Create Informatica Mappings From/To a JDBC Data Source for Freshdesk

Informatica provides a powerful, elegant means of transporting and transforming your data. By utilizing the CData JDBC Driver for Freshdesk, you are gaining access to a driver based on industry-proven standards that integrates seamlessly with Informatica's powerful data transportation and manipulation features. This tutorial shows how to transfer and browse Freshdesk data in Informatica PowerCenter.

Deploy the Driver

To deploy the driver to the Informatica PowerCenter server, copy the CData JAR and .lic file, located in the lib subfolder in the installation directory, to the following folder: Informatica-installation-directory\services\shared\jars\thirdparty.

To work with Freshdesk data in the Developer tool, you will need to copy the CData JAR and .lic file, located in the lib subfolder in the installation directory, into the following folders:

• Informatica-installation-directory\client\externaljdbcjars
• Informatica-installation-directory\externaljdbcjars

Create the JDBC Connection

Follow the steps below to connect from Informatica Developer:

1. In the Connection Explorer pane, right-click your domain and click Create a Connection.
2. In the New Database Connection wizard that is displayed, enter a name and Id for the connection and in the Type menu select JDBC.
3. In the JDBC Driver Class Name property, enter: cdata.jdbc.freshdesk.FreshDeskDriver
4. In the Connection String property, enter the JDBC URL, using the connection properties for Freshdesk.

   FreshDesk makes use of basic authentication. To connect to data, set the following connection properties:

   • Domain: Set this to the domain associated with your FreshDesk account. For example, in your URL: https://my_domain.freshdesk.com.
   • APIKey: Set this to the API key associated with your FreshDesk account. To retrieve your API key, Log into your support Portal -> Click on profile picture in the top right corner -> profile settings page. The API key will be available below the change password section to the right.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.freshdesk.jar

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

   A typical connection string is below:

   jdbc:freshdesk:Domain=MyDomain;APIKey=myAPIKey;

Browse Freshdesk Tables

After you have added the driver JAR to the classpath and created a JDBC connection, you can now access Freshdesk entities in Informatica. Follow the steps below to connect to Freshdesk and browse Freshdesk tables:

1. Connect to your repository.
2. In the Connection Explorer, right-click the connection and click Connect.
3. Clear the Show Default Schema Only option.

You can now browse Freshdesk tables in the Data Viewer: Right-click the node for the table and then click Open. On the Data Viewer view, click Run.

Create Freshdesk Data Objects

Follow the steps below to add Freshdesk tables to your project:

1. Select tables in Freshdesk, then right-click a table in Freshdesk, and click Add to Project.
2. In the resulting dialog, select the option to create a data object for each resource.
3. In the Select Location dialog, select your project.

   Create a Mapping

   Follow the steps below to add the Freshdesk source to a mapping:

   1. In the Object Explorer, right-click your project and then click New -> Mapping.
   2. Expand the node for the Freshdesk connection and then drag the data object for the table onto the editor.
   3. In the dialog that appears, select the Read option.

   Follow the steps below to map Freshdesk columns to a flat file:

   1. In the Object Explorer, right-click your project and then click New -> Data Object.
   2. Select Flat File Data Object -> Create as Empty -> Fixed Width.
   3. In the properties for the Freshdesk object, select the rows you want, right-click, and then click copy. Paste the rows into the flat file properties.
   4. Drag the flat file data object onto the mapping. In the dialog that appears, select the Write option.
   5. Click and drag to connect columns.

   To transfer Freshdesk data, right-click in the workspace and then click Run Mapping.