Connect to Harvest Data in the Denodo Platform

Denodo Platform is a data virtualization product providing a single point of contact for enterprise database data. When paired with the CData API Driver for JDBC, Denodo users can work with live Harvest data alongside other enterprise data sources. This article walks through creating a virtual data source for Harvest in the Denodo Virtual DataPort Administrator.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Harvest data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Harvest, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Harvest 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 Harvest data using native data types.

Create the Harvest Virtual Port

To connect to live Harvest data from Denodo, you need to copy the JDBC Driver JAR file to the external library directory for Denodo and create a new JDBC Data Source from the Virtual DataPort Administrator tool.

1. Download the CData API Driver for JDBC installer, unzip the package, and run the JAR file to install the driver.
2. Copy the JAR File (and license file if it exists) from the installation location (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData API Driver for JDBC\lib\) to the Denodo external library directory (C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-api-19).
3. Open the Denodo Virtual DataPort Administrator tool and navigate to the Server Explorer tab.
4. Right-click "admin" and select New -> Data source -> JDBC.
5. Configure the JDBC Connection:
   • Name: your choice, e.g.: api
   • Database adapter: Generic
   • Driver class path: C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-api-19
   • Driver class: cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver

   • Database URI: Set this to a JDBC URL using the necessary connection properties. For example,

     jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Harvest.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=my_personal_key;AccountId=_your_account_id';

     Information on creating the Database URI follows:

     Built-In Connection String Designer

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

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.api.jar

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

     Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the Harvest Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Harvest.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Harvest (see below).

     Harvest API Profile Settings

     To authenticate to Harvest, you can use either Token authentication or the OAuth standard. Use Basic authentication to connect to your own data. Use OAuth to allow other users to connect to their data.

     Using Token Authentication

     To use Token Authentication, set the APIKey to your Harvest Personal Access Token in the ProfileSettings connection property. In addition to APIKey, set your AccountId in ProfileSettings to connect.

     Using OAuth Authentication

     First, register an OAuth2 application with Harvest. The application can be created from the "Developers" section of Harvest ID.

     After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

     • ProfileSettings: Set your AccountId in ProfileSettings.
     • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
     • OAuthClientId: Set this to the client ID that you specified in your app settings.
     • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client secret that you specified in your app settings.
     • CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI that you specified in your app settings.
     • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to manage how the driver obtains and refreshes the OAuthAccessToken.
6. Click the "Test connection" button to confirm the configuration and click Save.

View Harvest Data in the VirtualPort Administrator Tool

After creating the data source, you can create a base view of Harvest data for use in the Denodo Platform.

1. Click the "Create base view" button in the newly created VirtualPort (admin.API).
2. Expand the object tree and select the objects (tables) you wish to import.
3. Click the "Create selected" button to create views of the Harvest data.
   Optional: Click "Create associations from foreign keys" to define relationships between the objects.
4. With the view(s) created, navigate to a table (cdata_api_invoices) in the Server Explorer and double-click the selected table.
5. In the new tab, click "Execution panel" to open a query panel.
6. Customize the query in the "Execute" tab or use the default:

   SELECT * FROM cdata_api_invoices CONTEXT ('i18n'='us_est', 'cache_wait_for_load'='true')
   

7. Click Execute to view the data.

With the base view created, you can now work with live Harvest data like you would any other data source in Denodo Platform, for example, querying Harvest in the Denodo Data Catalog.

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