Feed Canny Data into FineReport

The CData JDBC Driver for Canny fully implements the JDBC standard and can provide Canny data connectivity to a wide variety of BI, reporting, and ETL tools and custom applications. In this article, we explain how to set Canny data as JDBC data source in FineReport and view Canny data as a table in the Report Designer.

Set Up a JDBC Data Source of Canny Data

Follow the instruction below to set Canny data as a FineReport database connection.

1. Copy the cdata.jdbc.api.jar file from the lib folder in the CData JDBC Driver for Canny installation directory to the lib folder of the FineReport installation directory. You will need to copy the cdata.jdbc.api.lic file as well.
2. From the Server tab, select Define Data Connection, click to add a new connection, and click JDBC.

Next we will set up the data connection definition in the window.

1. Database: Others
2. JDBC Driver: cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver
3. URL: A standard JDBC connection string using semicolon-separated connection properties.

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

   Canny API Profile Settings

   Canny uses a secret API key to control access to the API. The API key is sent as a JSON body parameter named 'apiKey' in every HTTP POST request to the Canny API endpoints.

   To authenticate with the Canny API, you need your company-level secret API key. You can find this key in your Canny account under Settings > API.

   After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

   • AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
   • APIKey: Set this to your Canny company-level secret API key from the Settings > API page in your Canny dashboard.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   

   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.

   A typical JDBC URL is below:

   
       jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Canny.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your-canny-api-key';
     


4. Click Connection pool attributes and set Test before getting connections to No.

Click Test connection to ensure you have configured the connection properly. With the connection to Canny set up, you can use it as FineReport data source.

Select Canny Data in the Report Designer.

1. Click to add a new template data set and select DB query to open the database query window.

2. Choose the JDBC connection that you created from the dropdown list.
3. The Canny entities will appear as tables on the left pane.
4. Write a SELECT statement for the Canny data tables and columns that you want to load.

5. Click preview and data is shown as table.

With these simple steps, Canny can be used as a JDBC data source in FineReport.