Connect to Azure Table Data in RapidMiner

This article shows how you can easily integrate the CData JDBC driver for Azure Table into your processes in RapidMiner. This article uses the CData JDBC Driver for Azure Table to transfer Azure Table data to a process in RapidMiner.

Connect to Azure Table in RapidMiner as a JDBC Data Source

You can follow the procedure below to establish a JDBC connection to Azure Table:

1. Add a new database driver for Azure Table: Click Connections -> Manage Database Drivers.
2. In the resulting wizard, click the Add button and enter a name for the connection.
3. Enter the prefix for the JDBC URL: jdbc:azuretables:
4. Enter the path to the cdata.jdbc.azuretables.jar file, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
5. Enter the driver class: cdata.jdbc.azuretables.AzureTablesDriver
6. Create a new Azure Table connection: Click Connections -> Manage Database Connections.
7. Enter a name for your connection.
8. For Database System, select the Azure Table driver you configured previously.
9. Enter your connection string in the Host box.

   Specify your AccessKey and your Account to connect. Set the Account property to the Storage Account Name and set AccessKey to one of the Access Keys. Either the Primary or Secondary Access Keys can be used. To obtain these values, navigate to the Storage Accounts blade in the Azure portal. You can obtain the access key by selecting your account and clicking Access Keys in the Settings section.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.azuretables.jar

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

   A typical connection string is below:

   AccessKey=myAccessKey;Account=myAccountName;
10. Enter your username and password if necessary.

You can now use your Azure Table connection with the various RapidMiner operators in your process. To retrieve Azure Table data, drag the Retrieve operator from the Operators view. With the Retrieve operator selected, you can then define which table to retrieve in the Parameters view by clicking the folder icon next to the "repository entry." In the resulting Repository Browser, you can expand your connection node to select the desired example set.

Finally, wire the output to the Retrieve process to a result, and run the process to see the Azure Table data.