Connect to Discourse Data in RazorSQL

The CData JDBC Driver for Discourse enables standards-based access from third-party tools, from wizards in IDEs to data management and analysis tools. This article shows how to connect to Discourse using wizards in RazorSQL.

Create a JDBC Data Source for Discourse Data

1. Open the RazorSQL application and, in the Connections menu, select Add Connection Profile -> Other -> JDBC.
2. In the Connection Wizard that appears, set the following properties:
   • Driver Location: Set this property to the path to the lib subfolder in the installation directory.
   • Driver Class: Set the driver class to cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver.
   • Username: Enter the username. (This property can also be set in the JDBC URL.)
   • Password: Enter the password. (This property can also be set in the JDBC URL.)

   • JDBC URL: Enter connection parameters. The JDBC URL begins with jdbc:api: and is followed by a semicolon-separated list of connection properties.

     The Discourse API uses API Key authentication.

     Using API Key Authentication

     Discourse requires API Key and Username for authentication. API Keys are generated in the Discourse Admin panel under the API section. You can create user-specific API keys or all-users API keys. Once you have obtained the API Key, set it along with the Domain and Username in the ProfileSettings connection property.

     Example Connection string

     Profile=C:\profiles\Discourse.apip;ProfileSettings='Domain=forum.example.com;APIKey=your_api_key;Username=your_username;'AuthScheme=APIKey;
     

     Built-in Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Discourse 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 the following:

     jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Discourse.apip;ProfileSettings='Domain=forum.example.com;APIKey=your_api_key;Username=your_username;'AuthScheme=APIKey;

Query Discourse Data and Select Tables

After establishing a connection, the wizard will close and the connection will be available in the connections panel. You can then query the tables.