Integrate Google Cloud Storage Data in the Pentaho Report Designer

The CData JDBC Driver for Google Cloud Storage data enables access to live data from dashboards and reports. This article shows how to connect to Google Cloud Storage data as a JDBC data source and publish reports based on Google Cloud Storage data in Pentaho.

Connect and Create a Report

1. Copy the JAR file of the driver, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory, to the \Report-Designer\lib\jdbc\ folder in the Pentaho directory.
2. Run the report-designer.bat file in the \Report-Designer\ folder to open the Report-Designer UI.

3. Create a new data source with the driver by clicking Data -> Add Data Source -> Advanced -> JDBC (Custom) and then creating a new Google Cloud Storage connection. In the resulting dialog, configure the connection properties as shown below.

   • Custom Connection URL property: Enter the JDBC URL. This starts with jdbc:googlecloudstorage: and is followed by a semicolon-separated list of connection properties.

     Authenticate with a User Account

     You can connect without setting any connection properties for your user credentials. After setting InitiateOAuth to GETANDREFRESH, you are ready to connect.

     When you connect, the Google Cloud Storage OAuth endpoint opens in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions, then the OAuth process completes

     Authenticate with a Service Account

     Service accounts have silent authentication, without user authentication in the browser. You can also use a service account to delegate enterprise-wide access scopes.

     You need to create an OAuth application in this flow. See the Help documentation for more information. After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

     • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH.
     • OAuthJWTCertType: Set this to "PFXFILE".
     • OAuthJWTCert: Set this to the path to the .p12 file you generated.
     • OAuthJWTCertPassword: Set this to the password of the .p12 file.
     • OAuthJWTCertSubject: Set this to "*" to pick the first certificate in the certificate store.
     • OAuthJWTIssuer: In the service accounts section, click Manage Service Accounts and set this field to the email address displayed in the service account Id field.
     • OAuthJWTSubject: Set this to your enterprise Id if your subject type is set to "enterprise" or your app user Id if your subject type is set to "user".
     • ProjectId: Set this to the Id of the project you want to connect to.

     The OAuth flow for a service account then completes.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

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

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.googlecloudstorage.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.

     Below is a typical JDBC URL:

     jdbc:googlecloudstorage:ProjectId='project1';InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH
   • Custom Driver Class Name: Enter cdata.jdbc.googlecloudstorage.GoogleCloudStorageDriver.
   • User Name: The username to authenticate with.
   • Password: The password to authenticate with.

Add Google Cloud Storage Data to a Report

You are now ready to create a report with Google Cloud Storage data.

1. Add the Google Cloud Storage source to your report: Click Data -> Add Data Source -> JDBC and select the data source.

2. Configure the query. This article uses the one below:

   SELECT Name, OwnerId FROM Buckets WHERE Name = 'TestBucket'
3. Drag a chart onto your report and double-click it to edit the chart. Run the report to display the chart. You can use the results of this query to create a simple chart for the Buckets table.
4. Finally, run the report to see the chart.