Connect to Exa Data in JRuby

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

Configure a JDBC Connection to Exa 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 Exa\lib).

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

Exa API Profile Settings

Visit dashboard.exa.ai, sign in or create an account, and generate an API key from your API settings.

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Exa.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key';

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

url = "jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Exa.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key';"
conn = java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(url)
stmt = conn.createStatement
rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT RequestId, Answer FROM Answer")
while (rs.next) do
  puts rs.getString(1) + ' ' + rs.getString(2)
end

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

jruby -S APISelect.rb

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