rellwood / googlesheetsdatabase

A very basic Python library that allows you to interact with Google Sheets as a database table using basic SQL-like commands

Google Sheets Python Library

A very basic Python library that allows you to interact with Google Sheets as a database table using basic SQL-like commands. It provides functionalities for SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE operations on Google Sheets.

Why?

Great question, when doing very basic development, or running small-scale hobby projects, having the cost of running a DB server can be a bit of a pain. I know there are plenty of free options out there (and these are superior), but I wanted to see if I could use Google Sheets as a database table and here we are.

Installation

Install the required packages using pip:

pip install gspread oauth2client

Usage

Setting Up Authentication

1. Obtain OAuth2 Credentials:

   • Create OAuth2 credentials in the Google Cloud Console.
   • Get the client ID and client secret.

2. initialise GoogleSheetDB with Service Account Credentials (Optional):

   • If using a service account, download the service account credentials JSON file.
   • Import GoogleSheetDB from main_module.py.
   • Create an instance of GoogleSheetDB by passing your Google Sheet ID and the path to the service account credentials file:

     from main_module import GoogleSheetDB
     
     spreadsheet_id = 'YOUR_SPREADSHEET_ID'
     credentials_file = 'path/to/your/credentials.json'  # Path to your serviceaccount credentials file
     db = GoogleSheetDB(spreadsheet_id, credentials_file)

3. initialise GoogleSheetDB with Default Credentials:

   • If not using a service account, you can initialise GoogleSheetDB without providing a credentials file. This will attempt to use the application default credentials:

     db = GoogleSheetDB('YOUR_SPREADSHEET_ID')  # Initialises GoogleSheetDB using default credentials

4. Authenticate User (if using default credentials):

   • Use the authenticate method to initiate the OAuth2 flow if you are using default credentials:

     db.authenticate()

   • Follow the prompts to authorize access and enter the obtained authorization code.

Performing Operations

After authentication, you can execute SQL-like commands on your Google Sheets:

• SELECT Operation:

  result = db.execute_query("SELECT * FROM Sheet1")
  print(result)

• INSERT Operation:

  db.execute_query("INSERT INTO Sheet1 (Name, Age) VALUES ('Frodo', 52)")

• UPDATE Operation:

  db.execute_query("UPDATE Sheet1 SET Age = 26 WHERE Name = 'Frodo'")

• DELETE Operation:

•   db.execute_query("DELETE FROM Sheet1 WHERE Name = 'Frodo'")

Limitations

This is a very basic implementation of a database using Google Sheets. It is not intended to be used for large-scale applications. Some of the limitations are:

• Sheet Structure Requirements:
  • Single header row and column.
  • One table per sheet.
  • Single worksheet allowed.
• Header Specifications:
  • Unique values within the header row and column.
  • No empty cells, special characters, spaces, or duplicates in headers.

Future Work

• Sheet and Table Management:
  • Support for multiple tables within a single Google Sheet.
    • Support for multiple worksheets within a single Google Sheet.
      • Ability to create new tables (sheets) and worksheets in a Google Workbook.
• Header Control:
  • Allow users to specify multiple header rows and columns.
  • Flexibility to specify the header row and column by index, name, regex, or a combination of values, regex, names, and indices.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to open issues or submit pull requests for improvements, bug fixes, or additional features.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License

Author

Rhys Ellwood