Connect to Browse AI Data in the Denodo Platform

Denodo Platform is a data virtualization product providing a single point of contact for enterprise database data. When paired with the CData API Driver for JDBC, Denodo users can work with live Browse AI data alongside other enterprise data sources. This article explains how to create a virtual data source for Browse AI in the Denodo Virtual DataPort Administrator.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Browse AI data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Browse AI, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Browse AI and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). Its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze Browse AI data using native data types.

Create the Browse AI Virtual Port

To connect to live Browse AI data from Denodo, you need to copy the JDBC Driver JAR file to the external library directory for Denodo and create a new JDBC Data Source from the Virtual DataPort Administrator tool.

1. Download the CData API Driver for JDBC installer, unzip the package, and run the JAR file to install the driver.
2. Copy the JAR File (and license file if it exists) from the installation location (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData API Driver for JDBC\lib\) to the Denodo external library directory (C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-api-19).
3. Open the Denodo Virtual DataPort Administrator tool and navigate to the Server Explorer tab.
4. Right-click "admin" and select New -> Data source -> JDBC.
5. Configure the JDBC Connection:
   • Name: your choice, e.g.: api
   • Database adapter: Generic
   • Driver class path: C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-api-19
   • Driver class: cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver

   • Database URI: Set this to a JDBC URL using the necessary connection properties. For example,

     jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\BrowseAI.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_user_id:your_api_key';

     

     Information on creating the Database URI follows:

     Built-In Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Browse AI 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.

     Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the BrowseAI Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\BrowseAI.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for BrowseAI (see below).

     BrowseAI API Profile Settings

     BrowseAI is a web scraping and automation platform that allows you to train robots to extract and monitor data from websites. Authentication is performed using an API key that is sent as a Bearer token in the Authorization header.

     The BrowseAI API key has the format {userId}:{apiKey}, where both parts are UUIDs separated by a colon. This full string is provided as a single value in the BrowseAI dashboard.

     To obtain your API key:

     1. Log in to your BrowseAI account at https://app.browse.ai
     2. Navigate to Settings in the dashboard
     3. Locate the API section
     4. Copy the full API key string displayed (format: userId:apiKey)

     After obtaining your API key, set the following connection properties:

     • AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.

     Set the following in the ProfileSettings connection property:

     • APIKey: Set this to your BrowseAI API key (format: userId:apiKey).
     
6. Click the "Test connection" button to confirm the configuration and click Save.

View Browse AI Data in the VirtualPort Administrator Tool

After creating the data source, you can create a base view of Browse AI data for use in the Denodo Platform.

1. Click the "Create base view" button in the newly created VirtualPort (admin.API).
2. Expand the object tree and select the objects (tables) you wish to import.
3. Click the "Create selected" button to create views of the Browse AI data.
   Optional: Click "Create associations from foreign keys" to define relationships between the objects.
4. With the view(s) created, navigate to a table (cdata_api_robottasks) in the Server Explorer and double-click the selected table.
5. In the new tab, click "Execution panel" to open a query panel.
6. Customize the query in the "Execute" tab or use the default:

   SELECT * FROM cdata_api_robottasks CONTEXT ('i18n'='us_est', 'cache_wait_for_load'='true')
   

   
7. Click Execute to view the data.

With the base view created, you can now work with live Browse AI data like you would any other data source in Denodo Platform, for example, querying Browse AI in the Denodo Data Catalog.

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData API Driver for JDBC and start working with your live Browse AI data in Denodo Platform. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.