Access Live Microsoft Planner Data in Excel 365 Online (Excel for the web)

Microsoft Excel for the web represents a cloud-native iteration of Microsoft Excel. When integrated with CData Connect AI, you gain immediate access to Microsoft Planner data directly from within Excel. This access facilitates data analysis, collaborative work, calculations, and more. This article provides a step-by-step guide on connecting to Microsoft Planner within your Connect AI instance and accessing live Microsoft Planner data in Excel for the web spreadsheets, whether for viewing or updating purposes.

CData Connect AI provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for Microsoft Planner, allowing you to easily access live Microsoft Planner 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 Microsoft Planner, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Microsoft Planner data.

Configure Microsoft Planner Connectivity for Excel

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

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

2. Select "Microsoft Planner" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Microsoft Planner.

   You can connect without setting any connection properties for your user credentials. Below are the minimum connection properties required to connect.

   • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
   • Tenant (optional): Set this if you wish to authenticate to a different tenant than your default. This is required to work with an organization not on your default Tenant.

   When you connect the Driver opens the MS Planner OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the Driver. The Driver then completes the OAuth process.

   1. Extracts the access token from the callback URL and authenticates requests.
   2. Obtains a new access token when the old one expires.
   3. Saves OAuth values in OAuthSettingsLocation to be persisted across connections.
   👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Microsoft Planner Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions
   

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Microsoft Planner data from Excel for the web.

Access Live Microsoft Planner Data in Excel for the web

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect AI from Excel to access live Microsoft Planner data.

1. Log into Excel, create a new sheet (or open an existing one).
2. Click Insert and click Office Add-ins. (if you have already installed the Add-In, jump to step 4).
3. Search for CData Connect Spreadsheets Add-In and install the Add-in. 👁 Install the Add-In
   
4. Click Data and open the CData Connect Spreadsheets Add-In.
5. In the Add-In panel, click Login or Sign-up to authenticate with your CData Connect AI instance 👁 Authorizing the Add-In
   
6. In the CData Connect Spreadsheets panel in Excel, click Import 👁 CData Connect AI panel in Excel
   
7. Choose a Connection (e.g. MicrosoftPlanner1), Table (e.g. Tasks), 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
   

Update Microsoft Planner Data from Excel

In addition to viewing Microsoft Planner data in Excel, CData Connect AI also lets you update and delete Microsoft Planner data. Begin by importing data (as described above).

1. Update any cell or cells with changes you want to push to Microsoft Planner (your changes will be in red)
2. In the CData Connect Spreadsheets Add-In panel, select Update
3. Optionally highlight the cell(s) you wish to update and select an update option ("Update All" or "Update Selected")
4. Click Execute to push the updates to Microsoft Planner 👁 Updating data (Salesforce is shown).
   

A notification will appear when the update is complete

Live Access to Microsoft Planner Data from Cloud Applications

New, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Microsoft Planner 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.