Connect to Gmail Data in HULFT Integrate

HULFT Integrate is a modern data integration platform that provides a drag-and-drop user interface to create cooperation flows, data conversion, and processing so that complex data connections are easier than ever to execute. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver for Gmail, HULFT Integrate can work with live Gmail data. This article walks through connecting to Gmail and moving the data into a CSV file.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Gmail data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Gmail, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Gmail and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). Its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze Gmail data using native data types.

Enable Access to Gmail

To enable access to Gmail data from HULFT Integrate projects:

1. Copy the CData JDBC Driver JAR file (and license file if it exists), cdata.jdbc.gmail.jar (and cdata.jdbc.gmail.lic), to the jdbc_adapter subfolder for the Integrate Server
2. Restart the HULFT Integrate Server and launch HULFT Integrate Studio

Build a Project with Access to Gmail Data

Once you copy the JAR files, you can create a project with access to Gmail data. Start by opening Integrate Studio and creating a new project.

1. Name the project
2. Ensure the "Create script" checkbox is checked
3. Click Next
4. Name the script (e.g.: GmailtoCSV)

Once you create the project, add components to the script to copy Gmail data to a CSV file.

Configure an Execute Select SQL Component

Drag an "Execute Select SQL" component from the Tool Palette (Database -> JDBC) into the Script workspace.

1. In the "Required settings" tab for the Destination, click "Add" to create a new connection for Gmail. Set the following properties:
   • Name: Gmail Connection Settings
   • Driver class name: cdata.jdbc.gmail.GmailDriver
   • URL: jdbc:gmail:User=username;Password=password;
     
     

     Built-in Connection String Designer

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

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.gmail.jar

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

     There are two ways to authenticate to Gmail. Before selecting one, first ensure that you have enabled IMAP access in your Gmail account settings. See the "Connecting to Gmail" section under "Getting Started" in the installed documentation for a guide.

     The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, can be set to valid Gmail user credentials.

     Alternatively, instead of providing the Password, you can use the OAuth authentication standard. To access Google APIs on behalf on individual users, you can use the embedded credentials or you can register your own OAuth app.

     OAuth also enables you to use a service account to connect on behalf of users in a Google Apps domain. To authenticate with a service account, you will need to register an application to obtain the OAuth JWT values.

     In addition to the OAuth values, you will need to provide the User. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for a guide to using OAuth.

2. Write your SQL statement. For example:

   SELECT Subject, Size FROM Inbox

3. Click "Extraction test" to ensure the connection and query are configured properly
4. Click "Execute SQL statement and set output schema"
5. Click "Finish"

Configure a Write CSV File Component

Drag a "Write CSV File" component from the Tool Palette (File -> CSV) onto the workspace.

1. Set a file to write the query results to (e.g. Inbox.csv)
2. Set "Input data" to the "Select SQL" component
3. Add columns for each field selected in the SQL query
4. In the "Write settings" tab, check the checkbox to "Insert column names into first row"
5. Click "Finish"

Map Gmail Fields to the CSV Columns

Map each column from the "Select" component to the corresponding column for the "CSV" component.

Finish the Script

Drag the "Start" component onto the "Select" component and the "CSV" component onto the "End" component. Build the script and run the script to move Gmail data into a CSV file.

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Gmail and start working with your live Gmail data in HULFT Integrate. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.