Connect to Canny Data in RapidMiner

This article shows how you can easily integrate the CData JDBC driver for Canny into your processes in RapidMiner. This article uses the CData JDBC Driver for Canny to transfer Canny data to a process in RapidMiner.

Connect to Canny in RapidMiner as a JDBC Data Source

You can follow the procedure below to establish a JDBC connection to Canny:

1. Add a new database driver for Canny: Click Connections -> Manage Database Drivers.
2. In the resulting wizard, click the Add button and enter a name for the connection.
3. Enter the prefix for the JDBC URL:

   
   jdbc:api:
   

4. Enter the path to the cdata.jdbc.api.jar file, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
5. Enter the driver class:

   
   cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver
   

   
6. Create a new Canny connection: Click Connections -> Manage Database Connections.
7. Enter a name for your connection.
8. For Database System, select the Canny driver you configured previously.
9. Enter your connection string in the Host box.

   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.

   

   A typical connection string is below:

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

10. Enter your username and password if necessary.

You can now use your Canny connection with the various RapidMiner operators in your process. To retrieve Canny data, drag the Retrieve operator from the Operators view. With the Retrieve operator selected, you can then define which table to retrieve in the Parameters view by clicking the folder icon next to the "repository entry." In the resulting Repository Browser, you can expand your connection node to select the desired example set.

Finally, wire the output to the Retrieve process to a result, and run the process to see the Canny data.