Connect to Browse AI Data in JRuby

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

Configure a JDBC Connection to Browse AI 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 Browse AI\lib).

JRuby natively supports JDBC, so you can easily connect to Browse AI 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 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).

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.

Below is a typical JDBC connection string for Browse AI:

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

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

url = "jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\BrowseAI.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_user_id:your_api_key';"
conn = java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(url)
stmt = conn.createStatement
rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT Id, Status FROM RobotTasks")
while (rs.next) do
  puts rs.getString(1) + ' ' + rs.getString(2)
end

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

jruby -S APISelect.rb

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