Integrate Act CRM Data in Pentaho Data Integration

The CData JDBC Driver for Act CRM enables access to live data from data pipelines. Pentaho Data Integration is an Extraction, Transformation, and Loading (ETL) engine that data, cleanses the data, and stores data using a uniform format that is accessible.This article shows how to connect to Act CRM data as a JDBC data source and build jobs and transformations based on Act CRM data in Pentaho Data Integration.

Configure to Act CRM Connectivity

The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid Act! user credentials. In addition to the authentication values, see the following:

• Connecting to Act! Premium

  In addition to the authentication values, the URL to Act! is also required; for example https://eup1-iis-04.eu.hosted.act.com/.

  Additionally, you must specify the ActDatabase you will connect to. This is found by going to the About Act! Premium menu of your account, at the top right of the page, in the ? menu. Use the Database Name in the window that appears.

• Connecting to Act! Premium Cloud

  To connect to your Act! Premium Cloud account, you also need to specify the ActCloudName property. This property is found in the URL address of the Cloud account; for example https://eup1-iis-04.eu.hosted.act.com/ActCloudName/.

Note that retrieving ActCRM metadata can be expensive. It is advised that you set the CacheMetadata property to store the metadata locally.

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

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.

Below is a typical JDBC URL:

Save your connection string for use in Pentaho Data Integration.

Connect to Act CRM from Pentaho DI

Open Pentaho Data Integration and select "Database Connection" to configure a connection to the CData JDBC Driver for Act CRM

1. Click "General"
2. Set Connection name (e.g. Act CRM Connection)
3. Set Connection type to "Generic database"
4. Set Access to "Native (JDBC)"
5. Set Custom connection URL to your Act CRM connection string (e.g.
   jdbc:actcrm:URL=https://myActCRMserver.com;User=myUser;Password=myPassword;ActDatabase=MyDB;
6. Set Custom driver class name to "cdata.jdbc.actcrm.ActCRMDriver"
7. Test the connection and click "OK" to save.

Create a Data Pipeline for Act CRM

Once the connection to Act CRM is configured using the CData JDBC Driver, you are ready to create a new transformation or job.

1. Click "File" >> "New" >> "Transformation/job"
2. Drag a "Table input" object into the workflow panel and select your Act CRM connection.
3. Click "Get SQL select statement" and use the Database Explorer to view the available tables and views.
4. Select a table and optionally preview the data for verification.

At this point, you can continue your transformation or jb by selecting a suitable destination and adding any transformations to modify, filter, or otherwise alter the data during replication.

Free Trial & More Information

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Act CRM and start working with your live Act CRM data in Pentaho Data Integration today.