Manage FTP Data in DBArtisan as a JDBC Source

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

Integrate FTP Data into DBArtisan Projects

Follow the steps below to register FTP data as a database instance in your project:

1. In DBArtisan, click Data Source -> Register Datasource.
2. Select Generic JDBC.
3. Click Manage.
4. In the resulting dialog, click New. Enter a name for the driver and click Add. In the resulting dialog, navigate to the driver JAR. The driver JAR is located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
5. In the Connection URL box, enter credentials and other required connection properties in the JDBC URL.

   To connect to FTP or SFTP servers, specify at least RemoteHost and FileProtocol. Specify the port with RemotePort.

   Set User and Password to perform Basic authentication. Set SSHAuthMode to use SSH authentication. See the Getting Started section of the data provider help documentation for more information on authenticating via SSH.

   Set SSLMode and SSLServerCert to secure connections with SSL.

   The data provider lists the tables based on the available folders in your FTP server. Set the following connection properties to control the relational view of the file system:

   • RemotePath: Set this to the current working directory.
   • TableDepth: Set this to control the depth of folders to list as views.
   • FileRetrievalDepth: Set this to retrieve and list files recursively from the root table.

   Stored Procedures are available to download files, upload files, and send protocol commands. See the Data Model chapter of the FTP data provider documentation for more information.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.ftp.jar

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

   Below is a typical connection string:

   jdbc:ftp:RemoteHost=MyFTPServer;
6. Finish the wizard to connect to FTP data. FTP entities are displayed in the Datasource Explorer.

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