Access eBay Analytics Data in Mule Applications Using the CData JDBC Driver

The CData JDBC Driver for eBay Analytics connects eBay Analytics data to Mule applications enabling read functionality with familiar SQL queries. The JDBC Driver allows users to easily create Mule applications to backup, transform, report, and analyze eBay Analytics data.

This article demonstrates how to use the CData JDBC Driver for eBay Analytics inside of a Mule project to create a Web interface for eBay Analytics data. The application created allows you to request eBay Analytics data using an HTTP request and have the results returned as JSON. The exact same procedure outlined below can be used with any CData JDBC Driver to create a Web interface for the 200+ available data sources.

1. Create a new Mule Project in Anypoint Studio.
2. Add an HTTP Connector to the Message Flow.
3. Configure the address for the HTTP Connector.
4. Add a Database Select Connector to the same flow, after the HTTP Connector.
5. Create a new Connection (or edit an existing one) and configure the properties.
   • Set Connection to "Generic Connection"
   • Select the CData JDBC Driver JAR file in the Required Libraries section (e.g. cdata.jdbc.ebayanalytics.jar).
   • Set the URL to the connection string for eBay Analytics

     You can authenticate to eBay Analytics only via the OAuth 2 authentication method. The eBay Analytics API requires an access token created with the authorization code grant flow to authorize the requests.

     You can follow the guide in the Help documentation for a step by step guide on how to authenticate using the OAuth 2 protocol.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

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

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.ebayanalytics.jar

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

   • Set the Driver class name to cdata.jdbc.ebayanalytics.EbayAnalyticsDriver.
   • Click Test Connection.
6. Set the SQL Query Text to a SQL query to request eBay Analytics data. For example: SELECT ListingName, ClickThroughRate FROM TrafficReportByListing WHERE ListingId = '201284405428'
7. Add a Transform Message Component to the flow.
8. Set the Output script to the following to convert the payload to JSON:

   %dw 2.0
   output application/json
   ---
   payload
           

9. To view your eBay Analytics data, navigate to the address you configured for the HTTP Connector (localhost:8081 by default): http://localhost:8081. The eBay Analytics data is available as JSON in your Web browser and any other tools capable of consuming JSON endpoints.

At this point, you have a simple Web interface for working with eBay Analytics data (as JSON data) in custom apps and a wide variety of BI, reporting, and ETL tools. Download a free, 30 day trial of the JDBC Driver for eBay Analytics and see the CData difference in your Mule Applications today.