How to use SQLAlchemy ORM to access SAP Ariba Procurement Data in Python

The rich ecosystem of Python modules lets you get to work quickly and integrate your systems effectively. With the CData Python Connector for SAP Ariba Procurement and the SQLAlchemy toolkit, you can build SAP Ariba Procurement-connected Python applications and scripts. This article shows how to use SQLAlchemy to connect to SAP Ariba Procurement data to query SAP Ariba Procurement data.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData Python Connector offers unmatched performance for interacting with live SAP Ariba Procurement data in Python. When you issue complex SQL queries from SAP Ariba Procurement, the CData Connector pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to SAP Ariba Procurement and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations).

Connecting to SAP Ariba Procurement Data

Connecting to SAP Ariba Procurement data looks just like connecting to any relational data source. Create a connection string using the required connection properties. For this article, you will pass the connection string as a parameter to the create_engine function.

In order to connect with SAP Ariba Procurement, set the following:

• ANID: Your Ariba Network ID.
• ANID: Specify which API you would like the provider to retrieve SAP Ariba data from. Select the Buyer or Supplier API based on your business role (possible values are PurchaseOrdersBuyerAPIV1 or PurchaseOrdersSupplierAPIV1).
• Environment: Indicate whether you are connecting to a test or production environment (possible values are TEST or PRODUCTION).

Authenticating with OAuth

After setting connection properties, you need to configure OAuth connectivity to authenticate.

• Set AuthScheme to OAuthClient.
• Register an application with the service to obtain the APIKey, OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret.

  For more information on creating an OAuth application, refer to the Help documentation.

Automatic OAuth

After setting the following, you are ready to connect:

APIKey: The Application key in your app settings. OAuthClientId: The OAuth Client Id in your app settings. OAuthClientSecret: The OAuth Secret in your app settings.

When you connect, the provider automatically completes the OAuth process:

1. The provider obtains an access token from SAP Ariba and uses it to request data.
2. The provider refreshes the access token automatically when it expires.
3. The OAuth values are saved in memory relative to the location specified in OAuthSettingsLocation.

Follow the procedure below to install SQLAlchemy and start accessing SAP Ariba Procurement through Python objects.

Install Required Modules

Use the pip utility to install the SQLAlchemy toolkit and SQLAlchemy ORM package:

pip install sqlalchemy
pip install sqlalchemy.orm

Be sure to import the appropriate modules:

from sqlalchemy import create_engine, String, Column
from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker

Model SAP Ariba Procurement Data in Python

You can now connect with a connection string. Use the create_engine function to create an Engine for working with SAP Ariba Procurement data.

NOTE: Users should URL encode the any connection string properties that include special characters. For more information, refer to the SQL Alchemy documentation.

engine = create_engine("saparibaprocurement:///?ANID=AN02000000280&API=PurchaseOrdersBuyerAPI-V1&APIKey=wWVLn7WTAXrIRMAzZ6VnuEj7Ekot5jnU&AuthScheme=OAuthClient&InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH")

Declare a Mapping Class for SAP Ariba Procurement Data

After establishing the connection, declare a mapping class for the table you wish to model in the ORM (in this article, we will model the Orders table). Use the sqlalchemy.ext.declarative.declarative_base function and create a new class with some or all of the fields (columns) defined.

base = declarative_base()
class Orders(base):
	__tablename__ = "Orders"
	DocumentNumber = Column(String,primary_key=True)
	Revision = Column(String)
	...

Query SAP Ariba Procurement Data

With the mapping class prepared, you can use a session object to query the data source. After binding the Engine to the session, provide the mapping class to the session query method.

Using the query Method

engine = create_engine("saparibaprocurement:///?ANID=AN02000000280&API=PurchaseOrdersBuyerAPI-V1&APIKey=wWVLn7WTAXrIRMAzZ6VnuEj7Ekot5jnU&AuthScheme=OAuthClient&InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH")
factory = sessionmaker(bind=engine)
session = factory()
for instance in session.query(Orders).filter_by(OrderStatus="CHANGED"):
	print("DocumentNumber: ", instance.DocumentNumber)
	print("Revision: ", instance.Revision)
	print("---------")

Alternatively, you can use the execute method with the appropriate table object. The code below works with an active session.

Using the execute Method

Orders_table = Orders.metadata.tables["Orders"]
for instance in session.execute(Orders_table.select().where(Orders_table.c.OrderStatus == "CHANGED")):
	print("DocumentNumber: ", instance.DocumentNumber)
	print("Revision: ", instance.Revision)
	print("---------")

For examples of more complex querying, including JOINs, aggregations, limits, and more, refer to the Help documentation for the extension.

Free Trial & More Information

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData Python Connector for SAP Ariba Procurement to start building Python apps and scripts with connectivity to SAP Ariba Procurement data. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.