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How to Connect to HubDB Data in Using Python: 6 Steps


Create Python applications on Linux/UNIX machines with connectivity to HubDB data. Leverage the pyodbc module for ODBC in Python.

The rich ecosystem of Python modules lets you get to work quicker and integrate your systems more effectively. With the CData Linux/UNIX ODBC Driver for HubDB and the pyodbc module, you can easily build HubDB-connected Python applications. This article shows how to use the pyodbc built-in functions to connect to HubDB data, execute queries, and output the results.

How to Use the CData ODBC Drivers on UNIX/Linux

The CData ODBC Drivers are supported in various Red Hat-based and Debian-based systems, including Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL, CentOS, and Fedora. There are also several libraries and packages that are required, many of which may be installed by default, depending on your system. For more information on the supported versions of Linux operating systems and the required libraries, please refer to the "Getting Started" section in the help documentation (installed and found online).

1. Install the Driver Manager

Before installing the driver, check that your system has a driver manager. For this article, you will use unixODBC, a free and open source ODBC driver manager that is widely supported.

For Debian-based systems like Ubuntu, you can install unixODBC with the APT package manager:

$ sudo apt-get install unixodbc unixodbc-dev

For systems based on Red Hat Linux, you can install unixODBC with yum or dnf:

$ sudo yum install unixODBC unixODBC-devel

The unixODBC driver manager reads information about drivers from an odbcinst.ini file and about data sources from an odbc.ini file. You can determine the location of the configuration files on your system by entering the following command into a terminal:

$ odbcinst -j

The output of the command will display the locations of the configuration files for ODBC data sources and registered ODBC drivers. User data sources can only be accessed by the user account whose home folder the odbc.ini is located in. System data sources can be accessed by all users. Below is an example of the output of this command:

DRIVERS............: /etc/odbcinst.ini SYSTEM DATA SOURCES: /etc/odbc.ini FILE DATA SOURCES..: /etc/ODBCDataSources USER DATA SOURCES..: /home/myuser/.odbc.ini SQLULEN Size.......: 8 SQLLEN Size........: 8 SQLSETPOSIROW Size.: 8

2. Install the Driver

You can download the driver in standard package formats: the Debian .deb package format or the .rpm file format. Once you have downloaded the file, you can install the driver from the terminal.

The driver installer registers the driver with unixODBC and creates a system DSN, which can be used later in any tools or applications that support ODBC connectivity.

For Debian-based systems like Ubuntu, run the following command with sudo or as root: $ dpkg -i /path/to/package.deb

For Red Hat systems and other systems that support .rpms, run the following command with sudo or as root: $ rpm -i /path/to/package.rpm

Once the driver is installed, you can list the registered drivers and defined data sources using the unixODBC driver manager:

List the Registered Driver(s)

$ odbcinst -q -d CData ODBC Driver for HubDB ...

List the Defined Data Source(s)

$ odbcinst -q -s CData HubDB Source ...

To use the CData ODBC Driver for HubDB with unixODBC, ensure that the driver is configured to use UTF-16. To do so, edit the INI file for the driver (cdata.odbc.hubdb.ini), which can be found in the lib folder in the installation location (typically /opt/cdata/cdata-odbc-driver-for-hubdb), as follows:

cdata.odbc.hubdb.ini

... [Driver] DriverManagerEncoding = UTF-16

3. Modify the DSN

The driver installation predefines a system DSN. You can modify the DSN by editing the system data sources file (/etc/odbc.ini) and defining the required connection properties. Additionally, you can create user-specific DSNs that will not require root access to modify in $HOME/.odbc.ini.

There are two authentication methods available for connecting to HubDB data source: OAuth Authentication with a public HubSpot application and authentication with a Private application token.

Using a Custom OAuth App

AuthScheme must be set to "OAuth" in all OAuth flows. Be sure to review the Help documentation for the required connection properties for you specific authentication needs (desktop applications, web applications, and headless machines).

Follow the steps below to register an application and obtain the OAuth client credentials:

  1. Log into your HubSpot app developer account.
    • Note that it must be an app developer account. Standard HubSpot accounts cannot create public apps.
  2. On the developer account home page, click the Apps tab.
  3. Click Create app.
  4. On the App info tab, enter and optionally modify values that are displayed to users when they connect. These values include the public application name, application logo, and a description of the application.
  5. On the Auth tab, supply a callback URL in the "Redirect URLs" box.
    • If you're creating a desktop application, set this to a locally accessible URL like http://localhost:33333.
    • If you are creating a Web application, set this to a trusted URL where you want users to be redirected to when they authorize your application.
  6. Click Create App. HubSpot then generates the application, along with its associated credentials.
  7. On the Auth tab, note the Client ID and Client secret. You will use these later to configure the driver.

  8. Under Scopes, select any scopes you need for your application's intended functionality.

    A minimum of the following scopes is required to access tables:

    • hubdb
    • oauth
    • crm.objects.owners.read
  9. Click Save changes.
  10. Install the application into a production portal with access to the features that are required by the integration.
    • Under "Install URL (OAuth)", click Copy full URL to copy the installation URL for your application.
    • Navigate to the copied link in your browser. Select a standard account in which to install the application.
    • Click Connect app. You can close the resulting tab.

Using a Private App

To connect using a HubSpot private application token, set the AuthScheme property to "PrivateApp."

You can generate a private application token by following the steps below:

  1. In your HubDB account, click the settings icon (the gear) in the main navigation bar.
  2. In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Integrations > Private Apps.
  3. Click Create private app.
  4. On the Basic Info tab, configure the details of your application (name, logo, and description).
  5. On the Scopes tab, select Read or Write for each scope you want your private application to be able to access.
  6. A minimum of hubdb and crm.objects.owners.read is required to access tables.
  7. After you are done configuring your application, click Create app in the top right.
  8. Review the info about your application's access token, click Continue creating, and then Show token.
  9. Click Copy to copy the private application token.

To connect, set PrivateAppToken to the private application token you retrieved.

/etc/odbc.ini or $HOME/.odbc.ini

[CData HubDB Source] Driver = CData ODBC Driver for HubDB Description = My Description AuthScheme = OAuth OAuthClientID = MyOAuthClientID OAuthClientSecret = MyOAuthClientSecret CallbackURL = http://localhost:33333

For specific information on using these configuration files, please refer to the help documentation (installed and found online).

You can follow the procedure below to install pyodbc and start accessing HubDB through Python objects.

4. Install pyodbc

You can use the pip utility to install the module:

pip install pyodbc

Be sure to import with the module with the following:

import pyodbc

5. Connect to HubDB Data

You can now connect with an ODBC connection string or a DSN. Below is the syntax for a connection string:

cnxn = pyodbc.connect('DRIVER={CData ODBC Driver for HubDB};AuthScheme=OAuth;OAuthClientID=MyOAuthClientID;OAuthClientSecret=MyOAuthClientSecret;CallbackURL=http://localhost:33333;')

Below is the syntax for a DSN:

cnxn = pyodbc.connect('DSN=CData HubDB Sys;')

6. Execute SQL on HubDB

Instantiate a Cursor and use the execute method of the Cursor class to execute any SQL statement.

cursor = cnxn.cursor()

Select

You can use fetchall, fetchone, and fetchmany to retrieve Rows returned from SELECT statements:

import pyodbc cursor = cnxn.cursor() cnxn = pyodbc.connect('DSN=CData HubDB Source;User=MyUser;Password=MyPassword') cursor.execute("SELECT PartitionKey, Name FROM NorthwindProducts WHERE Id = '1'") rows = cursor.fetchall() for row in rows: print(row.PartitionKey, row.Name)

You can provide parameterized queries in a sequence or in the argument list:

cursor.execute( "SELECT PartitionKey, Name FROM NorthwindProducts WHERE Id = ?", '1',1)

Insert

INSERT commands also use the execute method; however, you must subsequently call the commit method after an insert or you will lose your changes:

cursor.execute("INSERT INTO NorthwindProducts (Id) VALUES ('1')") cnxn.commit()

Update and Delete

As with an insert, you must also call commit after calling execute for an update or delete:

cursor.execute("UPDATE NorthwindProducts SET Id = '1'") cnxn.commit()

Metadata Discovery

You can use the getinfo method to retrieve data such as information about the data source and the capabilities of the driver. The getinfo method passes through input to the ODBC SQLGetInfo method.

cnxn.getinfo(pyodbc.SQL_DATA_SOURCE_NAME)

You are now ready to build Python apps in Linux/UNIX environments with connectivity to HubDB data, using the CData ODBC Driver for HubDB.

Ready to get started?

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Learn more:

HubDB Icon HubDB ODBC Driver

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

Access HubDB data like you would a database - read, write, and update HubDB 0, etc. through a standard ODBC Driver interface.

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