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Connect to live data from Aha with the API Driver

Connect to Aha

Access Live Aha Data in AWS Lambda



Connect to live Aha data in AWS Lambda using the CData JDBC Driver.

AWS Lambda is a compute service that lets you build applications that respond quickly to new information and events. AWS Lambda functions can work with live Aha data when paired with the CData API Driver for JDBC. This article describes how to connect to and query Aha data from an AWS Lambda function built in Eclipse.

At the time this article was written (June 2022), Eclipse version 2019-12 and Java 8 were the highest versions supported by the AWS Toolkit for Eclipse.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Aha data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Aha, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Aha and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). In addition, its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze Aha data using native data types.

Gather Connection Properties and Build a Connection String

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

Aha! API Profile Settings

The Aha! API uses OAuth-based authentication.

You will first need to register an OAuth app with Aha!. This can be done from your Aha! account under 'Settings' > 'Personal' > 'Developer' > 'OAuth Applications'. Additionally, you will need to set the Domain, found in the domain name of your Aha account. For example if your Aha account is acmeinc.aha.io, then the Domain should be 'acmeinc'.

After setting the following in the connection string, you are ready to connect:

  • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
  • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to manage the process to obtain the OAuthAccessToken.
  • OAuthClientId: Set this to the client_id that is specified in you app settings.
  • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client_secret that is specified in you app settings.
  • CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI you specified in your app settings.
  • Domain: Set this in the ProfileSettings to your Aha domain.

NOTE: To use the JDBC driver in an AWS Lambda function, you will need a license (full or trial) and a Runtime Key (RTK). For more information on obtaining this license (or a trial), contact our sales team.

Built-in Connection String Designer

For assistance constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Aha JDBC Driver. 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 (including the RTK) and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

Create an AWS Lambda Function

  1. Download the CData API Driver for JDBC installer, unzip the package, and run the JAR file to install the driver.
  2. Create a new AWS Lambda Java Project in Eclipse using the AWS Toolkit for Eclipse. You can follow the tutorial from AWS (amazon.com).

    For this article, set the Input Type for the project to "Custom" so we can enter a table name as the input.

  3. Add the CData API Driver for JDBC JAR file (cdata.jdbc.api.jar) to the build path. The file is found in INSTALL_PATH\lib\.
  4. Add the following import statements to the Java class: import java.sql.Connection; import java.sql.DriverManager; import java.sql.ResultSet; import java.sql.ResultSetMetaData; import java.sql.SQLException; import java.sql.Statement;
  5. Replace the body of the handleRequest method with the code below. Be sure to fill in the connection string in the DriverManager.getConnection method call.

    String query = "SELECT * FROM " + input; try { Class.forName("cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver"); } catch (ClassNotFoundException ex) { context.getLogger().log("Error: class not found"); } Connection connection = null; try { connection = DriverManager.getConnection("jdbc:cdata:api:RTK=52465...;Profile=C:\profiles\aha.apip;ProfileSettings='Domain=acmeinc';Authscheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackUrl=your_callback_url;"); } catch (SQLException ex) { context.getLogger().log("Error getting connection: " + ex.getMessage()); } catch (Exception ex) { context.getLogger().log("Error: " + ex.getMessage()); } if(connection != null) { context.getLogger().log("Connected Successfully!\n"); } ResultSet resultSet = null; try { //executing query Statement stmt = connection.createStatement(); resultSet = stmt.executeQuery(query); ResultSetMetaData metaData = resultSet.getMetaData(); int numCols = metaData.getColumnCount(); //printing the results while(resultSet.next()) { for(int i = 1; i <= numCols; i++) { System.out.printf("%-25s", (resultSet.getObject(i) != null) ? resultSet.getObject(i).toString().replaceAll("\n", "") : null ); } System.out.print("\n"); } } catch (SQLException ex) { System.out.println("SQL Exception: " + ex.getMessage()); } catch (Exception ex) { System.out.println("General exception: " + ex.getMessage()); } String output = "query: " + query + " complete"; return output;

Deploy and Run the Lambda Function

Once you build the function in Eclipse, you are ready to upload and run the function. In this article, the output is written to the AWS logs, but you can use this is a template to implement you own custom business logic to work with Aha data in AWS Lambda functions.

  1. Right-click the Package and select Amazon Web Services -> Upload function to AWS Lamba.
  2. Name the function, select an IAM role, and set the timeout value to a high enough value to ensure the function completes (depending on the result size of your query).
  3. Right-click the Package and select Amazon Web Services -> Run function on AWS Lambda and set the input to the name of the Aha object you wish to query (i.e. "Ideas").
  4. After the job runs, you can view the output in the CloudWatch logs.

Free Trial & More Information

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData API Driver for JDBC and start working with your live Aha data in AWS Lambda. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.