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Connect to live data from Drift with the API Driver

Connect to Drift

Build Drift-Connected ETL Processes in Google Data Fusion



Load the CData JDBC Driver into Google Data Fusion and create ETL processes with access live Drift data.

Google Data Fusion allows users to perform self-service data integration to consolidate disparate data. Uploading the CData API Driver for JDBC enables users to access live Drift data from within their Google Data Fusion pipelines. While the CData JDBC Driver enables piping Drift data to any data source natively supported in Google Data Fusion, this article walks through piping data from Drift to Google BigQuery,

Upload the CData API Driver for JDBC to Google Data Fusion

Upload the CData API Driver for JDBC to your Google Data Fusion instance to work with live Drift data. Due to the naming restrictions for JDBC drivers in Google Data Fusion, create a copy or rename the JAR file to match the following format driver-version.jar. For example: cdataapi-2020.jar

  1. Open your Google Data Fusion instance
  2. Click the to add an entity and upload a driver
  3. On the "Upload driver" tab, drag or browse to the renamed JAR file.
  4. On the "Driver configuration" tab:
    • Name: Create a name for the driver (cdata.jdbc.api) and make note of the name
    • Class name: Set the JDBC class name: (cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver)
  5. Click "Finish"

Connect to Drift Data in Google Data Fusion

With the JDBC Driver uploaded, you are ready to work with live Drift data in Google Data Fusion Pipelines.

  1. Navigate to the Pipeline Studio to create a new Pipeline
  2. From the "Source" options, click "Database" to add a source for the JDBC Driver
  3. Click "Properties" on the Database source to edit the properties

    NOTE: To use the JDBC Driver in Google Data Fusion, you will need a license (full or trial) and a Runtime Key (RTK). For more information on obtaining this license (or a trial), contact our sales team.

    • Set the Label
    • Set Reference Name to a value for any future references (i.e.: cdata-api)
    • Set Plugin Type to "jdbc"
    • Set Connection String to the JDBC URL for Drift. For example:

      jdbc:api:RTK=5246...;Profile=C:\profiles\Drift.apip;Authscheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackUrl=your_callback_url;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;

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

      Drift API Profile Settings

      Drift uses OAuth-based authentication.

      You must first register an application here: https://dev.drift.com. Your app will be assigned a client ID and a client secret. Set these in your connection string via the OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret properties. More information on setting up an OAuth application can be found at https://devdocs.drift.com/docs/.

      After setting the following options in the ProfileSettings connection property, you are ready to connect:

      • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
      • OAuthClientId: Set this to the Client Id that is specified in your app settings.
      • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to Client Secret that is specified in your app settings.
      • CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI you specified in your app settings.
      • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to manage the process to obtain the OAuthAccessToken.

      Built-in Connection String Designer

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

    • Set Import Query to a SQL query that will extract the data you want from Drift, i.e.:
      SELECT * FROM Contacts
  4. From the "Sink" tab, click to add a destination sink (we use Google BigQuery in this example)
  5. Click "Properties" on the BigQuery sink to edit the properties
    • Set the Label
    • Set Reference Name to a value like api-bigquery
    • Set Project ID to a specific Google BigQuery Project ID (or leave as the default, "auto-detect")
    • Set Dataset to a specific Google BigQuery dataset
    • Set Table to the name of the table you wish to insert Drift data into

With the Source and Sink configured, you are ready to pipe Drift data into Google BigQuery. Save and deploy the pipeline. When you run the pipeline, Google Data Fusion will request live data from Drift and import it into Google BigQuery.

While this is a simple pipeline, you can create more complex Drift pipelines with transforms, analytics, conditions, and more. Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData API Driver for JDBC and start working with your live Drift data in Google Data Fusion today.