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Get the Report →Query ConstantContact Data in ColdFusion
Write standard ColdFusion data access code to connect to ConstantContact data.
The CData JDBC driver for ConstantContact seamlessly integrates connectivity to ConstantContact data with the rapid development tools in ColdFusion. This article shows how to connect to ConstantContact data in ColdFusion and query ConstantContact tables.
Create a JDBC Data Source for ConstantContact in ColdFusion
The JDBC data source enables you to execute SQL from standard ColdFusion tags like cfquery and CFScript like executeQuery.
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Copy the driver JAR and .lic file from the installation directory onto the ColdFusion classpath. For example, copy the files into C:\MyColdFusionDirectory\cfusion\wwwroot\WEB-INF\lib. Or, open the Java and JVM page in the ColdFusion Administrator and enter the path to the files in the ColdFusion Class Path box.
The JAR and license for the driver are located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
Restart the server after this step.
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Add the driver as a data source:
From the ColdFusion administrator interface, expand the Data & Services node and click Data Sources. In the Add New Data Source section, enter a name for the data source and select Other in the Driver menu.
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Populate the driver properties:
JDBC URL: Enter connection properties in the JDBC URL. The JDBC URL begins with jdbc:api: and is followed by the connection properties in a semicolon-separated list of name=value pairs.
Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the ConstantContact Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\ConstantContact.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Profile (see below).
ConstantContact API Profile Settings
ConstantContact uses OAuth-based authentication.
First, you will need to register an OAuth application with ConstantContact. You can do so from the ConstantContact API Guide (https://v3.developer.constantcontact.com/api_guide/index.html), under "MyApplications" > "New Application". Your Oauth application will be assigned a client id (API Key) and you can generate a client secret (Secret).
After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:
- AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to manage the process to obtain the OAuthAccessToken.
- OAuthClientId: Set this to the client_id that is specified in you app settings.
- OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client_secret that is specified in you app settings.
- CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI you specified in your app settings.
Built-in Connection String Designer
For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the ConstantContact 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 JDBC URL is below:
jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\ConstantContact.apip;Authscheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackUrl=your_callback_url;
- Driver Class: Enter the driver class. The driver class is cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver.
- Driver Name: Enter a user-defined name for the driver.
- Username: Enter the username used to authenticate.
- Password: Enter the password used to authenticate.
You can now test the connection by enabling the CData ConstantContact data source in the Actions column. After reporting a status of OK, the ConstantContact data source is ready for use.
Execute Queries
The cfquery tag can pass SQL statements to ConstantContact. Use the cfqueryparam tag to create parameterized queries and prevent SQL injection through the query string.
Note: To use the cfquery and cfscript, create a .cfm file. Inside the .cfm file, write the code to execute the query (see below). Place the file directly in the root directory of your web server (e.g., wwwroot in Adobe ColdFusion). Restart the service after placing the file for the changes to take effect.
<cfquery name="APIQuery" dataSource="CDataAPI">
SELECT * FROM Contacts WHERE CompanyName = <cfqueryparam value="#CompanyName#" cfsqltype="cf_sql_varchar">
</cfquery>
<cfdump var="#APIQuery#">
Below is the equivalent in CFScript:
<cfscript> result = queryExecute( "SELECT * FROM Contacts WHERE CompanyName = ?", [ { value="Acme, Inc.", cfsqltype="cf_sql_varchar" } ], { datasource="CDataAPI" } ); writeDump( var= result ); </cfscript>
You can then make requests to your .cfm like the following:
http://MyServer:8500/query.cfm?CompanyName=Acme, Inc.