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Create a Data Access Object for Box Data using JDBI


A brief overview of creating a SQL Object API for Box data in JDBI.

JDBI is a SQL convenience library for Java that exposes two different style APIs, a fluent style and a SQL object style. The CData JDBC Driver for Box integrates connectivity to live Box data in Java applications. By pairing these technologies, you gain simple, programmatic access to Box data. This article walks through building a basic Data Access Object (DAO) and the accompanying code to read and write Box data.

Create a DAO for the Box Files Entity

The interface below declares the desired behavior for the SQL object to create a single method for each SQL statement to be implemented.

public interface MyFilesDAO { //insert new data into Box @SqlUpdate("INSERT INTO Files (Id, Size) values (:id, :size)") void insert(@Bind("id") String id, @Bind("size") String size); //request specific data from Box (String type is used for simplicity) @SqlQuery("SELECT Size FROM Files WHERE Id = :id") String findSizeById(@Bind("id") String id); /* * close with no args is used to close the connection */ void close(); }

Open a Connection to Box

Collect the necessary connection properties and construct the appropriate JDBC URL for connecting to Box.

Box uses the OAuth standard to authenticate. To authenticate to Box, you will need to obtain the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL by registering an app. See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for a guide to using OAuth.

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

java -jar cdata.jdbc.box.jar

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

A connection string for Box will typically look like the following:

jdbc:box:OAuthClientId=MyOAuthClientId;OAuthClientSecret=MyOAuthClientSecret;CallbackURL=http://localhost:33333;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH

Use the configured JDBC URL to obtain an instance of the DAO interface. The particular method shown below will open a handle bound to the instance, so the instance needs to be closed explicitly to release the handle and the bound JDBC connection.

DBI dbi = new DBI("jdbc:box:OAuthClientId=MyOAuthClientId;OAuthClientSecret=MyOAuthClientSecret;CallbackURL=http://localhost:33333;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH"); MyFilesDAO dao = dbi.open(MyFilesDAO.class); //do stuff with the DAO dao.close();

Read Box Data

With the connection open to Box, simply call the previously defined method to retrieve data from the Files entity in Box.

//disply the result of our 'find' method String size = dao.findSizeById("123"); System.out.println(size);

Write Box Data

It is also simple to write data to Box, using the previously defined method.

//add a new entry to the Files entity dao.insert(newId, newSize);

Since the JDBI library is able to work with JDBC connections, you can easily produce a SQL Object API for Box by integrating with the CData JDBC Driver for Box. Download a free trial and work with live Box data in custom Java applications today.

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