Connect to Amplitude Data in JRuby

JRuby is a high-performance, stable, fully threaded Java implementation of the Ruby programming language. The CData JDBC Driver for Amplitude makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live Amplitude data in JRuby. This article shows how to create a simple JRuby app that connects to Amplitude data, executes a query, and displays the results.

Configure a JDBC Connection to Amplitude Data

Before creating the app, note the installation location for the JAR file for the JDBC Driver (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for Amplitude\lib).

JRuby natively supports JDBC, so you can easily connect to Amplitude and execute SQL queries. Initialize the JDBC connection with the getConnection function of the java.sql.DriverManager class.

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

Amplitude API Profile Settings

Retrieve your API Key and Secret Key from your Amplitude project's Settings page. Both values are required for authenticating API requests.

Built-in Connection String Designer

For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Amplitude JDBC Driver. Either 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 and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

Below is a typical JDBC connection string for Amplitude:

jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Amplitude.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key;SecretKey=your_secret_key';

Create a JRuby App with Connectivity to Amplitude Data

Create a new Ruby file (for example: APISelect.rb) and open it in a text editor. Copy the following code into your file:

require 'java'
require 'rubygems'
require 'C:/Program Files/CData/CData JDBC Driver for Amplitude 2018/lib/cdata.jdbc.api.jar'

url = "jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Amplitude.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key;SecretKey=your_secret_key';"
conn = java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(url)
stmt = conn.createStatement
rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT Id, Date FROM ChartAnnotations")
while (rs.next) do
  puts rs.getString(1) + ' ' + rs.getString(2)
end

With the file completed, you are ready to display your Amplitude data with JRuby. To do so, simply run your file from the command line:

jruby -S APISelect.rb

Writing SQL-92 queries to Amplitude allows you to quickly and easily incorporate Amplitude data into your own JRuby applications. Download a free trial today!