Feed Redshift Data into FineReport

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

Set Up a JDBC Data Source of Redshift Data

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

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

   To connect to Redshift, set the following:

   • Server: Set this to the host name or IP address of the cluster hosting the Database you want to connect to.
   • Port: Set this to the port of the cluster.
   • Database: Set this to the name of the database. Or, leave this blank to use the default database of the authenticated user.
   • User: Set this to the username you want to use to authenticate to the Server.
   • Password: Set this to the password you want to use to authenticate to the Server.

   You can obtain the Server and Port values in the AWS Management Console:

   1. Open the Amazon Redshift console (http://console.aws.amazon.com/redshift).
   2. On the Clusters page, click the name of the cluster.
   3. On the Configuration tab for the cluster, copy the cluster URL from the connection strings displayed.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.redshift.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:redshift:User=admin;Password=admin;Database=dev;Server=examplecluster.my.us-west-2.redshift.amazonaws.com;Port=5439;
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 Redshift set up, you can use it as FineReport data source.

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

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