Use the CData ODBC Driver for Google Forms in SAS for Real-Time Reporting and Analytics

SAS is a software suite developed for advanced analytics, multivariate analysis, business intelligence, data management, and predictive analytics. When you pair SAS with the CData ODBC Driver for Google Forms, you gain database-like access to live Google Forms data from SAS, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. This article explains how to create a library for Google Forms in SAS and create a simple report based on real-time Google Forms data.

The CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Google Forms data in SAS due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from SAS to Google Forms, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Google Forms and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations (often SQL functions and JOIN operations) client-side. With built-in dynamic metadata querying, you can easily visualize and analyze Google Forms data in SAS.

Connect to Google Forms as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to Google Forms follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments (the ODBC Driver for Google Forms must be installed on the machine hosting the SAS System).

Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the Google Forms Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\GoogleForms.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Google Forms (see below).

Google Forms API Profile Settings

In the Google Cloud Console, create a project, enable the Google Forms API, and create OAuth 2.0 credentials to obtain your Client ID and Client Secret.

When you configure the DSN, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

Windows

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.

Linux

If you are installing the CData ODBC Driver for Google Forms in a Linux environment, the driver installation predefines a system DSN. You can modify the DSN by editing the system data sources file (/etc/odbc.ini) and defining the required connection properties.

/etc/odbc.ini

[CData API Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for Google Forms
Description = My Description
Profile = C:\profiles\GoogleForms.apip
Authscheme = OAuth
OAuthClientId = your_client_id
OAuthClientSecret = your_client_secret
CallbackUrl = your_callback_url

For specific information on using these configuration files, please refer to the help documentation (installed and found online).

Create a Google Forms Library in SAS

Connect to Google Forms in SAS by adding a library based on the CData ODBC Driver for Google Forms.

1. Open SAS and expand Libraries in the Explorer pane.
2. In the Active Libraries window, right-click and select New.
3. Name your library (odbclib), select ODBC as the Engine, and click to Enable at startup (if you want the library to persist between sessions).
4. Set Data Source to the DSN you previously configured and click OK. 👁 Creating a library for Google Forms in SAS.
   

Create a View from a Google Forms Query

SAS natively supports querying data either using a low-code, point-and-click Query tool or programmatically with PROC SQL and a custom SQL query. When you create a View in SAS, the defining query is executed each time the view is queried. This means that you always query live Google Forms data for reports, charts, and analytics.

Using the Query Tool

1. In SAS, click Tools -> Query
2. Select the table sources and the table(s) you wish to pull data from. Then, click OK. 👁 Selecting table(s) to visualize.
   
3. Select columns and right-click to add filtering, ordering, grouping, etc. 👁 Selecting columns(s) to visualize and configuring the query.
   
4. Create a local view to contain the query results by right-clicking the SQL Query Tool window, selecting Show Query, and clicking Create View. Name the View and click OK. 👁 Create a local view to work with Google Forms data.
   

Using PROC SQL

1. In SAS, navigate to the Editor window.
2. Use PROC SQL to query the data and create a local view.
   NOTE: This procedure creates a view in the Work library. You can optionally specify a library in the create view statement.

   proc sql;
    create view forms_view as
    select 
    formid, 
    title 
    from 
    odbclib.forms 
    where 
    CreationTime = '2026-01-15';
   quit;
   

3. Click Run -> Submit to execute the query and create a local view.

Report On or Visualize Google Forms Data in SAS

With a local view created, you can report, visualize, or otherwise analyze Google Forms data using the powerful SAS features. Print a simple report using PROC PRINT and create a basic graph based on the data using PROC GCHART.

Print an HTML Report

1. In SAS, navigate to the Editor window.
2. Use PROC PRINT to print an HTML report for the Google Forms Forms data.

   proc print data=forms;
    title "Google Forms Forms Data";
   run;
   

   👁 A simple Google Forms data report.
   

Print a Chart

1. In SAS, navigate to the Editor window.
2. Use PROC GCHART to create a chart for the Forms data.

   proc gchart data=forms;
    pie formid / sumvar=title
    value=arrow
    percent=arrow
    noheading
    percent=inside plabel=(height=12pt)
    slice=inside value=none
    name='FormsChart';
   run;
   

   👁 A simple Google Forms data chart.