Connect to Contentful Data in JRuby

JRuby is a high-performance, stable, fully threaded Java implementation of the Ruby programming language. The CData JDBC Driver for Contentful makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live Contentful data in JRuby. This article shows how to create a simple JRuby app that connects to Contentful data, executes a query, and displays the results.

Configure a JDBC Connection to Contentful Data

Before creating the app, note the installation location for the JAR file for the JDBC Driver (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for Contentful\lib).

JRuby natively supports JDBC, so you can easily connect to Contentful and execute SQL queries. Initialize the JDBC connection with the getConnection function of the java.sql.DriverManager class.

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

Contentful API Profile Settings

Obtain your Content Delivery API access token from your Contentful space settings under Settings > API Keys. Your SpaceId is visible in your Contentful workspace configuration.

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

Below is a typical JDBC connection string for Contentful:

jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Contentful.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_access_token;SpaceId=your_space_id';

Create a JRuby App with Connectivity to Contentful Data

Create a new Ruby file (for example: APISelect.rb) and open it in a text editor. Copy the following code into your file:

require 'java'
require 'rubygems'
require 'C:/Program Files/CData/CData JDBC Driver for Contentful 2018/lib/cdata.jdbc.api.jar'

url = "jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Contentful.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_access_token;SpaceId=your_space_id';"
conn = java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(url)
stmt = conn.createStatement
rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT Id, SpaceId FROM Assets")
while (rs.next) do
  puts rs.getString(1) + ' ' + rs.getString(2)
end

With the file completed, you are ready to display your Contentful data with JRuby. To do so, simply run your file from the command line:

jruby -S APISelect.rb

Writing SQL-92 queries to Contentful allows you to quickly and easily incorporate Contentful data into your own JRuby applications. Download a free trial today!