Google Cloud Storage, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Google Cloud Storage data.

Configure Google Cloud Storage Connectivity for Excel

Connectivity to Google Cloud Storage from Excel is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Google Cloud Storage data from Excel, we start by creating and configuring a Google Cloud Storage connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
👁 Adding a Connection

2. Select "Google Cloud Storage" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Google Cloud Storage.

   Authenticate with a User Account

   You can connect without setting any connection properties for your user credentials. After setting InitiateOAuth to GETANDREFRESH, you are ready to connect.

   When you connect, the Google Cloud Storage OAuth endpoint opens in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions, then the OAuth process completes

   Authenticate with a Service Account

   Service accounts have silent authentication, without user authentication in the browser. You can also use a service account to delegate enterprise-wide access scopes.

   You need to create an OAuth application in this flow. See the Help documentation for more information. After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

   • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH.
   • OAuthJWTCertType: Set this to "PFXFILE".
   • OAuthJWTCert: Set this to the path to the .p12 file you generated.
   • OAuthJWTCertPassword: Set this to the password of the .p12 file.
   • OAuthJWTCertSubject: Set this to "*" to pick the first certificate in the certificate store.
   • OAuthJWTIssuer: In the service accounts section, click Manage Service Accounts and set this field to the email address displayed in the service account Id field.
   • OAuthJWTSubject: Set this to your enterprise Id if your subject type is set to "enterprise" or your app user Id if your subject type is set to "user".
   • ProjectId: Set this to the Id of the project you want to connect to.

   The OAuth flow for a service account then completes.

   👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Google Cloud Storage Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions
   

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Google Cloud Storage data from Excel.

Access Live Google Cloud Storage Data in Excel

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect AI from Excel to access live Google Cloud Storage data.

1. Open Excel, create a new sheet (or open an existing one).
2. Click Insert and click Get Add-ins. (if you have already installed the Add-In, jump to step 4).
3. Search for CData Connect AI Add-In and install the Add-in. 👁 Install the Add-In
   
4. Click Data and open the CData Connect AI Add-In.
5. In the Add-In panel, click Authorize to authenticate with your CData Connect AI instance 👁 Authorizing the Add-In
   
6. In the CData Connect AI panel in Excel, click Import 👁 CData Connect AI panel in Excel
   
7. Choose a Connection (e.g. GoogleCloudStorage1), Table (e.g. Buckets), and Columns to import 👁 CData Connect AI panel in Excel
   
8. Optionally add Filters, Sorting, and a Limit 👁 Choosing a Connection, Table, and Columns
   
9. Click Execute to import the data 👁 Executing the Query
   

Live Access to Google Cloud Storage Data from Cloud Applications

Now, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Google Cloud Storage data from your Excel workbook. You can add more data to your workbook for calculations, aggregations, collaboration, and more.

Try CData Connect AI and get real-time data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications.