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Easily connect Java/J2EE applications with real-time data from Excel spreadsheets. Use Excel to manage the data that powers your applications.

Access Excel Data in Mule Applications Using the CData JDBC Driver



Create a simple Mule Application that uses HTTP and SQL with the CData JDBC Driver for Microsoft Excel to create a JSON endpoint for Excel data.

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

This article demonstrates how to use the CData JDBC Driver for Microsoft Excel inside of a Mule project to create a Web interface for Excel data. The application created allows you to request Excel 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.excel.jar).
    • Set the URL to the connection string for Excel

      The ExcelFile, under the Authentication section, must be set to a valid Excel File.

      Built-in Connection String Designer

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

      java -jar cdata.jdbc.excel.jar

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

    • Set the Driver class name to cdata.jdbc.excel.ExcelDriver.
    • Click Test Connection.
  6. Set the SQL Query Text to a SQL query to request Excel data. For example: SELECT Name, Revenue FROM Sheet
  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 Excel data, navigate to the address you configured for the HTTP Connector (localhost:8081 by default): http://localhost:8081. The Excel 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 Excel 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 Excel and see the CData difference in your Mule Applications today.