Access Anaplan Data in Mule Applications Using the CData JDBC Driver

The CData JDBC Driver for Anaplan connects Anaplan 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 Anaplan data.

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

     Authenticating to Anaplan

     The driver supports authenticating with Basic, Certificate, or OAuth. In every case, set Region to the region where your Anaplan account data is hosted (e.g., US1, which is the default).

     Using Basic Authentication

     Set AuthScheme to Basic, then supply your Anaplan User and Password. If your workspace uses single sign-on (SSO), you must be assigned as an Exception User to use Basic authentication.

     Using Certificate Authentication

     Set AuthScheme to Certificate, then supply the Certificate, CertificateType, and PrivateKey properties (and the matching CertificatePassword / PrivateKeyPassword if either is encrypted). The certificate must be a CA-issued X.509 certificate registered with your Anaplan tenant administrator.

     Using OAuth Authentication

     Register a custom OAuth application in Anaplan, then set the following properties:

     • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
     • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
     • CallbackURL: The redirect URI defined when you registered your application.
     • InitiateOAuth: Set to GETANDREFRESH to have the driver manage the OAuth token exchange and refresh automatically.

     See the Getting Started chapter of the help documentation for a guide to creating a custom OAuth app and using OAuth.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

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

     		java -jar cdata.jdbc.anaplan.jar
     		

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

   • Set the Driver class name to cdata.jdbc.anaplan.AnaplanDriver.
   • Click Test Connection.
6. Set the SQL Query Text to a SQL query to request Anaplan data. For example:

   SELECT Region, Product FROM [Workspace].[Model].[Sales] WHERE Value = '100'

   
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 Anaplan data, navigate to the address you configured for the HTTP Connector (localhost:8081 by default): http://localhost:8081. The Anaplan 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 Anaplan 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 Anaplan and see the CData difference in your Mule Applications today.