How to Connect to & Open Cvent Data in Microsoft Excel



This article uses the CData ODBC driver for Cvent to import data in Excel with Microsoft Query. This article also demonstrates how to use parameters with Microsoft Query.

The CData ODBC driver for Cvent uses the standard ODBC interface to link Cvent data with applications like Microsoft Access and Excel. Follow the steps below to use Microsoft Query to import Cvent data into a spreadsheet and provide values to a parameterized query from cells in a spreadsheet.

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. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

Before you can authenticate to Cvent, you must create a workspace and an OAuth application.

Creating a Workspace

To create a workspace:

  1. Sign into Cvent and navigate to App Switcher (the blue button in the upper right corner of the page) >> Admin.
  2. In the Admin menu, navigate to Integrations >> REST API.
  3. A new tab launches for Developer Management. Click on Manage API Access in the new tab.
  4. Create a Workspace and name it. Select the scopes you would like your developers to have access to. Scopes control what data domains the developer can access.
    • Choose All to allow developers to choose any scope, and any future scopes added to the REST API.
    • Choose Custom to limit the scopes developers can choose for their OAuth apps to selected scopes. To access all tables exposed by the driver, you need to set the following scopes:
      event/attendees:readevent/attendees:writeevent/contacts:read
      event/contacts:writeevent/custom-fields:readevent/custom-fields:write
      event/events:readevent/events:writeevent/sessions:delete
      event/sessions:readevent/sessions:writeevent/speakers:delete
      event/speakers:readevent/speakers:writebudget/budget-items:read
      budget/budget-items:writeexhibitor/exhibitors:readexhibitor/exhibitors:write
      survey/surveys:readsurvey/surveys:write

Creating an OAuth Application

After you have set up a Workspace and invited them, developers can sign up and create a custom OAuth app. See the Creating a Custom OAuth Application section in the Help documentation for more information.

Connecting to Cvent

After creating an OAuth application, set the following connection properties to connect to Cvent:

  • InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. Used to automatically get and refresh the OAuthAccessToken.
  • OAuthClientId: The Client ID associated with the OAuth application. You can find this on the Applications page in the Cvent Developer Portal.
  • OAuthClientSecret: The Client secret associated with the OAuth application. You can find this on the Applications page in the Cvent Developer Portal.

You can then work with live Cvent data in Excel.

NOTE: In recent versions of Excel, Microsoft Query is not visible by default. To enable visibility, Navigate to Options > Data and check From Microsoft Query (Legacy) under the Show legacy data import wizards section.

  1. In Excel, open the Data tab and choose Get Data -> Legacy Wizards -> From Microsoft Query (Legacy).
  2. Choose the Cvent DSN. Select the option to use Query Wizard to create/edit queries.
  3. In the Query Wizard, expand the node for the table you would like to import into your spreadsheet. Select the columns you want to import and click the arrow to add them to your query. Alternatively, select the table name to add all columns for that table.
  4. The Filter Data page allows you to specify criteria. For example, you can limit results by setting a date range.
  5. If you want to use parameters in your query, select the option to edit the query in Microsoft Query.
  6. To set a parameter in the query, you will need to modify the SQL statement directly. To do this, click the SQL button in the Query Editor. If you set filter criteria earlier, you should have a WHERE clause already in the query.

    To use a parameter, use a "?" character as the wildcard character for a field's value in the WHERE clause. For example, if you are importing the Events, you can set "Virtual=?".

  7. Close the SQL dialog when you are finished editing the SQL statement. You will be prompted to enter a parameter value. In the next step, you will select a cell to provide this value. So, leave the box in the dialog blank.
  8. Click File -> Return Data to Microsoft Excel. The Import Data dialog is displayed. Enter a cell where results should be imported.

  9. Close the Import Data dialog. You will be prompted to enter a parameter value. Click the button next to the parameter box to select a cell. Select the option to automatically refresh the spreadsheet when the value changes.
The data is now imported into Excel. When you change the value in cell B1, the data will be filtered by the specified search criteria.

Ready to get started?

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

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Cvent Icon Cvent ODBC Driver

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

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