Integrate Blackbaud FE NXT Data in Pentaho Data Integration

The CData JDBC Driver for Blackbaud FE NXT enables access to live data from data pipelines. Pentaho Data Integration is an Extraction, Transformation, and Loading (ETL) engine that data, cleanses the data, and stores data using a uniform format that is accessible.This article shows how to connect to Blackbaud FE NXT data as a JDBC data source and build jobs and transformations based on Blackbaud FE NXT data in Pentaho Data Integration.

Configure to Blackbaud FE NXT Connectivity

Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, create an app to obtain the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL connection properties.

See the Getting Started guide in the CData driver documentation for more information.

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

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

When you configure the JDBC URL, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

Below is a typical JDBC URL:

Save your connection string for use in Pentaho Data Integration.

Connect to Blackbaud FE NXT from Pentaho DI

Open Pentaho Data Integration and select "Database Connection" to configure a connection to the CData JDBC Driver for Blackbaud FE NXT

1. Click "General"
2. Set Connection name (e.g. Blackbaud FE NXT Connection)
3. Set Connection type to "Generic database"
4. Set Access to "Native (JDBC)"
5. Set Custom connection URL to your Blackbaud FE NXT connection string (e.g.
   jdbc:financialedgenxt:SubscriptionKey=MySubscriptionKey;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH
6. Set Custom driver class name to "cdata.jdbc.financialedgenxt.FinancialEdgeNXTDriver"
7. Test the connection and click "OK" to save.

Create a Data Pipeline for Blackbaud FE NXT

Once the connection to Blackbaud FE NXT is configured using the CData JDBC Driver, you are ready to create a new transformation or job.

1. Click "File" >> "New" >> "Transformation/job"
2. Drag a "Table input" object into the workflow panel and select your Blackbaud FE NXT connection.
3. Click "Get SQL select statement" and use the Database Explorer to view the available tables and views.
4. Select a table and optionally preview the data for verification.

At this point, you can continue your transformation or jb by selecting a suitable destination and adding any transformations to modify, filter, or otherwise alter the data during replication.

Free Trial & More Information

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Blackbaud FE NXT and start working with your live Blackbaud FE NXT data in Pentaho Data Integration today.