Connect to Freshdesk Data in RapidMiner

This article shows how you can easily integrate the CData JDBC driver for Freshdesk into your processes in RapidMiner. This article uses the CData JDBC Driver for Freshdesk to transfer Freshdesk data to a process in RapidMiner.

Connect to Freshdesk in RapidMiner as a JDBC Data Source

You can follow the procedure below to establish a JDBC connection to Freshdesk:

1. Add a new database driver for Freshdesk: Click Connections -> Manage Database Drivers.
2. In the resulting wizard, click the Add button and enter a name for the connection.
3. Enter the prefix for the JDBC URL: jdbc:freshdesk:
4. Enter the path to the cdata.jdbc.freshdesk.jar file, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
5. Enter the driver class: cdata.jdbc.freshdesk.FreshDeskDriver
6. Create a new Freshdesk connection: Click Connections -> Manage Database Connections.
7. Enter a name for your connection.
8. For Database System, select the Freshdesk driver you configured previously.
9. Enter your connection string in the Host box.

   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:

   Domain=MyDomain;APIKey=myAPIKey;
10. Enter your username and password if necessary.

You can now use your Freshdesk connection with the various RapidMiner operators in your process. To retrieve Freshdesk data, drag the Retrieve operator from the Operators view. With the Retrieve operator selected, you can then define which table to retrieve in the Parameters view by clicking the folder icon next to the "repository entry." In the resulting Repository Browser, you can expand your connection node to select the desired example set.

Finally, wire the output to the Retrieve process to a result, and run the process to see the Freshdesk data.