Connect to Google Forms Data in JRuby

JRuby is a high-performance, stable, fully threaded Java implementation of the Ruby programming language. The CData JDBC Driver for Google Forms makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live Google Forms data in JRuby. This article shows how to create a simple JRuby app that connects to Google Forms data, executes a query, and displays the results.

Configure a JDBC Connection to Google Forms Data

Before creating the app, note the installation location for the JAR file for the JDBC Driver (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for Google Forms\lib).

JRuby natively supports JDBC, so you can easily connect to Google Forms and execute SQL queries. Initialize the JDBC connection with the getConnection function of the java.sql.DriverManager class.

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

Google Forms API Profile Settings

In the Google Cloud Console, create a project, enable the Google Forms API, and create OAuth 2.0 credentials to obtain your Client ID and Client Secret.

Built-in Connection String Designer

For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Google Forms 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.

Below is a typical JDBC connection string for Google Forms:

jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\GoogleForms.apip;Authscheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackUrl=your_callback_url;

Create a JRuby App with Connectivity to Google Forms Data

Create a new Ruby file (for example: APISelect.rb) and open it in a text editor. Copy the following code into your file:

require 'java'
require 'rubygems'
require 'C:/Program Files/CData/CData JDBC Driver for Google Forms 2018/lib/cdata.jdbc.api.jar'

url = "jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\GoogleForms.apip;Authscheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackUrl=your_callback_url;"
conn = java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(url)
stmt = conn.createStatement
rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT FormId, Title FROM Forms")
while (rs.next) do
  puts rs.getString(1) + ' ' + rs.getString(2)
end

With the file completed, you are ready to display your Google Forms data with JRuby. To do so, simply run your file from the command line:

jruby -S APISelect.rb

Writing SQL-92 queries to Google Forms allows you to quickly and easily incorporate Google Forms data into your own JRuby applications. Download a free trial today!