👀 Views: 94 💬 Answers: 1 📅 Created: 2025-09-13

excel vba microservices security api

I'm experimenting with I'm attempting to set up I'm working on a personal project and This might be a silly question, but While implementing a microservices architecture for a client, I'm focused on securing the data connections our Excel reports rely on. The challenge surfaced when I attempted to establish a dynamic connection string in Excel based on user credentials fetched from a secure microservices API. Initially, I set up a VBA module to handle the connection, but I'm running into some complexities with how Excel handles the authentication context. I started with a basic connection string: ```vba Sub ConnectToData() Dim conn As Object Set conn = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection") Dim username As String Dim password As String username = "your_username" password = "your_password" conn.ConnectionString = "Provider=SQLOLEDB;Data Source=myServer;Initial Catalog=myDB;User ID=" & username & ";Password=" & password conn.Open End Sub ``` However, hardcoding credentials is not acceptable; security audits mandate we use more secure methods. So, I switched gears and considered fetching the credentials from our identity provider via a RESTful API. The idea was to use the `XMLHttpRequest` to get the credentials first, then use them to establish the connection. Here's a snippet I devised for that: ```vba Function GetUserCredentials() Dim xhr As Object Set xhr = CreateObject("MSXML2.XMLHTTP") xhr.Open "GET", "https://api.example.com/credentials", False xhr.setRequestHeader "Authorization", "Bearer your_jwt_token" xhr.send If xhr.Status = 200 Then Dim response As Object Set response = JsonConverter.ParseJson(xhr.responseText) GetUserCredentials = response Else MsgBox "Failed to get credentials: " & xhr.StatusText End If End Function ``` The challenge arises when trying to parse the JSON response and integrate it back into the connection string. I've also noticed that Excel's built-in JSON parser isn't optimal for this workflow. Should I look into external libraries for parsing, or is there a more straightforward method? Additionally, how do I ensure that the connection remains secure throughout this process? I’m aware of the risks associated with exposing sensitive data, which leads me to consider encrypting the credentials before they are passed back to Excel. Would utilizing Azure Key Vault or similar solutions be advisable in this scenario? Any insights into best practices for handling dynamic credentials in Excel when operating within a microservices architecture would be greatly appreciated. For context: I'm using Vba on Ubuntu. I'm developing on macOS with Vba.