Excel Spreadsheet Automation on HubDB Data with the QUERY Formula

The CData Excel Add-In for HubDB provides formulas that can edit, save, and delete HubDB data. The following three steps show how you can automate the following task: Search HubDB data for a user-specified value and then organize the results into an Excel spreadsheet.

The syntax of the CDATAQUERY formula is the following:

=CDATAQUERY(Query, [Connection], [Parameters], [ResultLocation]);

This formula requires three inputs:

• Query: The declaration of the HubDB data records you want to retrieve or the modifications to be made, written in standard SQL.

• Connection: Either the connection name, such as HubDBConnection1, or a connection string. The connection string consists of the required properties for connecting to HubDB data, separated by semicolons.

  There are two authentication methods available for connecting to HubDB data source: OAuth Authentication with a public HubSpot application and authentication with a Private application token.

  Using a Custom OAuth App

  AuthScheme must be set to "OAuth" in all OAuth flows. Be sure to review the Help documentation for the required connection properties for you specific authentication needs (desktop applications, web applications, and headless machines).

  Follow the steps below to register an application and obtain the OAuth client credentials:

  1. Log into your HubSpot app developer account.
     • Note that it must be an app developer account. Standard HubSpot accounts cannot create public apps.
  2. On the developer account home page, click the Apps tab.
  3. Click Create app.
  4. On the App info tab, enter and optionally modify values that are displayed to users when they connect. These values include the public application name, application logo, and a description of the application.
  5. On the Auth tab, supply a callback URL in the "Redirect URLs" box.
     • If you're creating a desktop application, set this to a locally accessible URL like http://localhost:33333.
     • If you are creating a Web application, set this to a trusted URL where you want users to be redirected to when they authorize your application.
  6. Click Create App. HubSpot then generates the application, along with its associated credentials.
  7. On the Auth tab, note the Client ID and Client secret. You will use these later to configure the driver.

  8. Under Scopes, select any scopes you need for your application's intended functionality.

     A minimum of the following scopes is required to access tables:

     • hubdb
     • oauth
     • crm.objects.owners.read
  9. Click Save changes.
  10. Install the application into a production portal with access to the features that are required by the integration.
      • Under "Install URL (OAuth)", click Copy full URL to copy the installation URL for your application.
      • Navigate to the copied link in your browser. Select a standard account in which to install the application.
      • Click Connect app. You can close the resulting tab.

  Using a Private App

  To connect using a HubSpot private application token, set the AuthScheme property to "PrivateApp."

  You can generate a private application token by following the steps below:

  1. In your HubDB account, click the settings icon (the gear) in the main navigation bar.
  2. In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Integrations > Private Apps.
  3. Click Create private app.
  4. On the Basic Info tab, configure the details of your application (name, logo, and description).
  5. On the Scopes tab, select Read or Write for each scope you want your private application to be able to access.
  6. A minimum of hubdb and crm.objects.owners.read is required to access tables.
  7. After you are done configuring your application, click Create app in the top right.
  8. Review the info about your application's access token, click Continue creating, and then Show token.
  9. Click Copy to copy the private application token.

  To connect, set PrivateAppToken to the private application token you retrieved.

• ResultLocation: The cell that the output of results should start from.

Pass Spreadsheet Cells as Inputs to the Query

The procedure below results in a spreadsheet that organizes all the formula inputs in the first column.

1. Define cells for the formula inputs. In addition to the connection inputs, add another input to define a criterion for a filter to be used to search HubDB data, such as Id.
2. In another cell, write the formula, referencing the cell values from the user input cells defined above. Single quotes are used to enclose values such as addresses that may contain spaces.

=CDATAQUERY("SELECT * FROM NorthwindProducts WHERE Id = '"&B6&"'","AuthScheme="&B1&";OAuthClientID="&B2&";OAuthClientSecret="&B3&";CallbackURL="&B4&";InitiateOAuth="&B5&";Provider=HubDB",B7)

👁 Formula inputs used in this example. (Google Apps is shown.)

3. Change the filter to change the data. 👁 The outputs of the formula. (Google Apps is shown.)