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Slack Icon Slack ODBC Driver

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

Access Slack data like you would a database - read, write, and update Slack User, Channels, Messages, Files, etc. through a standard ODBC Driver interface.

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How to create an RPA flow for Slack Data in UiPath Studio


Use the Slack ODBC Driver to create workflows that access real-time Slack data without any coding.

UiPath is a Robotic Process Automation (RPA) platform with rich features and an easy-to-use UI that enables non-developers to create process automation. By using UiPath Studio, you can build an RPA program just like drawing a diagram. With the CData ODBC Driver for Slack, users can embed Slack data in the workflow.

This article walks through using the Slack ODBC Driver in UiPath Studio to create an RPA program that accesses Slack data.

Configure the Connection to Slack

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.

Slack uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, you will need to create an app to obtain the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL connection properties. See the Getting Started section of the help documentation for an authentication guide.

Connect UiPath Studio to Slack Data

Now you are ready to use Slack data ODBC DSN in UiPath Studio with the following steps.

  1. From the Start page, click Blank to create a New Project.
  2. Click Manage Packages then search for and install UiPath.Database.Activities.
  3. Navigate to the Activities and drop a Flowchart (Workflow -> Flowchart -> Flowchart) onto the process.
  4. Drop a database Connect activity (App Integration -> Datbase -> Connect) after the Start activity.
  5. Double-click the Connect activity and configure the Connection.
    1. Click the Connection Wizard
    2. Select "Microsoft ODBC Data Source"
    3. In Connection Properties, select your DSN (CData Slack Source) and click OK
  6. To store Connection info, create a variable and bind to Output in the Properties section. Choose DatabaseConnection in Output.

Create an Execute Query Activity

With the connection configured, we are ready to query Slack data in our RPA.

  1. From the Activities navigation, select Execute Query and drop it on the Flowchart.
  2. Double-click the Execute Query activity and set the properties as follows:
    • ExistingDbConnection: Your Connection variable
    • Sql: SELECT statement like SELECT Id, Name FROM Channels
    • DataTable: Create and use a variable with the Type System.Data.DataTable

Create Write CSV Activity

With the Connection and Execute Query activities configured, we are ready to add a Write CSV activity to the Flowchart to replicate the Slack data.

  1. From the Activities navigation, select Write CSV and drop it after the Execute Query activity.
  2. Double-click the Write CSV activity and set the properties as follows:
    • FilePath: Set to a file (new or existing) on disk (i.e.: C:\UiPath[id]-data.csv
    • DataTable: Set to the DataTable variable you created earlier

Connect the Activities and Run the Flowchart

If they are not already connected, connect each Activity that you created to complete the RPA project for extracting Slack data and exporting it to CSV.

Click Run to extract Slack data and create a CSV file.

In this article, we used the CData ODBC Driver for Slack to create an automation flow that accesses Slack data in UiPath Studio. Download a free, 30-day trial of the ODBC Driver and start working with live Slack data in UiPath Studio today!