Connect to Databox Data in RapidMiner

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

Connect to Databox in RapidMiner as a JDBC Data Source

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

1. Add a new database driver for Databox: 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 Databox connection: Click Connections -> Manage Database Connections.
7. Enter a name for your connection.
8. For Database System, select the Databox 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 Databox Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Databox.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Databox (see below).

   Databox API Profile Settings

   To use the Databox API, you need to generate a personal access key from your Databox account. Navigate to the Databox account settings under Data Manager and generate an API key (prefixed with pak_).

   After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

   • AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
   • APIKey: Set this to your Databox personal access key.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

   For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Databox 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\Databox.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key';
   

10. Enter your username and password if necessary.

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