Query Google Search Results as a SQL Server Database in Node.js

You can use CData Connect AI to query Google Search results through a SQL Server interface. Follow the procedure below to create a virtual database for Google Search in Connect AI and start querying using Node.js.

CData Connect AI provides a pure MySQL, cloud-to-cloud interface for Google Search, allowing you to easily query live Google Search results in Node.js — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you query data in Node.js, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Google Search, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Google Search results.

Configure Google Search Connectivity for NodeJS

Connectivity to Google Search from NodeJS is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Google Search results from NodeJS, we start by creating and configuring a Google Search connection.

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

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

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Google Search.

   To search with a Google custom search engine, you need to set the CustomSearchId and ApiKey connection properties.

   To obtain the CustomSearchId property, sign into Google Custom Search Engine and create a new search engine.

   To obtain the ApiKey property, you must enable the Custom Search API in the Google API Console.

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

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create. 👁 Creating a new PAT
   
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to Google Search results from Node.js.

Query Google Search from Node.js

The following example shows how to define a connection and execute queries to Google Search with the SQL Server module. You will need the following information:

• server: tds.cdata.com
• port: 14333
• user: a Connect AI user (e.g. [email protected])
• password: the PAT for the above user
• database: The connection you configured for Google Search (GoogleSearch1)

Connect to Google Search results and start executing queries with the code below:

var sql = require('mssql')
var config = {
	server: 'tds.cdata.com',
	port: 14333, 
	user: '[email protected]', //update me
	password: 'CONNECT_USER_PAT', //update me	
	options: {
		encrypt: true,
		database: 'GoogleSearch1'
	}
}

sql.connect(config, err => { 
 if(err){
 throw err ;
 }
 new sql.Request().query('SELECT * FROM VideoSearch', (err, result) => {
 console.dir(result)
 })
 
});

sql.on('error', err => {
 console.log("SQL Error: " ,err);
})