Import Real-Time YouTube Analytics Data via ODBC in ColdFusion to Build Applications

Dibyendu Datta
Lead Technology Evangelist

Use CData ODBC drivers to import and use YouTube Analytics data in ColdFusion.

Adobe ColdFusion is a web and mobile application development platform. It uses its own scripting language, ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML), to create data-driven websites as well as generate remote services, such as REST. When ColdFusion is paired with the CData ODBC Driver for YouTube Analytics, you can link your ColdFusion web and mobile applications to operational YouTube Analytics data. This allows for your applications to be more robust and complete. This article details how to use the ODBC driver to create a table populated with YouTube Analytics data from within a ColdFusion markup file.

To follow along with this tutorial, you need to install the CData ODBC Driver for YouTube Analytics and Adobe ColdFusion.

Configuring the Connection

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (Data Source Name). This is the last step of the driver installation process. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

YouTube Analytics uses the OAuth authentication standard. You can use the embedded CData OAuth credentials or you can register an application with Google to obtain your own.

In addition to the OAuth values, to access YouTube Analytics data set ChannelId to the Id of a YouTube channel. You can obtain the channel Id in the advanced account settings for your channel. If not specified, the channel of the currently authenticated user will be used.

If you want to generate content owner reports, specify the ContentOwnerId property. This is the Id of the copyright holder for content in YouTube's rights management system. The content owner is the person or organization that claims videos and sets their monetization policy.

Adding a Data Source and Creating a Table

After creating a DSN, follow the steps below to add a new data source, test our connection to it, create a ColdFusion markup file, and, finally, import YouTube Analytics Data and display it in a table in ColdFusion:

From the ColdFusion administrator interface, choose Data & Services. 👁 Selecting Data & Services
Here, click "Add New Data Source". The data source name can be any name, provided it conforms to the ColdFusion variable naming conventions. For our ODBC driver, choose "ODBC Socket", then click the "Add" button. 👁 Adding Data Source Name
From the ODBC DSN Dropdown menu select CData YouTube Analytics Sys. Under the Advanced Settings section, leave the Connection String blank. Note that any properties specified in this input field will override the ones specified in the DSN Configuration. 👁 Populating driver properties
Now, test the connection by pressing the check mark to the left of the CDataYouTube AnalyticsODBC data source you just created. When the data source reports an "OK" status, it is ready for use. 👁 Testing the connection

Next, create a new ColdFusion Markup file (.cfm) and place it in the wwwroot directory ("C:\ColdFusion2021\cfusion\wwwroot") for ColdFusion.

The following code queries the data source:

 
 <cfquery name="YouTube AnalyticsQuery" dataSource="CDataYouTube AnalyticsODBC"> 
 SELECT * FROM Groups 
 </cfquery>

And a CFTable can be used to quickly output the table in HTML:

 
 <cftable 
 query = "YouTube AnalyticsQuery" 
 border = "1" 
 colHeaders 
 colSpacing = "2" 
 headerLines = "2" 
 HTMLTable 
 maxRows = "500" 
 startRow = "1"> 

 <cfcol header="<b>Snippet_Title</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="Snippet_Title"/> 

 <cfcol header="<b>ContentDetails_ItemCount</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="ContentDetails_ItemCount"/> 

 ...

 </cftable>

Full code, including the HTML portion is available below:

 
 <html> 
 <head><title>CData Software | YouTube Analytics Groups Table Demo </title></head> 
 <body> 
 <cfoutput>#ucase("YouTube Analytics Groups Table Demo")#</cfoutput> 
 <cfquery name="YouTube AnalyticsQuery" dataSource="CDataYouTube AnalyticsODBC"> 

 SELECT * FROM Groups 

 </cfquery> 
 <cftable 
 query = "YouTube AnalyticsQuery" 
 border = "1" 
 colHeaders 
 colSpacing = "2" 
 headerLines = "2" 
 HTMLTable 
 maxRows = "500" 
 startRow = "1"> 
 <cfcol header="<b>Snippet_Title</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="Snippet_Title"/> 

 <cfcol header="<b>ContentDetails_ItemCount</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="ContentDetails_ItemCount"/> 

 ...

 </cftable> 
 </body> 

 </html>

Finally, run the code in a browser. It produces a table populated with YouTube Analytics data! 👁 Running the code

As a note, the CData ODBC Drivers also support parameterized queries using the cfqueryparam element. For example:

SELECT * FROM Account WHERE name =

Get Started Today

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData ODBC Driver for YouTube Analytics and start building YouTube Analytics-connected applications with Adobe ColdFusion. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.

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Download a free trial of the YouTube Analytics ODBC Driver to get started:

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Learn more:

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YouTube Analytics ODBC Driver

The YouTube Analytics ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live data from YouTube Analytics, directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity.

Access YouTube Analytics Traffic, Sources, Demographics, Subscribers, etc. through a standard ODBC Driver interface.

URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/youtubeanalytics-odbc-coldfusion.rst