Feed DB2 Data into FineReport

The CData JDBC Driver for DB2 fully implements the JDBC standard and can provide DB2 data connectivity to a wide variety of BI, reporting, and ETL tools and custom applications. In this article, we explain how to set DB2 data as JDBC data source in FineReport and view DB2 data as a table in the Report Designer.

Set Up a JDBC Data Source of DB2 Data

Follow the instruction below to set DB2 data as a FineReport database connection.

1. Copy the cdata.jdbc.db2.jar file from the lib folder in the CData JDBC Driver for DB2 installation directory to the lib folder of the FineReport installation directory. You will need to copy the cdata.jdbc.db2.lic file as well.
2. From the Server tab, select Define Data Connection, click to add a new connection, and click JDBC.

Next we will set up the data connection definition in the window.

1. Database: Others
2. JDBC Driver: cdata.jdbc.db2.DB2Driver
3. URL: A standard JDBC connection string using semicolon-separated connection properties.

   Set the following properties to connect to DB2:

   • Server: Set this to the name of the server running DB2.
   • Port: Set this to the port the DB2 server is listening on.
   • Database: Set this to the name of the DB2 database.
   • User: Set this to the username of a user allowed to access the database.
   • Password: Set this to the password of a user allowed to access the database.

   You will also need to install the corresponding DB2 driver:

   • Windows: Install the IBM Data Server Provider for .NET.

     On Windows, installing the IBM Data Server Provider is sufficient, as the installation registers it in the machine.config.

   • Java: Install the IBM Data Server Driver for JDBC.

     In the Java version, place the IBM Data Server Driver JAR in the www\WEB-INF\lib\ folder for this application.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

   For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the DB2 JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.db2.jar

   Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

   When you configure the JDBC URL, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

   A typical JDBC URL is below:

   jdbc:db2:Server=10.0.1.2;Port=50000;User=admin;Password=admin;Database=test;
4. Click Connection pool attributes and set Test before getting connections to No.

Click Test connection to ensure you have configured the connection properly. With the connection to DB2 set up, you can use it as FineReport data source.

Select DB2 Data in the Report Designer.

1. Click to add a new template data set and select DB query to open the database query window.
2. Choose the JDBC connection that you created from the dropdown list.
3. The DB2 entities will appear as tables on the left pane.
4. Write a SELECT statement for the DB2 data tables and columns that you want to load.
5. Click preview and data is shown as table.

With these simple steps, DB2 can be used as a JDBC data source in FineReport.