Connecting Bold BI to Dropbox data source

The Bold BI dashboard designer supports connecting to Dropbox web services through the REST API.

Prerequisites with Dropbox data source

1. Create the Dropbox App

   • Go to Dropbox Developers

   • Click “Create app” and choose appropriate permissions (e.g., scoped access).

   • Note the generated Client ID and Client Secret.

   

2. Configure in Bold BI

   • Open Bold BI and go to Data Sources or Connections.

   • Select Dropbox as the source and input the Client ID and Client Secret.

   NOTE: Save the Client ID and Client secret in Bold BI by following the OAuth Configuration.

3. Automatic Folder Creation

   • Once connected, it will create a folder in your Dropbox as mentioned in the App.

   • This folder will be used for uploading relevant files or data.

   

   Note: Automatic folder creation is applicable only to the application selected in the APP folder under scope access. If the access type is Fully Dropbox, it will display all the files available in Dropbox.

4. Upload Your Files

• Upload files directly to the created Dropbox folder.

• Make sure the files are formatted correctly and named consistently.

  

5. Reconnect to Bold BI

• After uploading, go back to Bold BI and reconnect the Dropbox source.

• This refreshes the connection and allows Bold BI to fetch the newly uploaded files.

  

Choose Dropbox data source

To configure the Dropbox data source, follow the below steps:

1. Click on the Data Sources button in the configuration panel to add a new data connection.

   

2. Click on CREATE NEW to launch a new connection from the connection panel.

3. Select the Dropbox connection in the connection panel.

   

NOTE: You can also create a data source from the home page by clicking on the Data Sources menu on the left menu panel and selecting Create Data Source from the data sources page.

Authentication with Dropbox

Use the following steps to authenticate with the Dropbox web service:

1. Click on the data source, which will prompt a login window. Enter the credentials of your Dropbox account to authorize.

2. Click on Allow in the authorization window to accept the scopes requested by Bold BI dashboards.

   NOTE: If permission is denied, the account will not be accessible from the dashboard.

3. Provide a name to identify the account and click Next.

4. You have now successfully authorized your connection. Click Connect to continue with the data source connection.

5. To connect via an already connected account, refer to Connected Accounts.

NOTE: To connect to another account click Connect New Account.

Connect to Dropbox

Create Dropbox data source

After successful authentication, the File Explorer panel opens. Follow the below steps to create Dropbox data source.

1. Enter a name for the data source.

2. Explorer will list out all the folders and files with extension csv, json, xml and xlsx.

3. Select the file you wish to preview and connect the data.

4. Choose a time interval for Refresh Settings using the combo box, to trigger the request periodically to keep the data in sync with our dashboard.

   

You can also edit the connection information set here using the Edit Connection option.

For more information on the API endpoints available for this data source, refer to the official Dropbox API documentation

Additional information

Preview and data import

• Click Preview & Connect to connect with the configurations that have been set.

• The Choose Schema(s) dialog opens. The schema represents the key fields of data retrieved from Dropbox Rest API request. This dialog displays a list of schemas in a treeview and its corresponding values in grid for preview. Select required schema(s) from treeview to use in designer and click Connect.

  

NOTE: The sheets in the xlsx file will be listed in a drop-down menu at the top-right corner, as shown in the image. Additionally, please be aware that the maximum file size allowed for extraction is 75 megabytes.

• Now, the data design view page with the selected table schema opens. Drag and drop the table.

• Click Save to save the data source with a relevant name.

Connected accounts for OAuth data sources

If you have already logged into the account and authenticated with the web data source, the account information will be listed here. You can select one of the accounts or connect to a new account by clicking the Connect New Account button.

You can edit, delete and re-authorize this account from the Connected Accounts page.

Related links

Data Transformation

Editing a Data Connection

Dashboard Designer Walkthrough

Dropbox Integration