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Extend Google Sheets with Neo4J Data
Make calls to the API Server from Google Apps Script.
Interact with Neo4J data from Google Sheets through macros, custom functions, and add-ons. The CData API Server, when paired with the ADO.NET Provider for Neo4J (or any of 200+ other ADO.NET Providers), enables connectivity to Neo4J data from cloud-based and mobile applications like Google Sheets. The API Server is a lightweight Web application that produces OData services for Neo4J and any source supported by the CData ADO.NET Providers.
Google Apps Script can consume these OData services in the JSON format. This article shows how to create a simple add-on that populates a Google Spreadsheet with ProductCategory data.
Set Up the API Server
Follow the steps below to begin producing secure Neo4J OData services:
Deploy
The API Server runs on your own server. On Windows, you can deploy using the stand-alone server or IIS. On a Java servlet container, drop in the API Server WAR file. See the help documentation for more information and how-tos.
The API Server is also easy to deploy on Microsoft Azure, Amazon EC2, and Heroku.
Connect to Neo4J
After you deploy the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for Neo4J, provide authentication values and other connection properties needed to connect to Neo4J by clicking Settings -> Connections and adding a new connection in the API Server administration console.
To connect to Neo4j, set the following connection properties:
- Server: The server hosting the Neo4j instance.
- Port: The port on which the Neo4j service is running. The provider connects to port 7474 by default.
- User: The username of the user using the Neo4j instance.
- Password: The password of the user using the Neo4j instance.
You can then choose the Neo4J entities you want to allow the API Server to access by clicking Settings -> Resources.
Authorize API Server Users
After determining the OData services you want to produce, authorize users by clicking Settings -> Users. The API Server uses authtoken-based authentication and supports the major authentication schemes. Access can also be restricted based on IP address: Connections from all addresses except localhost are blocked by default, so you will need to allow connections from Google's servers for this article. You can authenticate as well as encrypt connections with SSL.
Retrieve Neo4J Data
Open the Script Editor from your spreadsheet by clicking Tools -> Script Editor. In the Script Editor, add the following function to populate a spreadsheet with the results of an OData query:
function retrieve(){
var url = "https://MyUrl/api.rsc/ProductCategory?select=Id,CategoryId,CategoryName,CategoryOwner";
var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url,{
headers: {"Authorization": "Basic " + Utilities.base64Encode("MyUser:MyAuthtoken")}
});
var json = response.getContentText();
var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();
var a1 = sheet.getRange('a1');
var index=1;
var productcategory = JSON.parse(json).value;
var cols = [["Id","CategoryId","CategoryName","CategoryOwner"]];
sheet.getRange(1,1,1,4).setValues(cols);
row=2;
for(var i in productcategory){
for (var j in productcategory[i]) {
switch (j) {
case "Id":
a1.offset(row,0).setValue(account[i][j]);
break;
case "CategoryId":
a1.offset(row,1).setValue(account[i][j]);
break;
case "CategoryName":
a1.offset(row,2).setValue(account[i][j]);
break;
case "CategoryOwner":
a1.offset(row,3).setValue(account[i][j]);
break;
}
}
row++;
}
}
Follow the steps below to add an installable trigger to populate the spreadsheet when opened:
- Click Resources -> Current Project's Triggers -> Add a New Trigger.
- Select retrieve in the Run menu.
- Select From Spreadsheet.
- Select On open.
After closing the dialog, you are prompted to allow access to the application.
You can test the script by clicking Publish -> Test as Add-On. Select the version, installation type, and spreadsheet to create a test configuration. You can then select and run the test configuration.
