Connect to Foursquare Data in DBArtisan

The CData ODBC Driver for Foursquare seamlessly integrates Foursquare data into database management tools like DBArtisan by enabling you to access Foursquare data as a database. This article shows how to create an data source for Foursquare in DBArtisan and execute queries. You can then edit data visually and execute standard SQL.

Integrate Foursquare Data into DBArtisan Projects

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

Using API Key Authentication

Foursquare Places API uses Service Key (Bearer token) authentication. To obtain a Service Key:

1. Go to the Foursquare Developer Console at https://foursquare.com/developers/
2. Create a new project or select an existing one
3. Navigate to the API Keys section
4. Generate a new Service Key for the Places API

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
• ServiceKey: Set this to your Foursquare Service Key obtained from the Developer Console.
• XPlacesApiVersion: (Optional) Set this to the API version date. Defaults to 2025-06-17.

Example APIKey connection string

Profile=C:\profiles\Foursquare.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_personal_access_token';

You can then follow the steps below to register Foursquare data as a database instance in your project:

1. In DBArtisan, click Data Source -> Register Datasource.
2. Select Generic ODBC.
3. Enter a name for the data source and select the DSN.
4. Finish the wizard to connect to Foursquare data. Foursquare entities are displayed in the Datasource Explorer.

You can now work with Foursquare data as you work with any other database. See the driver help documentation for more information on the queries supported by the Foursquare API.