Access Live PostgreSQL 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 PostgreSQL data directly within Excel, facilitating data analysis, collaboration, calculations, and more.This article shows how to connect to PostgreSQL in your Connect AI instance and access and update live PostgreSQL data in Excel spreadsheets.

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

Configure PostgreSQL Connectivity for Excel

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

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

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

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to PostgreSQL.

   To connect to PostgreSQL, set the Server, Port (the default port is 5432), and Database connection properties and set the User and Password you wish to use to authenticate to the server. If the Database property is not specified, the data provider connects to the user's default database.

   SSH Connectivity for PostgreSQL

   You can use SSH (Secure Shell) to authenticate with PostgreSQL, whether the instance is hosted on-premises or in supported cloud environments. SSH authentication ensures that access is encrypted (as compared to direct network connections).

   SSH Connections to PostgreSQL in Password Auth Mode

   To connect to PostgreSQL via SSH in Password Auth mode, set the following connection properties:

   • User: PostgreSQL User name
   • Password: PostgreSQL Password
   • Database: PostgreSQL database name
   • Server: PostgreSQL Server name
   • Port: PostgreSQL port number like 3306
   • UserSSH: "true"
   • SSHAuthMode: "Password"
   • SSHPort: SSH Port number
   • SSHServer: SSH Server name
   • SSHUser: SSH User name
   • SSHPassword: SSH Password

   SSH Connections to PostgreSQL in Public Key Auth Mode

   To connect to PostgreSQL via SSH in Password Auth mode, set the following connection properties:

   • User: PostgreSQL User name
   • Password: PostgreSQL Password
   • Database: PostgreSQL database name
   • Server: PostgreSQL Server name
   • Port: PostgreSQL port number like 3306
   • UserSSH: "true"
   • SSHAuthMode: "Public_Key"
   • SSHPort: SSH Port number
   • SSHServer: SSH Server name
   • SSHUser: SSH User name
   • SSHClientCret: the path for the public key certificate file
   👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add PostgreSQL Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions
   

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to PostgreSQL data from Excel.

Access Live PostgreSQL Data in Excel

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect AI from Excel to access live PostgreSQL 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. PostgreSQL1), Table (e.g. Orders), 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 PostgreSQL Data from Excel

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

1. Update any cell or cells with changes you want to push to PostgreSQL (your changes will be in red)
2. In the CData Connect AI 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") 👁 Executing the update (Salesforce is shown).
   
4. Click Execute to push the updates to PostgreSQL, and a notification will appear when the update is complete

Live Access to PostgreSQL Data from Cloud Applications

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

👁 Imported data (Salesforce is shown)


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