Access Canny Data in Mule Applications Using the CData JDBC Driver

The CData API Driver for JDBC connects Canny data to Mule applications enabling read functionality with familiar SQL queries. The JDBC Driver allows users to easily create Mule applications to backup, transform, report, and analyze Canny data.

This article demonstrates how to use the CData API Driver for JDBC inside of a Mule project to create a Web interface for Canny data. The application created allows you to request Canny data using an HTTP request and have the results returned as JSON. The exact same procedure outlined below can be used with any CData JDBC Driver to create a Web interface for the hundreds of available data sources.

1. Create a new Mule Project in Anypoint Studio.
2. Add an HTTP Connector to the Message Flow.
3. Configure the address for the HTTP Connector.
4. Add a Database Select Connector to the same flow, after the HTTP Connector.
5. Create a new Connection (or edit an existing one) and configure the properties.
   • Set Connection to "Generic Connection"
   • Select the CData JDBC Driver JAR file in the Required Libraries section (e.g. cdata.jdbc.api.jar).
   • Set the URL to the connection string for Canny

     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.

   • Set the Driver class name to cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver.
   • Click Test Connection.
6. Set the SQL Query Text to a SQL query to request Canny data. For example:

   SELECT Id, Name FROM Boards WHERE IsPrivate = 'false'

   
7. Add a Transform Message Component to the flow.
8. Set the Output script to the following to convert the payload to JSON:

   %dw 2.0
   output application/json
   ---
   payload
           

   
9. To view your Canny data, navigate to the address you configured for the HTTP Connector (localhost:8081 by default): http://localhost:8081. The Canny data is available as JSON in your Web browser and any other tools capable of consuming JSON endpoints.

At this point, you have a simple Web interface for working with Canny data (as JSON data) in custom apps and a wide variety of BI, reporting, and ETL tools. Download a free, 30 day trial of the JDBC Driver for Canny and see the CData difference in your Mule Applications today.