Feed JotForm Data into FineReport

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

Set Up a JDBC Data Source of JotForm Data

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

1. Copy the cdata.jdbc.api.jar file from the lib folder in the CData JDBC Driver for JotForm installation directory to the lib folder of the FineReport installation directory. You will need to copy the cdata.jdbc.api.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.api.APIDriver
3. URL: A standard JDBC connection string using semicolon-separated connection properties.

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

   JotForm API Profile Settings

   You will need to find your JotForm API Key in order to authenticate. To obtain an API Key, go to 'My Account' > 'API Section' > 'Create a New API Key'. Once you've created your new API Key, you can set it in the ProfileSettings connection property.

   Custom Enterprise API Domains

   Enterprise customers of JotForm are given custom API domains to connect to, rather than the default 'api.jotform.com' domain. If you are an enterprise JotForm customer, then set Domain to you custom API hostname, such as 'your-domain.com' or 'subdomain.jotform.com', inside the ProfileSettings connection property. Conversely, if you do not have a custom domain and still need to connect to 'api.jotform.com', then leave Domain undefined and set only APIKey.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

   For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the JotForm 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.

   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:api:Profile=C:\profiles\JotForm.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=my_api_key;Domain=my_custom_domain';
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 JotForm set up, you can use it as FineReport data source.

Select JotForm 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 JotForm entities will appear as tables on the left pane.
4. Write a SELECT statement for the JotForm data tables and columns that you want to load.
5. Click preview and data is shown as table.

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