Connect to Figshare Data in JRuby

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

Configure a JDBC Connection to Figshare 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 Figshare\lib).

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

Figshare API Profile Settings

Personal API tokens can be created and managed from the Applications page in your Figshare account settings.

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Figshare.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_personal_token';

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

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

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

jruby -S APISelect.rb

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