Connect to Dotmailer Data in JRuby

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

Configure a JDBC Connection to Dotmailer 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 Dotmailer\lib).

JRuby natively supports JDBC, so you can easily connect to Dotmailer 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 Dotmailer Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Dotmailer.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Dotmailer (see below).

Dotmailer API Profile Settings

Create an API user in the Dotdigital platform under Setup > Access > API Users > New User. Your RegionId can be found in your account URL (e.g.,

r1

r1.dotdigitalgroup.com

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Dotmailer.apip;ProfileSettings='User=your_api_username;Password=your_api_password;RegionId=your_region_id';

Create a JRuby App with Connectivity to Dotmailer 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 Dotmailer 2018/lib/cdata.jdbc.api.jar'

url = "jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Dotmailer.apip;ProfileSettings='User=your_api_username;Password=your_api_password;RegionId=your_region_id';"
conn = java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(url)
stmt = conn.createStatement
rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT Name, Type FROM Account")
while (rs.next) do
  puts rs.getString(1) + ' ' + rs.getString(2)
end

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

jruby -S APISelect.rb

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