Integrate Facebook with External Services using SnapLogic

SnapLogic is an integration platform-as-a-service (iPaaS) that allows users to create data integration flows with no code. When paired with the CData JDBC Drivers, users get access to live data from more than 250+ SaaS, Big Data and NoSQL sources, including Facebook, in their SnapLogic workflows.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Facebook data. When platforms issue complex SQL queries to Facebook, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Facebook and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). Its built-in dynamic metadata querying lets you work with Facebook data using native data types.

Connect to Facebook in SnapLogic

To connect to Facebook data in SnapLogic, download and install the CData Facebook JDBC Driver. Follow the installation dialog. When the installation is complete, the JAR file can be found in the installation directory (C:/Program Files/CData/CData JDBC Driver for Facebook/lib by default).

Upload the Facebook JDBC Driver

After installation, upload the JDBC JAR file to a location in SnapLogic (for example, projects/Jerod Johnson) from the Manager tab.

Configure the Connection

Once the JDBC Driver is uploaded, we can create the connection to Facebook.

1. Navigate to the Designer tab
2. Expand "JDBC" from Snaps and drag a "Generic JDBC - Select" snap onto the designer
3. Click Add Account (or select an existing one) and click "Continue"
4. In the next form, configure the JDBC connection properties:
   • Under JDBC JARs, add the JAR file we previously uploaded
   • Set JDBC Driver Class to cdata.jdbc.facebook.FacebookDriver

   • Set JDBC URL to a JDBC connection string for the Facebook JDBC Driver, for example:

     jdbc:facebook:RTK=XXXXXX;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH

     NOTE: RTK is a trial or full key. Contact our Support team for more information.

     Built-In Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Facebook JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.facebook.jar

     Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

     Most tables require user authentication as well as application authentication. Facebook uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate to Facebook, you can use the embedded OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL or you can obtain your own by registering an app with Facebook.

     See the Getting Started chapter of the help documentation for a guide to using OAuth.

5. After entering the connection properties, click "Validate" and "Apply"

Read Facebook Data

In the form that opens after validating and applying the connection, configure your query.

• Set Schema name to "Facebook"
• Set Table name to a table for Facebook using the schema name, for example: "Facebook"."Posts" (use the drop-down to see the full list of available tables)
• Add Output fields for each item you wish to work with from the table

Save the Generic JDBC - Select snap.

With connection and query configured, click the end of the snap to preview the data (highlighted below).

Once you confirm the results are what you expect, you can add additional snaps to funnel your Facebook data to another endpoint.

Piping Facebook Data to External Services

For this article, we will load data in a Google Spreadsheet. You can use any of the supported snaps, or even use a Generic JDBC snap with another CData JDBC Driver, to move data into an external service.

1. Start by dropping a "Worksheet Writer" snap onto the end of the "Generic JDBC - Select" snap.
2. Add an account to connect to Google Sheets
3. Configure the Worksheet Writer snap to write your Facebook data to a Google Spreadsheet

You can now execute the fully configured pipeline to extract data from Facebook and push it into a Google Spreadsheet.

Piping External Data to Facebook

As mentioned above, you can also use the JDBC Driver for Facebook in SnapLogic to write data to Facebook. Start by adding a Generic JDBC - Insert or Generic JDBC - Update snap to the dashboard.

1. Select the existing "Account" (connection) or create a new one
2. Configure the query:
   • Set Schema name to "Facebook"
   • Set Table name to a table for Facebook using the schema name, for example: "Facebook"."Posts" (use the drop-down to see the full list of available tables)
3. Save the Generic JDBC - Insert/Update snap

At this point, you have configured a snap to write data to Facebook, inserting new records or updating existing ones.

More Information & Free Trial

Using the CData JDBC Driver for Facebook you can create a pipeline in SnapLogic for integrating Facebook data with external services. For more information about connecting to Facebook, check at our CData JDBC Driver for Facebook page. Download a free, 30 day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Facebook and get started today.