Connect to CSV Data in RapidMiner

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

Connect to CSV in RapidMiner as a JDBC Data Source

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

1. Add a new database driver for CSV: 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:csv:
4. Enter the path to the cdata.jdbc.csv.jar file, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
5. Enter the driver class: cdata.jdbc.csv.CSVDriver
6. Create a new CSV connection: Click Connections -> Manage Database Connections.
7. Enter a name for your connection.
8. For Database System, select the CSV driver you configured previously.
9. Enter your connection string in the Host box.

   The DataSource property must be set to a valid local folder name.

   Also, specify the IncludeFiles property to work with text files having extensions that differ from .csv, .tab, or .txt. Specify multiple file extensions in a comma-separated list. You can also set Extended Properties compatible with the Microsoft Jet OLE DB 4.0 driver. Alternatively, you can provide the format of text files in a Schema.ini file.

   Set UseRowNumbers to true if you are deleting or updating in CSV. This will create a new column with the name RowNumber which will be used as key for that table.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

   For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the CSV JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.csv.jar

   Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

   A typical connection string is below:

   DataSource=MyCSVFilesFolder;
10. Enter your username and password if necessary.

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