Connect to Bitly Data in JRuby

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

Configure a JDBC Connection to Bitly 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 Bitly\lib).

JRuby natively supports JDBC, so you can easily connect to Bitly 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 Bitly Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Bitly.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Bitly (see below).

Bitly API Profile Settings

Log into your Bitly account, go to Settings > Developer Settings, and generate a Generic Access Token.

Built-in Connection String Designer

For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Bitly 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 Bitly:

jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Bitly.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_access_token';

Create a JRuby App with Connectivity to Bitly 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 Bitly 2018/lib/cdata.jdbc.api.jar'

url = "jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Bitly.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_access_token';"
conn = java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(url)
stmt = conn.createStatement
rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT City, Clicks FROM BitlinkCities")
while (rs.next) do
  puts rs.getString(1) + ' ' + rs.getString(2)
end

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

jruby -S APISelect.rb

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