Connect to ConstantContact Data in RapidMiner

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

Connect to ConstantContact in RapidMiner as a JDBC Data Source

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

1. Add a new database driver for ConstantContact: 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 ConstantContact connection: Click Connections -> Manage Database Connections.
7. Enter a name for your connection.
8. For Database System, select the ConstantContact 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 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 connection string is below:

   Profile=C:\profiles\ConstantContact.apip;Authscheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackUrl=your_callback_url;
10. Enter your username and password if necessary.

You can now use your ConstantContact connection with the various RapidMiner operators in your process. To retrieve ConstantContact 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 ConstantContact data.