Connect to FormSite Data in HULFT Integrate

Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Connect to FormSite as a JDBC data source in HULFT Integrate

HULFT Integrate is a modern data integration platform that provides a drag-and-drop user interface to create cooperation flows, data conversion, and processing so that complex data connections are easier than ever to execute. When paired with the CData API Driver for JDBC, HULFT Integrate can work with live FormSite data. This article explains how to connect to FormSite and move the data into a CSV file.

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

Enable Access to FormSite

To enable access to FormSite data from HULFT Integrate projects:

  1. Copy the CData JDBC Driver JAR file (and license file if it exists), cdata.jdbc.api.jar (and cdata.jdbc.api.lic), to the jdbc_adapter subfolder for the Integrate Server
  2. Restart the HULFT Integrate Server and launch HULFT Integrate Studio

Build a Project with Access to FormSite Data

Once you copy the JAR files, you can create a project with access to FormSite data. Start by opening Integrate Studio and creating a new project.

  1. Name the project
  2. Ensure the "Create script" checkbox is checked
  3. Click Next
  4. Name the script (e.g.: APItoCSV)

Once you create the project, add components to the script to copy FormSite data to a CSV file.

Configure an Execute Select SQL Component

Drag an "Execute Select SQL" component from the Tool Palette (Database -> JDBC) into the Script workspace.

  1. In the "Required settings" tab for the Destination, click "Add" to create a new connection for FormSite. Set the following properties:
    • Name: FormSite Connection Settings
    • Driver class name: cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver
    • URL: jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\FormSite.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key;ServerNumber=your_server_number;UserDirectory=your_user_directory';

      Built-in Connection String Designer

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

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

      FormSite API Profile Settings

      Log into your Formsite account and visit the Admin Portal to generate or retrieve your API key. Your

      ServerNumber
      is the numeric part of your server URL and
      UserDirectory
      is your account's directory path.

  2. Write your SQL statement. For example:
    SELECT Id, Label FROM FormItems
  3. Click "Extraction test" to ensure the connection and query are configured properly
  4. Click "Execute SQL statement and set output schema"
  5. Click "Finish"

Configure a Write CSV File Component

Drag a "Write CSV File" component from the Tool Palette (File -> CSV) onto the workspace.

  1. Set a file to write the query results to (e.g. FormItems.csv)
  2. Set "Input data" to the "Select SQL" component
  3. Add columns for each field selected in the SQL query
  4. In the "Write settings" tab, check the checkbox to "Insert column names into first row"
  5. Click "Finish"

Map FormSite Fields to the CSV Columns

Map each column from the "Select" component to the corresponding column for the "CSV" component.

Finish the Script

Drag the "Start" component onto the "Select" component and the "CSV" component onto the "End" component. Build the script and run the script to move FormSite data into a CSV file.

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData API Driver for JDBC and start working with your live FormSite data in HULFT Integrate. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.

Ready to get started?

Connect to live data from FormSite with the API Driver

Connect to FormSite