Connect to Flowlu Data in JRuby

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

Configure a JDBC Connection to Flowlu 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 Flowlu\lib).

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

Flowlu API Profile Settings

In your Flowlu account, navigate to System Settings > API Settings > Create to generate an API key. Your Company name is the subdomain from your Flowlu account URL.

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Flowlu.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key;Company=your_company_subdomain';

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

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

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

jruby -S APISelect.rb

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